Evangelical Catholics in Canada

John Allen has an interesting column following up his previous discussions about "Evangelical Catholicism" (of which, if they had cards, I would count myself as a card-carrying member!). He interviews the very well spoken of (I am thinking of comments from my good Canadian friends Paul and Carol Quist - Hi! if you're reading this!) Archbishop Thomas Collins -- who, incidentally, is coming here to Melbourne for our Days in the Diocese prior to World Youth Day (I hope I'm not letting any cats out the bag am I? It makes up, in a very small way, for Cardinal Kasper's cancellation...). I will give you the gist of it. John Allen leads off...

NCR: One word that seems to come up in describing the new crop of Canadian bishops, yourself included, is 'evangelical.'

Archbishop Collins: I hope so...

NCR: Part of what people mean by calling you 'evangelical' is a willingness to challenge the prevailing secular consensus.

Archbishop Collins: Oh, absolutely...

NCR: So the new Canadian bishops are determined to push back?

Archbishop Collins: I think so. We've had enough. We're here, and we're part of this society...

NCR: To what extent is this evangelical spirit present at the grass roots?

Archbishop Collins: I feel extraordinary hope...

NCR: It sounds like you're trying to project a robust Catholic identity, but one that's outward-looking rather than moving into a ghetto.

Archbishop Collins: Definitely not a ghetto. We're part of the society...

Well, there you go. For the actual substance go read the article yourself!