Growing urbanization

21. Also on the increase in America is the phenomenon of urbanization. For some time now the continent has been experiencing a constant exodus from the countryside to the city. This is a complex phenomenon already described by my Predecessor Paul VI.( ⁵⁶) There are different reasons for it, but chief among them are poverty and underdevelopment in rural areas, where utilities, transportation, and educational and health services are often inadequate. Moreover, the city, with the allure of entertainment and prosperity often presented in the media, exerts a special attraction for simple people from country areas.

The frequent lack of planning in this process is a source of many evils. As the Synod Fathers pointed out, “in certain cases, some urban areas are like islands where violence, juvenile delinquency and an air of desperation flourish”.( ⁵⁷) The phenomenon of urbanization therefore presents great challenges for the Church's pastoral action, which must address cultural rootlessness, the loss of family traditions and of people's particular religious traditions. As a result, faith is often weakened because it is deprived of the expressions that helped to keep it alive.

The evangelization of urban culture is a formidable challenge for the Church. Just as she was able to evangelize rural culture for centuries, the Church is called in the same way today to undertake a methodical and far-reaching urban evangelization through catechesis, the liturgy and the very way in which her pastoral structures are organized.( ⁵⁸)