The city has always attracted great preachers, giving them a wide audience. almost all big european cities are proud of their famous preachers who called for a mending of ways, rushed to comfort the needy, marked out ways of spiritual renovation (e.g. Girolamo savonarola, OP; Henri lacordaire, OP; johann emanuel Veith, Heinrich abel, sj). Urban preaching is more demanding. It needs to take into account the intellectual potential of the listener who is more demanding as regards the preacher and his sermons. On the urban pulpit, unlike in the country, deeper analysis and reasoning can be offered. Present urban preaching rejects pathos, avoids any manifestations of teach- ing and spectacular eloquence much more than was the case once. It is charac- terised by a humble sense of mystery and consequent restraint in judgments and opinions; a conviction that every single manifestation of human existence has a value of its own
