Spanish Cardinal: A great vocational flowering in the secular apostolate

The archbishop of Madrid told World Youth Day organizers that the 2011 event will be an opportunity to renew Spain's fidelity to the Church.

In his address, Cardinal Antonio María Rouco Varela reviewed the history of Christianity in Spain, and the fruits that evangelization has given the country and the world. He said that in Spain the seed of the Gospel sprouted rapidly, but now the Church must address new challenges if evangelization is to continue to bear fruit.

He explained how evangelization began in his country almost 2,000 years ago, with the Apostle James, whose tomb, according to tradition, is in Santiago de Compostela, where the 1989 youth day was held.

With World Youth Day in 2011, he stated, the Church in Spain seeks a "new spring of the Church," one of the great challenges being "the demographic decline," especially with regard to youth and children.

The cardinal also mentioned the new charisms that have manifested themselves in his country in recent years, which have resulted in "a great vocational flowering in the secular apostolate and contemplative life."

He continued: "I would like to mention two examples: the Neo-Catechumenal Way, which arose in the in 60s, and Opus Dei, which was born almost 100 years ago."

The world's greatest poverty, he said, is its "break with God." Hence, he exhorted all the members of the Church in Spain to work so that her "missionary vocation will flower again."