Sydney, Australia, Jul 10, 2007 / 08:06 am
The Catholic Church in Australia is working on a campaign to bring 4.2 million lapsed believers back to the fold.
The Australian bishops have set up their first national office to develop strategies to revive evangelization, revitalize churchgoers and bring back lapsed Catholics.
By December 2009, each parish in Sydney will develop a strategy for contacting and welcoming people, especially families not actively involved in the church. The bishops are also calling for "reintegrating" divorced and civilly married couples and their children into parish life.
Parish outreach will be done through community notice boards in cafés, on streets and in shopping centers. A video and website are also being considered.