“‘That they have life and have it abundantly’: these words of Jesus epitomize the task of the Church”, said Msgr. Ludwig Schick, delegate of the German Episcopal Conference for the pastoral Commission, in announcing, in Fulda on 4 December, the new directives of the German episcopate for the care of souls and for the pastoral work of the Church. The new directives are aimed at providing “a new impulse” for pastoral care and a “new approach to the altered world of man” in our time; “the ‘family of God”, within which there are no differences between the members”, he adds, “can only exist once each individual reaches the fullness of his own life. So individuals too must be accompanied by the Church in the process of growth and maturation”. As the note of the Episcopal Conference adds, “various studies in recent years have shown that people have a need, in reaching the fullness of their lives, for new impulses, new acquaintances, new experiences”, given that “various social upheavals have led to a sense of uncertainty about roles and thrown many people into an identity crisis that needs to be overcome”. This was the “consideration that led the Episcopal Conference to revise the directives for Pastoral Care which date back to 1982”.
