Pope Francis admits: ‘We don’t have a magic wand for everything’

The Pontiff told pastoral workers evangelizing people can require a bit of 'patience and perseverance'

Pope Francis has said the Catholic Church does not have “magic wand” for evangelizing people as he met with over 2,000 pastoral workers from across 60 countries (EPA)

Pope Francis has said the Catholic Church does not have “magic wand” for evangelizing people as he met with over 2,000 pastoral workers from across 60 countries.

The Pontiff told the international meeting on 'the joy of announcing the gospel' the Church’s main task now is bringing the messages within the Bible to the wider world.

However, he said evangelizing the public could be hard work at times and urged pastoral workers to have “patience and perseverance”, according to the Catholic News Agency.

"We don't have a magic wand for everything, but we do have trust in the Lord, who accompanies us and never abandons us," he said.

The huge workload and demands being made on pastoral workers can make them "run the risk of becoming frightened and withdrawing in on ourselves out of fear and self-defence", he added.

However, people working in the pastoral ministry should avoid getting too caught up in "the song of the Sirens," that call them to engage in countless "frenetic series of initiatives" and campaigns.

Francis made similar remarks earlier this month when he reminded a Mass at St Martha’s House that God does not have any magical powers at his disposal.

He told the crowd gathered in Vatican City: "There is the danger of thinking that God was a magician, who did things with a magic wand.

"God is not a magician, He is the Creator”.