THAILAND— Rather than be discouraged by many difficulties, one of Asia’s top Catholic leaders said the Gospel calls the Church in the region to do good in a ‘creative way’.

Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Bombay said the Church in Asia, particularly its leaders, are called to continue the work together in the mission of evangelization.

“We as Church, we as leaders here present, have got to think of creative ways of fulfilling the mission,” Gracias said.

“We are not in the worst situation ever. The apostles were in a worst situation, many countries were in a worst situation,” he said.

The 77-year-old made the call in his homily during Mass on World Mission Sunday, Oct. 23, with the delegates of the ongoing Asian bishops meeting in Thailand.

He then reminded his fellow bishops that the vitality of the Church, cannot be measured by numbers and statistics.

“I think we must make clear to ourselves and to the world that we, the Catholic Church, are not in the numbers game, who try to get more than other religions,” Gracias said.

“Our mission is to make Jesus real in the world, the Gospel real, that’s evangelization. It is not just baptizing people,” according to him.

More than 200 cardinals and bishops from 29 member countries of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) are currently gathered to discuss issues and challenges they are facing and how they are coping.

“In this project, making Asia a better place, making Asia a better Asia, which we have come for, is also evangelization, is also spreading the word of God, is also doing the will of Christ,” Gracias added.

The cardinal has also called for continued development of the role of lay people in the Church.

With baptism, he said all Catholics are called to be “fully part of the Church and not just bishops, priests and religious”.

“All lay people are called to be part of the Church and all, therefore, have the same mission of spreading the Gospel,” Gracias also said.

“We want you to be part of us. You are not just a second or tertiary in this evangelization, in our work. You are our fullest collaborators,” he said.