|TOP|The Catholic Agency to Support Evangelisation (CASE) has launched a new resource to respond to the growing demand in the Catholic Church for information on Catholic initiatives, training opportunities and evangelisation resources.

The new Evangelisation Directory, launched Thursday, is a “one-stop-shop” for evangelisation resources, providing Catholics with information on over 250 entries.

The timely arrival of this new resources directory, the culmination of a two-year project, comes as CASE reports an “explosion” in evangelisation within the Church.

“This truly is good news for the Catholic community,” said Mgr Keith Barltrop, director of CASE. “We’ve seen an explosion of evangelistic awareness and activity in recent years and this new Directory aims practically to enthuse, equip and engage all tiers of the church publicly to celebrate and share their faith.”

|QUOTE|According to CASE, set up by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales in 2003 to serve and support the Church in the task of evangelisation, their website for enquirers has peaked at more than 24,000 monthly visitors compared with just 9,000 this time last year.

The new resource has been welcomed across the Catholic community. Bishop Malcolm McMahon of Nottingham Diocese, who is national overseer for Catholic Evangelisation, praised the new directory.

“Evangelisation is the most important issue facing the church today and this tool is an immense help to that task,” he said. “Every Catholic should have a copy. It’s invaluable and promises to be of immense practical use to all tiers of the Church. It is in itself a great sign of hope.”|AD|

CASE attributes the growing commitment to evangelisation to the opportunities that Catholics on the national and local level are “increasingly seizing and responding to”, such as BBC 2’s The Monastery programme and The Da Vinci Code.

Mgr Barltrop added, “It’s inspirational to see how many people are already giving of their time and talents to this work. For those who aren’t yet directly involved, the new Directory contains something for everyone.

“If you’re not sure what Catholic evangelisation is and isn’t, this Directory is for you. If you do feel that you understand it but are looking for resources to help you respond, this resource is for you. I invite you to join us in making an even bigger ‘evangelistic explosion’ in England and Wales.”

The printed version of the directory is available at a cost of £5 and can be ordered from CASE by calling 020 8458 3316.

The free online version can be accessed at www.caseresources.org.uk