Someone may know how to dialogue, how to listen well, how to confront the culture, but they must also "have a freedom of the Spirit, of joy to communicate the most profound commission of the Risen Jesus Christ," he said.
This, Lasarte explained, is "the permanent mission of Jesus Christ, who gave the Church to announce the kerygma, to announce his person, and his Gospel." He added that this was what would give fruitfulness to the Church's mission today.
According to the missionary, there are three important elements for the re-evangelization of the Church in the West: The renewal of the "first announcement" of the Gospel, Christian community, and personal conversion.
The faith needs to be much more internalized and personal, he said. He pointed to how many young people in Europe know much about movies on Netflix, but nothing about the Church or Jesus Christ, necessitating the first proclamation of the Gospel.
And community is not just an important or "nice thing," he said. "Communal ecclesial life" is "a fundamental theme of the Christian faith."
The missionary also spoke about the increase in Christian persecution and the Church's growth in Africa and Asia.
"According to the statistics, [Africa] is the future of the Church," he said. "This is something which fills us with joy, with hope."
Hannah Brockhaus is Catholic News Agency's senior Rome correspondent. She grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, and has a degree in English from Truman State University in Missouri.