Archbishop Robert Carlson of St. Louis challenged attendees of the July 27-29 Defending the Faith Conference at Franciscan University of Steubenville to “take the Gospel to the streets of our cities, to the rural areas of our nation, in the places both rich and poor, that people may not see you, but Christ, in the way you live and the things you say.”
Scott Hahn spoke at the conference on the need for Catholics to evangelize. “The New Evangelization is new precisely because we face the absolute necessity of re-evangelizing the de-Christianized — of looking around and seeing these Catholic countries not only becoming progressively non-Christian, but anti-Christian, and the effect it is having upon those who still call themselves Christians.”
U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., a 1996 graduate of Franciscan University, addressed present dangers to religious freedom and the need to stand up for faith boldly yet charitably in the public square.“Our response cannot be, ‘It’s too messy; it’s too hard; they’re all corrupt; it’s too dirty. I’m going to shut my window, pull my shades, and stay out of it,’” he said. “On the other extreme, our response cannot be one that is filled with resentment and outrage. We must remember that all we do we must do in charity.”

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