Pope Benedict XVI unveiled a new Vatican agency to promote “new evangelization” and assigned it the task of combating the “de-Christianization” of countries that were first evangelized centuries ago. The new council, named the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization, will encourage a clearer understanding of the faith and help “remake the Christian fabric of human society.” In an apostolic letter dated Oct. 12, the pope identified a variety of factors in the weakening of religious faith in the West: advances in science and technology; the widening of individual freedom and lifestyle choices; profound economic changes; the mixing of cultures and ethnic groups brought about by migration; and the growing interdependence among peoples. Such changes have brought many benefits but often are accompanied by “a worrisome loss of the sense of the sacred,” he said.