APOSTOLIC Nuncio Archbishop Charles Balvo is upbeat about the changing role of the Church after a week spent visiting the Archdiocese of Brisbane.
During a busy schedule the 71-year-old Catholic leader found himself alongside Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge aboard a helicopter flying high above the Sunshine Coast’s new residential community of Aura.
Archbishop Balvo was impressed by the scale of the development – and the potential for church mission in the community that will be part of the Caloundra parish.
“There are going to be 50,000 more people living there. I mean it’s a real expansion,” he said.
“So they’re going to build a (Catholic) school and there will be space on it, eventually, for a church.
“There are going to be new opportunities to evangelise.”
Back on the ground, Archbishop Balvo took a close look at the fledgling Aura development accompanied by Caloundra administrator, Fr Josh Whitehead.
Serving as Pope Francis’ Australian representative, Archbishop Balvo said the Church must look for new ways to spread the Gospel message in the many new suburbs that are growing across the Brisbane Archdiocese, including both the Gold and Sunshine coasts.
“One thing Pope Francis has promoted is missionary discipleship for everyone. The missionaries are ourselves in our societies,” he said.
“There are a lot of new ways of preaching the Gospel to people who have just found other things in their life, other values.”
Archbishop Balvo,a New Yorker who has served in the Czech Republic, South Sudan and Kenya, and New Zealand during a lengthy career as a Nuncio, highlighted the power of personal witness as a way of attracting people to Church through the message of the Gospel.
“Certainly, that involves not only preaching but also by charitable action and helping people who are in need, accompanying them on their journey,” he said.
Archbishop Balvo said it was important for the Church to “promote and try new means to teach people about the important value of a life of faith” because of a growing and popular belief that “Life is good, so you don’t need God”.
During his visit to Brisbane Archdiocese, Archbishop Balvo visited the Holy Spirit seminary at Banyo and spent time with seminarians there.
He also met staff and volunteers at the Emmanuel City Mission, a South Brisbane outreach service and daytime sanctuary for those experiencing homelessness.
Archbishop Balvo said he was impressed by the multicultural face of the Church in Brisbane as he visited schools and churches on the Gold and Sunshine Coasts and Ipswich.
