ROME (CNS) — The Catholic Church in the United States is grappling with a tendency to become more “auto-referential” and withdraw itself from the international stage and universal church, Pope Francis’ representative to the United States said.
Speaking with Catholic News Service before formally taking possession of his titular church in Rome April 21, Cardinal Christophe Pierre described the reality of the church in the United States as a “paradox.” He said that while the U.S. church has “always been very faithful to the Holy Father,” he also noted that “the difficulty in America, like in every country in a world which is globalized but becomes more and more individualistic, (is) to receive the message of the pope, especially to work together.”
“The pope feels that if we don’t work together, we are not a church,” he stressed.
Cardinal Pierre pointed to a growing “tendency to withdraw, to be more auto-referential,” both in the United States and worldwide.
“We have to share our riches, our goods,” particularly in an increasingly individualistic world, he told CNS. “And I see that as a challenge for the church.”
The cardinal was in Rome to take possession of his titular church — the Church of St. Benedict…
