While the cardinal from New Zealand, John Dew has a small Catholic population in his native country, he says the best part of his job is the opportunity his has to meet and be with people, even when he must travel to Rome for various meetings as a member of the Congregation for Divine Worship, for Evangelization of Peoples, and the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity.
CARD. JOHN DEW
Archbishop of Wellington (New Zealand)
'It's good to be there as a representative of the Church because I think like Pope Francis, that you really need to be where the people are. So it has been a lot more work but it's good because it gives you the opportunity to be with more people.â?
Now he says he is working on reaching out to the youth, addressing what he calls as one of the 'biggest challengesâ? of the Church.
CARD. JOHN DEW
Archbishop of Wellington (New Zealand)
'I think the most important work of the Church at the moment is helping people to know the goodness, and as we've heard this year, the mercy of God. I think the way we do that is by helping people to pray and to reflect. People live in such a busy world, where there are all sorts of thinks that distract them and preoccupy them. I think one of our big challenges, and especially for the young people is to teach them how to stop and reflect and meet and experience the goodness of God.â?
This is why he prefers being amongst the people, helping the youth fit God into their busy schedules with school, sports and socializing. Like Pope Francis, he tries to exhibit that life is not meant to be lived for oneself, but for others.
CARD. JOHN DEW
Archbishop of Wellington (New Zealand)
'I believe one of our big tasks is to help young people to stop and reflect and to say what is this life all about? And to show them how it's in helping others too that we experience something within ourselves that is rewarding.â?
As such, he's even reaching out to the youth through his Facebook page, as an attempt to touch the hearts of youth who could be likely to see a post before they would enter a Catholic Church.
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