Quebec City, Quebec, December 15, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Quebec’s Archbishop Gerald Lacroix, the Primate of Canada, has warned that those who “mellow down the Gospel” hoping to draw people to the faith are making a mistake.
“That’s not what will attract people,” said Lacroix in an interview from Quebec City with Canadian Catholic News on November 14th. “Our mission must be to preach the truth of the Gospel, and the full message of the Gospel.”
When Lacroix became Quebec’s youngest archbishop last February he was asked if he was going to “adapt the Gospel so it will be receivable by today’s modern men and women.”
“I don’t think it’s the Gospel we need to adapt,” he responded. “It’s our lives that we need adapt to be faithful to the Gospel.”
Lacroix stressed in the November interview the “need to convert,” adding that “it’s a difficult word, but we need to be in harmony with the Gospel, not water it down to our level.”
Don’t expect me to be “tearing out pages” of the Word of God, saying “this is expired,” or “this is no longer up-to-date,” or “this is too difficult for modern men and women,” he said.
Lacroix has shown himself to be a valiant defender of life, coming out strongly against abortion. He told reporters after rising to the position of Primate that abortion was not only an issue for the Catholic Church — which, he said, upholds the sanctity of life from conception to natural death — but for Quebec society where 30,000 abortions take place every year.
During the youth Rose Dinner at this year’s March for Life in Ottawa, a jubilant Lacroix told the young people of his commitment to “work with everyone who wants to work so that we can protect life from conception to natural death.”
Lacroix challenged the young people at that time to be “ambassadors of life” who “celebrate life, who accompany life, [and] who welcome life.”
Lacroix says that he is eager to do his part in bringing about the New Evangelization, the mission of re-evangelizing people who were once deeply rooted in Christianity but who have now fallen away.
“We’ve been shy lately, laid back,” he said. “Society’s done a good job of pushing us back into our churches and sacristies, telling us you don’t have anything to bring to our society, that’s your thing, it’s personal.”
“We need to live our faith in the midst of world and bring the light of Christ to all sectors of society whether it be education, politics, health, you name it, we need to be there,” he said.
Read interview here.