Cardinal George on the New Evangelization

Cardinal George of the Archdiocese of Chicago and the current President of the USCCB has published a new book on the Catholic Church in the United States. The book,The Difference God Makes: A Catholic Vision of Faith, Communion and Culture (Crossroad), lays out a vision for the evangelization of contemporary American culture. John Allen posted an interview with the Cardinal on the National Catholic Reporter website about the book.

The part I found most interesting in the interview (I haven't had a chance to read the book) is the notion of "simply Catholicism" as different from a "liberal" and "conservative" Catholicism.

It seems to me that he means the same thing Blessed John XXIII meant when he said that the purpose of the Second Vatican Council was two-fold: "that the sacred deposit of Christian doctrine should be both guarded and taught more efficaciously...The substance of the ancient doctrine of the deposit of faith is one thing, and the way in which it is presented is another." The two poles of Catholic identity and engagement with the world, of Catholic faith and evangelization, of Catholic culture and inculturation, of knowing who you are and how to share it with others, must be always kept together in a reciprocal relationship. The second pole is necessarily dependent upon the first while the second gives life to and feeds the first.