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20 - 12.10.2005
SUMMARY
♦ FIFTEENTH GENERAL CONGREGATION (WEDNESDAY, 12 OCTOBER 2005 -
MORNING)
♦ SIXTEENTH GENERAL CONGREGATION (WEDNESDAY, 12 OCTOBER 2005 -
AFTERNOON)
♦ NOTICES
♦ FIFTEENTH GENERAL CONGREGATION (WEDNESDAY, 12 OCTOBER 2005 -
MORNING)
This morning, the following Synodal Fathers intervened in the
Fifteenth General Congregation:
- H.E. Most. Rev. Joseph ZEN ZE-KIUN, S.D.B., Bishop of Hong Kong (Xianggang)
(CHINA)
- H.E. Most. Rev. Estanislao Esteban KARLIC, Archbishop Emeritus of
Paraná (ARGENTINA)
Below we give the summaries of the two interventions, which arrived
after the closure of the publishing of Bulletin No. 19 of this
morning:
- H.E. Most. Rev. Joseph ZEN ZE-KIUN, S.D.B., Bishop of Hong Kong (Xianggang)
(CHINA)
The Church in China apparently divided into two, an official one
recognized by the government and a clandestine one, which refuses to
be independent from Rome, is in reality a Church alone, because
everybody wants to be united with the Pope.
After long years of forced separation, the large majority of the
bishops of the official Church have been legalized by the
magnanimity of the Holy Father.
Especially in recent years it appears more and more clear that the
bishops ordained without the approval of the Roman Pontiff are
neither accepted by the clergy nor by the faithful.
One hopes that before this sensus Ecclesiae, the government can see
the convenience of the situation, even if the “conservatory”
elements inside the official Church cause resistance for obvious
reasons of interest.
The invitation by the Holy Father to four bishops to attend the
Synod was a good opportunity, but it seems to have been wasted.
The Eucharist well celebrated will certainly accelerate the coming
of true religious freedom for the Chinese people.
[00309-02.04] [IN231] [Original text: Italian]
- H.E. Most. Rev.
Estanislao Esteban KARLIC, Archbishop Emeritus of Paraná (ARGENTINA)
1.- The Eucharist, sacrament of the Easter of Christ.
The Echarist makes us concorporeal, consanguine and contemporary
with the Lord. The Lord instituted in the Eucharist a mysterious
contemporaneity between His death and Hisresurrection and the
passing (by)of the centuries. Only faith can know this admirable
tarnsparency of time and space to the power of love and the glory of
Christ, by means of the Sacrament of the Eucharist. In the “Today”
of the Eucharistic liturgy, the one redeeming Easter becomes a
contemporay celebration.
2.- The Eucharist and the spirituality of the Martyr.
The Eucharist, through what is the Sacrament of Easter, makes us
essentially paschal and participants in the martyrial vocation (of a
martyr/torture/torment). It give us the grace to imitate the
sacrificial offering of Christ in each/every moment of existence,
loving as Christ loved on the cross.
3.- The Eucharist, source and summit of the Mission.
The Eucharist is, in itself,” the most effective missionary action
which the ecclesial community can carry out in the history of the
world” because it contains the Saviour in His Redeeming Easter. From
the Eucharist, the Church should begin to proclaim with immense joy
the Gospel of the saving love of God.
Its addressee is the whole world, every one in it and its culture,
to assume, to purify of the error of sin, and to put everything on
the altar of the Cross of the Lord.
[00308-02.02] [IN228] [Original text: Spanish]
♦ SIXTEENTH GENERAL CONGREGATION (WEDNESDAY, 12 OCTOBER 2005 -
AFTERNOON)
● REPORT AFTER THE DISCUSSION
● AUDITION OF THE AUDITORS II
At 4:30 p.m. today, Wednesday 12 October 2005, with the prayer
Adsumus, took place the Sixteenth General Congregation, for the
Report After the Discussion, for the Audition of the Auditors II,
the Second Auditon of the Auditors and for the continuation of the
Synodal Fathers in the Hall on the Synodal topic: The Eucharist:
Source and Summit of the Life and Mission of the Church.
President Delegate on duty H.Em.. Card. Telesphore Placidus TOPPO,
Archbishop of Ranchi (India).
This General Congregation ended at 7:00 p.m. with the prayer Angelus
Domini. There were present 239 Fathers.
● REPORT AFTER THE
DISCUSSION
The Relator General in this Sixteenth General Congregation, H.Em.
Card. Angelo SCOLA, Patriarch of Venice (Italy), read the Report
After the Discussion in Latin. In the second report, at the
conclusion of the general discussion on the Synodal topic in the
Hall, the Relator General summarised the various interventions that
took place in these days of the General Congregation and offered
some lines of guidance to facilitate the work of the Working Groups.
We publish below a presentation in English of the Report after the
discussion (complete original latin text in the plurilingual edition
and full italian translation in the italian edition).
Presentation
The Report after the discussions,, by H. Em. Cardinal Angelo Scola,
Relator General, begins recalling the fact that John Paul II wished
to dedicate this XI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of
Bishops to the theme “The Eucharist: Source and Summit of the Life
and Mission of the Church”, and to the meditation with which Pope
Benedict XVI opened the I General Congregation.. Upon the invitation
of the Supreme Pastor of the Church, to have, according to the
Pauline imperative, the same sentiments as Christ, he answered - in
the Introduction of the Report, we can read - a kaleidoscope of
interventions, suggestions, exchanges in a climate characterized by
deep collegial affection, from the testimonial dimension present in
so many interventions and by the great freedom and frankness with
which each of the present expressed himself.
Cardinal Angelo Scola, underlining the nature of the Report after
the discussions, therefore the author of this is the whole Assembly
and not the Relator, states that he did not write a synthesis,
rather collage of the interventions, due to the vastness of the
themes dealt with and the sensitivities in play. The introduction
concludes showing the basic orientation that emerged, in general,
from the interventions: overcoming any dualism between doctrine and
pastoral, between theology and liturgy.
The Report is articulated in two parts: the First Part, To Educate
the People of God in faith to the Eucharist, which is divided into
five chapters. In Chapter I, the Relator affirms that many
interventions highlighted the objective difficulties that the
Christian people today encounter in believing and celebrating the
Eucharist, and the serious responsibility of the pastors in order
for evangelization and new evangelization emerged. By instituting
the Eucharist, the Relator affirms, Jesus gave life to a radical
novelty: He achieved in Himself the new and eternal Covenant, and
this novelty asks to be welcomed and safeguarded by the Church as a
gift that is extremely precious and cannot be substituted. In
Chapter II, the main traits of the essential contents of this great
mystery are stated, which emerged from the need to educate the
believers in an integral Eucharistic faith. In Chapter III, the
great relevance that was given, in the Report, to the bond between
the Eucharist and the Seven-Day Sacrament. Chapter IV deals with the
Eucharist and the priestly people, the faithful who, in gathering
together, rediscover their own sense of belonging to the Church, and
“Dies Domini” is mentioned, Bishops and priests, permanent deacons
and extraordinary ministers of Communion, parishes and small
communities, family, consecrated life, youth. Finally, Chapter V
puts together the theme of the Eucharist and mission: to be
missionary the Church must also be deeply Eucharistic.
The Second Part, Eucharistic Action, has four chapters. In Chapter
I, Cardinal A. Scola notes that many Fathers recalled with gratitude
the beneficial influence of liturgical reform achieved by Vatican
Council II on the life of the Church, with a reminder about the
riches in the Roman Missal, together with the urgency for greater
attention to the ars celebrandi (Chap. III) the actuosa participatio
depends on this (Chap. IV), after having dealt, in Chapter II, with
the structure of liturgical celebration.
In the Conclusion, which precedes the 17 Questions for the Working
Groups (Circuli Minori) which closes the Relatio, Cardinal A. Scola
asserts that the work that now awaits all the Synodal Fathers is the
most delicate part, the part from which the Propositions will
emerge, which we will offer to the discernment of the charism of the
Successor of Peter. Once again, this is a task that we will
undertake in all freedom and parresia because we intend to do this
in all humility. In fact, we know that the Eucharist, inasmuch as
being a gift, is intrinsically connected to the witness that, as we
have been reminded, can even reach martyrdom. However, the martyrein
is in itself a gift that, once more, requires humility. We are
reminded of this in the beautiful translation of the preface of the
martyrs:: “Father, who reveals in the weak Your power and give the
vulnerable the strength of martyrdom”.
[00304-02.03] [NNNNN] [Original text: Italian]
● AUDITION OF THE AUDITORS II
After the reading of the Report after the discussion, in this
Sixteenth General Congregation, the followingAuditors intervened:
- Sr. Maria Regina CESARATO, Superior General of the Pius Disciples
of the Divine Master (ITALY)
- Ms. Bruna TOMASI, Member of the Executive Board of the Focolari
Movement (ITALY)
- Mr. Leonardo CASCO, President of the "Alianza para la Familia" (HONDURAS)
- Ms. Martha Lorena ALVARADO de CASCO, President of the "Comité por
la Vida" (HONDURAS)
- Mr. Carl Albert ANDERSON, Supreme Knight of the Order of the
Knights of Columbus (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)
- Most Rev. Peter John ELLIOTT, Director of the John Paul II
Institute for Matrimony and the Family in Melbourne. Member of the
International Council for Catechesis (AUSTRALIA)
- Sr. Yvonne COLY, Former of the "Mater Christi" Center of
Bobo-Dioulasso (SENEGAL)
- Mr. Luis Fernando FIGARI, Founder of Sodalitium Vitae Christianae
(PERU)
- Rev. Athanasius SCHNEIDER. O.R.S., Spiritual Father and Director
of Studies of the Major Seminary of Karaganda. Secretary of the
Liturgical Commission of the Episcopal Conference (KAZAKHSTAN)
- Br. Marc HAYET, General Director of the Little Brothers of Jesus (FRANCE)
- Sr. Rita BURLEY, A.C.I., Superior General of the Handmaids of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus (GREAT BRITAIN)
- Rev. Ignacio GRAMSCH LABRA, Parish Vicar of San Luis Beltrán of
Pudahuel, Santiago de Chile. Archdiocesan Assessor of the Pastoral
Care of Acolytes (CHILE)
- Mr. Andrea RICCARDI, Founder of the Sant'Egidio Community (ITALY)
- Sr. Hermenegild MAKORO, C.P.S., of the Missionary Sisters of the
Most Precious Blood; Pastoral Animation of Christian Communities (REP.
OF SOUTH
AFRICA)
- Mr. Zbigniew NOSOWSKI, Director of the Catholic monthly "Więź",
Warsaw; Member of the National Council for the Laity in Poland (POLAND)
- Ms. Marie-Hélène MATHIEU, International Coordinator of the
Movement "Foi et Lumière" (FRANCE)
- Mr. Alexei V. JUDIN, Professor of History of the Church and of
Inter-confessional Dialogue in the Russian Federation, Russian State
University for the Humanities, St. Thomas College (Moscow) (RUSSIAN
FEDERATION)
- Mr. Francisco José GÓMEZ ARGÜELLO WIRTZ, Co-Founder of the
Neo-Catechumenal Way (SPAIN)
- Sr. Margaret WONG, F.D.C.C., of the Congregation of the Cannossian
Daughters of Charity; Promoter of the Centers of Eucharistic
Adoration (Hong Kong)
Below are the summaries of the interventions of the Auditors:
- Sr. Maria Regina CESARATO, Superior General of the Pius Disciples
of the Divine Master (ITALY)
I heartily thank for having received the gift of participating in
this Synodal Assembly which offers the opportunity to apostolically
vibrate with the pilgrim Church all over the world and to share the
sorrows and hopes.
I belong to the Congregation of the Pious Disciples of the Divine
Master, one of the 10 Institutions which form the Pauline Family,
founded by Blessed Giacomo Alberione. The theme of the Synod, made
clear in the Instrumentum Laboris, confirms us in our ecclesial
identity. In addition, our apostolic experience especially in the
area of liturgical pastoral care and of art at the service of the
Liturgy, highlights the need to continue to serve the people of God
offering a contribution for its formation because it reaches a full
and fruitful participation in the divine mysteries and because it
can prey in beauty. As a result, this will have gradual formation of
the “culture of the Eucharist” mentioned In No.78 of the
Instrumentum Laboris, and coincides with the “culture of life”. This
formative need for a liturgy which transforms human existence and
makes it reach its full accomplishment, we can also see in the
service to priests, in particular when they are ill or in particular
difficulty in their ministry. Then, we can experience, as
consecrated women, the importance that in the Church the “Marian
principle” is taken into account and valued, whereby Mary is the
“Eucharistic woman” next to the “Petrine principle”.
Blessed Giacomo Alberione, who perhaps is better known as the
Apostle of social communication, was a man of God deeply rooted in
the Eucharistic Mystery: celebrated, adored, experienced and
continuous source of apostolic creativity, for the good of the
Church. The determining Eucharistic experience goes back to the
night passing between two centuries, from 1800 to 1900, when in the
extended adoration, after the midnight Holy Mass Giacomo Alberione,
then a 16 year old seminarian felt he was enlightened by the Lord on
the situation of mankind and strongly perceived the urgency to place
his life at the service of the Gospel, valuing the most famous and
efficacious means. He understood more and more that this could not
bring fruit, according to God, if he had not had an intense life of
prayer as a basis. Hence, our Congregation is like a permanent
remembrance that the “Eucharist is the source and the summit” of the
whole life of the Church and therefore of the apostolate which is
carried out in the Pauline Family.
In our daily life which attempts to unite contemplation with
apostolic commitment, the source of everything is the Celebration of
the Holy Eucharist. This is extended in perpetual Adoration of the
Eucharist on shift, day and night, and is experienced as apostolic
prayer in addition to being a mystagogical experience. We live this
mystery of praise and of intercession as a form of solidarity which
unites us to the various situations of the Church and of mankind. In
this spirit, as is done also in other churches in the world, from 2
December 1981, we ensure on a daily basis our presence for Adoration
of the Eucharist in the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament in the
Vatican Basilica, according to the intentions of the Holy Father who
presides with love all the churches.
[00245-02.10] [AU007] [Original text: Italian]
- Ms. Bruna TOMASI, Member of the Executive Board of the Focolari
Movement (ITALY)
From the beginning of the Movement, God made us concentrate on
Jesus’ will: “May they all be one” (Jn 17:21). It seemed to us from
that moment that this was our Magna Charta.
And we understood right away that unity is absolutely linked to the
Eucharist: Jesus before asking the Father for unity among His own,
instituted the Eucharist, the Sacrament of unity!
It is for this reason that we immediately felt urged to approach the
Eucharist every day, certain that it was the Holy Spirit moving us
to this.
And it is for this reason that the active participation in the
Eucharistic celebration is an integral whole in the Movement’s
spirituality.
The Holy Mass is the most important moment of the day of the
Focolari movement. And at this moment we prepare ourselves, seeking
that among us, and the brothers and sisters that God from time to
time puts beside us, there be only charity: that there be no shadows
in our relationship, that nothing obscures the divine light of
Eucharist. Besides, does the Gospel not say: “So then, if you are
bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your
brother has something against you, leave your offering there before
the altar, go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then
come back and present your offering”? (Mt. 5:23-24).
It was clear to us that among us we needed that new heart, which is
the fruit of the Eucharist, but also the inescapable condition for
Eucharist to bear its fruits.
The first of these is the transformation in Christ.
And having Christ in Eucharist, we have experienced, and continue to
experience, that we can realize in an ever fuller way that unity
with our brothers and sisters, which, on the other hand, placed at
the base of our own life, permitted us to free within ourselves all
the divine force of Eucharist.
And here we understood something. The Risen Christ is in the womb of
the Father: the Church, His body through the Eucharist, is also, in
some way from down here, in the womb of the Father.
Then, our life appeared to us as the journey towards the achievement
of a reality that has been already given to us and in which we had
to strive to remain. There, the Eucharist guided us. There, the
Eucharist protected us.
In this short time conceded to me I would like to highlight a
particular reality.
The human being, in Christ, is guided in the wholeness of soul and
body, to the womb of the Father. And it is there that the whole
created reality waits to be lead, as St. Paul says (Rm 8:22).
We asked ourselves then (and continue to ask until now): Can we not
think that our bodies, nourished for so long by the Eucharist, once
buried in death in the womb of the earth, could be a germ of
transformation of the universe? To be, ourselves, Eucharist for the
earth? The earth consumes us just as we consume the Eucharist; but
to be changed in us, if I could say so, as we are changed in Christ.
Receiving our bodies nourished by Eucharist, can we think that the
earth is in this way prepared for that transformation to which God
calls it?
Eucharist, transformation of death into life, is life for the entire
universe. If this is true, so much more can we say - and we
experience it - that the Eucharist reveals itself to be the
instrument par excellence (I take the liberty to use the word) that
can operate the full Christification of all the activities of man.
[00246-02.04] [AU008] [Original text: Italian]
- Mr. Leonardo CASCO, President of the "Alianza para la Familia"
(HONDURAS)
It is completely valid that, in the interventions of the Holy
Fathers that I have listened to during these days with respect to
the various Nos. of the Instrumentum Laboris , there should have
been mostly reference to the activities and participation of the
Priest in the liturgy and in Eucharistic celebration. But my opinion
is that there should made equal emphasis on the fact that the lay
faithful of the beginning at the XXI century is not aware of having
been raised to the incomparable dignity of the Son of God and that
of belonging to that holy people that is the Roman Catholic
Apostolic Church, ignoring therefore, in the majority of cases,
their unique and irreplaceable vocation to sainthood, all of which
incapacitates Him, amongst other aspects, from giving a true
Christian witness in the various fields of his existence in the
world, to maintain a unit of life in the family, work, social and
political environments, and to perceive the live, real and personal
presence of Jesus in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
On the basis of the above and with the due respect, I wish to
mention the following, namely:
1. Given that reality tells us than an enormous contingent of
Catholics who live in the world today do not perfectly know the
doctrinal principles of faith that they profess, living what could
be called a “light” Catholicism (to use a fashionable word), it
might then appear indispensable and ineluctable to encounter 40
years after the conclusion of the 2nd Vatican Council, a new
catechetical formulation within and without the Eucharist, which
serves to assert to the lay faithful the basic fundamentals of our
religion, its dogmas of faith, its moral theology, etc., so that
every faithful Catholic may encounter justification of the sense of
living a coherently Christian life; so that a formula that gives
back to the lay faithful a basic doctrinal ethical and moral
formation, as well as the awareness of the importance of belonging
to the unique Church of Christ and the pride of being Catholic.
2. On this line I consider it equally necessary that the Bishops and
Priests should not have any objection to joyfully and safely
proposing to the lay faithful a life of demanding and robust faith,
which has been that of always and for everybody in the history of
our Church. I refer not only to insisting on the attendance at
Sunday Mass, but also in recommending daily practices of piety which
go from the offering of works in the morning to the prayer of the
Angelus and the Holy Rosary, to, why not, the daily mass whenever
possible. On the basis of my personal experience, I can point out
that when these practices of piety are explained and proposed
permanently, without respite and without fatigue, the fruits are
harvested almost immediately, leading the lay faithful to live in an
atmosphere of faith which improves them as much in their personal
life as in the supernatural. In this way, the baptized person will
be able to be better prepared to give true Christian witnessing in
today’s secularized and overwhelming world.
In summary, my intervention is expressed in concrete terms in
seeking that there should be injected with renewed enthusiasm in
today’s lay faithful, the demanding spirit of the early Christians,
that is to say, the resort to prayer and to mortification, the daily
practices of some basic rules of piety and the duty and right that
all us the faithful have to the apostolate.
[00248-02.05] [AU010] [Original text: Spanish]
- Ms. Martha Lorena ALVARADO de CASCO, President of the "Comité por
la Vida" (HONDURAS)
As a wife, mother, sister, daughter and grandmother, I think there
is lacking formation for women that early childhood should prepare
her for the development of her two essential characters: her
femininity and the gift of motherhood.
Woman is the natural educator of faith in the family, the most
simple and surest hand which brings us to be set out before Jesus in
the Eucharist. Sadly in the last decades, woman has been losing the
true meaning of her identity, therefore, of the genuine sense of her
Christian mission. Evidently, there are many factors which have
influenced this change of mentality, but what is certain is that the
same is reflected seriously not only in family and social life of
our countries, but also within the heart of the Church herself.
There is much to be done on the topic of woman; nonetheless, with
great respect I propose:
1.) Within the realms of possibility, separate education for boys
and girls should be maintained, with the aim of creating a
propitious atmosphere to form children in the image of the Virgin
Mary, model for every woman. Studies have been carried out showing
that separate education for boys and girls helps, amongst other
things, the educational process and the development of a healthy
affectivity, especially in adolescence. If we consider the increase
in sexual promiscuity, the growing number of pregnancies in
adolescents, and the horrifying abortion figures, we could conclude
that it is urgent to make an effort to offer young girls the
suitable conditions to acquire a solid Christian formation. Separate
education facilitates, furthermore, the rise in vocations to
religious life; consequently, in men that of priestly vocations.
2.) I would also like to bring up for your consideration, that one
should insist on the conformity of groups of youngsters, aimed
specifically at girls with the aim of strengthening their feminine
condition and their spiritual and doctrinal formation. Many times
have I observed an excessive familiarity between youngsters of
different sexes in young Catholic groups, even during the
celebration of the Holy Mass. Perhaps, the conformation of mixed
groups should not always be simply the norm for working with
youngsters, since somehow this situation could be an obstacle for
the rise of vocations to the priesthood and to religious life.
3.) Regarding No. 34 of the Instrumentum Laboris, it appears to me
timely to define specific rules for the way that a woman should
dress when she comes to Church or takes part in religious
activities. In my country, for example, one can more and more
observe a serious lack of care on the subject of modesty and the
Church should help woman to be aware of the value of her dignity and
the holiness of her body.
Finally, I think that, in parishes, it could be a wonderful
experience, to promote the adoration of Jesus in the Sacrament by
families on selected days of the week. Equally, I share in, as has
been shown in the course of time in various interventions, the
importance of providing confession to the lay faithful, because it
is convenient, to use the confessional booth when one is dealing
with women of any age, for many reasons.
[00247-02.05] [AU009] [Original text: Spanish]
- Mr. Carl Albert ANDERSON, Supreme Knight of the Order of the
Knights of Columbus (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)
My remarks are addressed to “Instumentum Laboris”, no. 37 on the
Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. In his recent address to the Ecclesial
Congress of the Diocese of Rome, our Holy Father reminded us, "Man
is created in the image of God, and God himself is love. For this
reason, the vocation to love is what makes man the authentic image
of God."
This call of a vocation to love is the anthropological basis of Pope
John Paul II's teaching on the dignity of the human person, marriage
and the family. (“Familiaris consortio”, no. 11) Perhaps only this
"anthropology of love" is strong enough to overcome the nihilism of
contemporary culture, that is, a culture that has broken the
connection between freedom and truth.
Descartes sought centuries ago to overcome philosophical relativism
by the assertion, "I think, therefore I am." Perhaps today
relativism can be overcome by a simple and yet more profound
insight, "I love, therefore I am." Or even better, "I have been
loved, therefore I am."
In our time it may be only through the truth of love that the truth
of freedom can once again be understood and freedom can be
re-connected to truth. Every person is searching for a love that is
true. And in this search for true love, each person in his or her
heart can grasp whether love is true, and in this truth can grasp a
basic truth of the human person.
But in a culture of materialism, secularism and relativism where can
one find the reality of true love? In our increasingly post-modern
culture of the West, philosophical reasoning has less and less
persuasive force. Yet all people still search for love, since the
vocation to love is written in the heart of each person.
We know that the love for which we search is available every day in
Our Lord's living sacrifice of himself present to us in the
Eucharist.
“Gaudium et Spes” tells us "it is only in the mystery of the Word
made flesh that the mystery of man truly becomes clear" (no. 22). Is
it not also then possible that in our time it is the mystery of the
Lord's holy sacrifice of himself that the identity of man-his value,
his dignity, his true vocation and the profound truth of his
existence-is revealed.
Thus, the Eucharistic ecclesiology and the Eucharistic community
that have so often been mentioned during this meeting pre-suppose a
Eucharistic anthropology. Through the exploration of a Eucharistic
vision of the human person-centered on the loving sacrifice of our
Lord in the Mass-we may find a new Catechism of the Eucharist which
will at the same time make possible a new evangelical gift: by
uniting man more intimately with Our Lord in the Eucharist will
unite man more intimately with the deepest reality of himself.
[00249-02.05] [AU011] [Original text: English]
- Most Rev. Peter John ELLIOTT, Director of the John Paul II
Institute for Matrimony and the Family in Melbourne. Member of the
International Council for Catechesis (AUSTRALIA)
In reference to the “Instrumentum Laboris”, nos. 43 and 52, re the
Ars Celebrandi and the eucharistic spirituality of priests. The
Roman Rite currently lacks prescribed preparation and a gradual
approach to the Eucharistic celebration, as is found in the Eastern
Rites. Therefore I make practical suggestions: that prescribed
prayers for vesting be said in the sacristy before all Masses,
including concelebrations; that the competent Dicasteries of the
Roman Curia prepare a 'Eucharistic Vademecum' for priests, including
prayers for preparation and thanksgiving and eucharistic adoration;
that all editions of the Liturgy of the Hours include the prayers of
preparation and thanksgiving for Mass. During Mass a celebrant's
prayer should animate his faithful observance of the rubrics, for
example, a subtle use of the voice and taking time to consecrate the
Sacred Species and elevate the Host and Chalice. Rubrics should be
interpreted in terms of leadership in prayer. With reference to
lnstrumentum Laboris, no. 66, like the Bishops of the United States,
Episcopal Conferences or Ordinaries might publish adaptations of the
Forty Hours Devotion, or the annual solemn exposition envisaged in
the Code of Canon Law. Altar manuals for the rites of public
adoration would also be welcomed by many priests.
[00250-02.05] [AU012] [Original text: English]
- Sr. Yvonne COLY, Former of the "Mater Christi" Center of
Bobo-Dioulasso (SENEGAL)
Thank you Most Holy Father for having invited me to participate in
this meeting which makes vibrate in me a more ecclesial heart, and
gives me a more alive awareness of the Church Family, of its mystery
of communion and of its universal reality.
In our case, women are called or are gathered because Life
“promotes” or because life “is threatened”, each person meets with
his or her own calabash.
Since it is about the Eucharist: Bread of Eternal Life; it is about
Life to be welcome, and to be promoted, since “the Eucharist itself
carries its project”, said our Pope John Paul II. So, it is
“serious”, since there is nothing greater - and it is “serious”
because its loss would be the worse we could have. his or her
calabash.
I am an African religious woman; I come to you with my particular
calabash...in the name of Life. Of our life open to the gifts of the
father that one must receive - live and transmit. By the faith
(white pearls), the Spirit makes us pass through death (black
pearls) to life in the generosity of lived love until the end (red
pearls) in joy (the cauris); it is about the calabash of the
offering of communion and of sharing.
If “The Eucharist makes the Church”, I can also say that “The
Eucharist makes consacrated life”. This aspect has been presented
with clarity and depth by His excellency Mgs. Rode.
Starting from this symbolism of the calabash, here is what I can,
what I can still add.
- Enlarged life: in the sharing of experiences of the Churches which
beautiful experienced realities around the Eucharist! We rejoice and
praise our God.
- Life is threatened: witnessing confirms it. People are hungry,
people are thirsty! Of meaning and of dignity - of reason and of
means for living: hunger, AIDS, exploitation of women and children -
ecology problems...
- Life must be developed and be maintained. “God has given us the
Eucharist for us not to be sterile nor ungrateful” (Saint Irene
quoted by Mgs. A. Sanon). Alone once enlightened can adore , praise
give grace, serve in “spirit and in truth”.
- many have insisted on the need for a catechesis at all levels -
for the seminarians, likewise for us the consecrated persons, in
particular for women a formation which is doctrinal, liturgical,
pastoral and spiritual but also cultural, and in psycho-pedagogy of
transmission and communication.
- Nurture for priests a formation in the sense and in the mission of
consecrated life - in spiritual accompaniment in view of helping us
to live our meetings in the sacraments of the Eucharist and of
penitence as a way of conversion, of communion but also of growth
and of spiritual maturity, that we may be capable of living “the
passages”of death to life: inherent in our condition as sinners, in
difficulties of common and apostolic life.
On behalf of all the consecrated people, both active and cloistered
from developing countries, I wish to thank the Holy father, his
collaborators and the particular Churches for granted subsidies both
for formation and for creating formation institutes in our
countries. “Lord, I lift up to you the calabash of faith, of Hope
and of Love for your church. Produce yourself the fruits which you
would like the Synod to produce “so that your people may have life
and have it in fullness.” We ask you for this through Mary, Mother
of life”.
[00251-02.09[AU013] [Original text: French]
- Mr. Luis Fernando FIGARI, Founder of Sodalitium Vitae Christianae
(PERU)
In the present days of magnificent experience of the ecclesial life
the wonder?? before the mystery has spread before the reiterated
glance at the Eucharist.
One observes that it is fundamental to study thoroughly into the
appraisal of the loving and free sacrifice of the Son of Mary, the
awareness of what the miracle of the Real Presence means, of who one
lives the participation in the Sunday mass, the connection between
Penitence and communion, the Adoration of the Lord Jesus who remains
as Emmanuel in the most Holy, as the ars celebrandi, the spiritual
communion, as value in itself and a reply and reply to painful
pastoral situations, and so many other fundamental themes.
The impact of functional agnosticism, secularization and so many
evil currents which seal the “death culture” invite a growing and
fervent new evangelization ad intra Ecclesiae, before the weaknesses
that are observed.
Faith, key to Christian life, is the fundament that permits us to
draw near to the Eucharist, and therefore merits special attention.
It demands an upright anthological and cultural perspective, as well
as a careful look at the process of how longing for the infinite and
the quadruple reconciliation of the human are snatched away by the
many successors who offer ideologies and the praxis of this
time/these days.
The look of faith on the gift of the Eucharist should lead to the
continuous wonderment and to cry out: “My Lord and my God!”.
As others, today’s time(s) has also characteristics and requirements
which constitute a challenge to Christian life and to
evangelization. But with the aid, which comes from God, they will
not be unsurmountable. Yes, we should be aware of our frailties and
from them open up to the light and strength which comes to our aid,
and thus live and agree with the world of our hope.
[00252-02.03] [AU014] [Original text: Spanish]
- Rev. Athanasius SCHNEIDER. O.R.S., Spiritual Father and Director
of Studies of the Major Seminary of Karaganda. Secretary of the
Liturgical Commission of the Episcopal Conference (KAZAKHSTAN)
I spent my infancy and the first part of my adolescence in the
Soviet Union. Sacramental life, and especially the Eucharistic one,
had to unfold in secrecy. What struck me in a deep way, and has
remained as a living impression in my memory was the attitude
towards Holy Communion, which I would describe as ars communicandi,
in allusion to the expression ars celebrandi. I give the examples of
two priests of that time. The first is Blessed Alessio Saritski, who
died martyred in Kazakhstan (+30/10/1963). In the fifties, during
his clandestine visits to the deported Catholics in the Urali
mountains, where my parents were to be found, my mother asked him to
leave a consecrated host for her seriously ill mother, who ardently
wanted to receive Holy Communion one more time before dying, since
she didn’t know if or when a priest would return to that distant
region. Blessed Alessio left a consecrated host with my mother,
instructing her to administrate Holy Communion in the most reverent
way possible. When the appropriate moment arrived, my mother put on
some white gloves, and with a pair of tweezers gave Holy communion
to her sick mother, and this was her last Communion. While
administering Holy communion to her, my mother herself ardently
desired to receive it, but not being able to do so sacramentally,
she did so in a spiritual way. Some years passed still, before my
mother could receive Holy Communion. But that spiritual communion
gave her the strength to remain faithful during the time of
persecution, and to transmit love and respect for the Eucharist to
her children. The other example is Father Janis Pawlowski. He also
spent time in the Stalinist lagers of Kazakhstan and later died in a
holy was in Lithuania (+09/05/2000). He administered first Communion
to me in secrecy. We were a small group of children. The external
circumstances were rather modest, but there was great interior
feasting in the soul, and Fr. Pawlowski used to say to us: make sure
you make every Communion as if it were your first and last
Communion.
[00253-02.03] [AU015] [Original text: Italian]
- Br. Marc HAYET, General Director of the Little Brothers of Jesus
(FRANCE)
I start from the experience of our contemplative fraternities placed
in the midst of the poor. The Eucharist is the usual way of our
prayer. However, as is written by Charles Foucauld, the Lord made us
join “the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and an exposed life”.
A life exposed to the sight of poor people who know we have a job
and a life similar to theirs and that we share the same concerns for
a more just and worthy existence. A life exposed also to this other
presence of the Lord: His presence next to the poor. People’s lives
do not leave us; this is part of our prayer. This sharing of life
makes us discover the face of the God of tenderness who humbly walks
with us, as the Eucharist means it.
I would like to make a request. Let’s pay attention to the way we
speak. To talk about our world mainly in terms of “culture of
death”, is this not lacking respect to everybody who is trying to
live their faith in God or their faith in man giving themselves up
for the service of life - ever since the father or mother of a
family right up to people involved in political or social life? This
world, this is also the place of all types of generosity and all
types of commitment, sometimes at the cost of life. And it is that
world, mixed, and there is not another one where the Father loves,
for the reason why He gave His Son (the Eucharist reminds us of
this), and works His Spirit.
Secularization has stripped us of the influence which we had. It is
hard for us to accept this. Men and women today cannot hear the Word
of the Gospel unless we present it to them as a proposition
addressed to their freedom, in a true dialogue where we respect
their search and where we accept to receive from their competence
and experience of life, including the one of the poorest who are
rich in humanity. Perhaps the humble sign of bread and wine,
accessible to everybody and which can be understood by everybody,
invites us to this dialogue.
[00254-02.03] [AU016] [Original text: French]
- Sr. Rita BURLEY, A.C.I., Superior General of the Handmaids of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus (GREAT BRITAIN)
The Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a religious Congregation
founded by St Raphaela María Porras in Spain in 1877, hold at the
heart of their life the celebration of the Eucharist; it is to the
Institute what the root is to the tree, LIFE.
The invitation of Christ “to do this is memory of me” is lived by
prolonging the grace of the celebration in Eucharistic adoration and
in apostolic work which communicates the experience of God’s
redemptive love.
Contemplation of Christ in the Eucharist moves us to seek and
respond to his presence in all things, making our life a continual
act of worship. “In all my actions I must keep in mind that I am in
a great temple, and I as a priest, must offer continual sacrifice
and praise, always and in everything to God’s greater glory”, St.
Rafaela Mary Porras.
“There is no true celebration or adoration of the Eucharist that
does not lead to mission”. (John Paul II, 9.10.04) What transforms
all we are and do into a participation in Christ’s mission, is the
transformation of our heart by communion with the Love of Christ in
the Eucharistic mystery. As we gaze upon the Heart of “Him whom they
have pierced” (Jn 19, 37) we see the Loving Kindness of God and so
we look on the world with hope.
Our desire is to be women and communities of compassion and
communion, at the service of true life (Jn 6, 35). “I have come that
they may have life in abundance” (Jn 10.10.). We do this in many
ways depending on local need and culture; the Eucharist is always
the pulsating heart of our mission (cf. I.L. 88).
The people of Bazertete in East Timor live the painful consequences
of war. Our Sisters offer the healing presence of Eucharistic
adoration, support humanitarian and educational projects and spend
themselves listening to the pain and accompanying the people along
the arduous road to peace and reconciliation.” My peace I give you,
my peace I leave you” (Jn 14, 27).
In the diocese of Yokahama, Japan, in the midst of a strong Buddhist
culture the Sisters give a silent witness to their faith in the
Presence of the Risen Lord; and in the education they offer in
schools and university transmit the gospel values of love,
forgiveness and respect. Many have been drawn to faith in Jesus.
“When I am lifted up I will draw all people to myself” (Jn 12, 32).
Eucharist and work for Justice are inseparable. Communion with
Christ in the Eucharist implies accepting the moral responsibility
to work with Him, in collaboration with others, to transform unjust
structures and mentalities into strategies and plans which further
the true nature of God’s love for our human family. “God, here I am,
I am coming to do your will” (Heb 10, 7).
[00255-02.04] [AU017] [Original text: English]
- Rev. Ignacio GRAMSCH LABRA, Parish Vicar of San Luis Beltrán of
Pudahuel, Santiago de Chile. Archdiocesan Assessor of the Pastoral
Care of Acolytes (CHILE)
I am still surprised at being invited to take part in the Synod as
an auditor. I am very surprised but all the more thankful to God for
giving me the opportunity to listen to the with how much love you
Bishops speak of the our beloved Church and are revealed for the
evangelization of the today’s world with the certainty of the
presence of Jesus the Lord, in our midst, in the Eucharist.
For the last 5 years I have been responsible for the Pastoral of the
Acolytes of the Archdiocese of Santiago. We work with children and
youngsters serve at the altar, so that the celebration of the
Sacraments and especially the Eucharist, should be celebrated with
much love, devotion and beauty.
In the Youth and Vocational Pastoral Care we realized the importance
of working with the acolytes because a rather significant percentage
of the priests in Chile today, were acolytes when they were children
or young. Probably some of you dear Bishops were also acolytes when
you were young.
We have developed a simple formation journey for the acolytes of
Santiago which consists of six stages from which the child is
admitted and wishes to prepare himself to serve at the altar until
he receives the Sacrament of Confimation. At each stage there are
targets to achieve, topics for meetings, suggested activities and a
final evaluation. Let’s consider a youngster between the ages of 8
to 18. Weekly meetings are envisaged with his monitor, the closeness
to the priests, the integration with the youth pastoral care. In the
formation, we have taken the youngster as an integral part and
alongside the doctrinal, catechetical and liturgical formation, we
wish them to be good students, good children good citizens and
future good parents of Catholic families.
The acolytes (altar-boys) do not only attend the Holy Mass on
Sundays but also some days in the week. Being close to the lord in
the Eucharist they are more ready to adore the Lord as we are told
by the Instrumentum Laboris No. 65. There are accustomed to being
close to and friends of the priest, so that many times they have in
him, a spiritual director. Thare are used to participating in
spiritual retreats and formation courses. Many of these children
arrive at their chapels or churches ahead of the priest for the
celebration of the Eucharist and help in the preparation of the
altar, of the missal, of the lectionary, the flowers etc... They are
feeling and living so that the Eucharist is from them and what they
do also helps in the beauty of the celebration.
We have integrated the parents of these children, because they wish
to know where their children are, with whom they are and what are
the activities that they are doing. In many cases the children are
the ones or have attracted their parents to the Church, thus the
altar-bos are converting into an entrance portal to the sacraments
for the whole family.
I would like to request that the Synod and perhaps also our Holy
Father, could say a few words to foment/foster the development of
altar-boys in our Church. At times, the priests prefer to work with
adult committed lay faithful for these so simple liturgical
services. Adults do not cause them problems, do not ask indiscreet
questions, and used to be more punctual and responsible. On the
other hand, one needs to have patience, toe listen to and to educate
with love when one deals with children and youngsters. However,
priestly vocations will not emerge from married men who already have
a family and who perhaps do not trouble the Church, they will emerge
from those youngsters who discover the immense love of God and who
are welcomed and offered the appropriate condition for prayer and
spiritual life for them to be considerate to the Lord Jesus if He
calls them to follow Him closer in the priestly, religious or
consecrated life. The pastoral care of the altar-boys wishes to
place all the conditions so that these children and youngsters can
make profound encounters with the Lord Jesus and follow Him
throughout their lives in the vocation to which God wishes to call
them.
[00256-02.03] [AU018] [Original text: Spanish]
- Mr. Andrea RICCARDI, Founder of the Sant'Egidio Community (ITALY)
The life of the Christian among people frequently falls into
anonymity. Do Christians have something to give to others? One can
give only that which one has received: the bread of the Word and of
the Eucharist. Jesus says to the disciples: “give them something to
eat yourselves” (Mt 14:16): it is the mission. If good bread is
offered, the experience is that there is hunger for it; that times
are less negative than it seems to us. And faced with great
poverties? Today they are lost or forgotten. The poor cannot be
deprived of the Gospel. Charity does not last without the
nourishment of Eucharist. I saw this in many known and unknown lives
among the poor, who make of the Church today - in spite of our
limits - a source for the most desperate. Finally, Christians from
the hell lived in the persecutions of the XX century, show that it
is always possible to live and to communicate the Gospel. In the
year 2000, John Paul II called to gather the witnesses of the new
martyrs. I draw attention to the fact that this is an action to be
undertaken in the particular Churches and at the centre of the
Church. There is a testament of the martyrs to be opened in the
context of Eucharist. The bond between Eucharist and martyrdom is a
source of trust and hope, beyond our reading of situations, be they
realistic of pessimistic.
[00257-02.03] [AU019] [Original text: Italian]
- Sr. Hermenegild MAKORO, C.P.S., of the Missionary Sisters of the
Most Precious Blood; Pastoral Animation of Christian Communities
(REP. OF SOUTH AFRICA)
I am Sr. Makoro, a member of the Diocesan Animation Team of the
diocese of Umtata in South Africa. Since January this year we go
around to the parishes and small Christian communities of the
diocese and conduct workshops with them on the deeper meaning of the
Eucharist. Having my ear at the pulse of the faithful at grass-root
level I would like to share with you a frightening observation.
Firstly, there is an alarming ignorance even among old and good
Catholics concerning the deeper meaning of the Eucharist. Secondly,
for most of them, the Eucharistic Prayer is nothing more than an
other prayer read by the priest after the service of the Word. The
service of the Word is sometimes more exciting than the reading of
the canon by the priest.
We have discovered as well that good sermons or brilliant lectures
on the Eucharist remain in the air unless the deeper meaning of the
Eucharist, the mystery, can be experienced in the actual celebration
itself.
Therefore, please, allow me to raise the following request:
We ask our liturgical authorities to find ways and means how to
highlight and emphasize essential topics theme of the Eucharist in
our Eucharistic prayers in order to help the faithful to get in
touch with the mystery and experience it.
For example, in the service of the Word we highlight and emphasize
the presence of the Lord by a solemn gospel-book procession and
singing our joyful alleluia.
Therefore, my humble request is:
Can we do something similar during the Eucharistic prayer to
highlight and emphasize the various aspects of the Eucharistic
mystery, for example:
- The presence of Christ in person: (e.g. by silent adoration,
joyful welcome.)
- The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross: (e.g. by a crucifix being
shown, emphasizing "given up for you", highlighting the breaking of
bread.)
- The sacrifice of the Church: (human suffering is being voiced)
- The resurrection of Jesus: (greeting the risen Lord, isibongo!)
- The celebration of thanksgiving (let people voice short
acclamations of thanksgiving)
- The celebration of unity: (bring people of different origins
around the altar, peace-making
between two parties)
- The eternal Wedding Feast of the Lamb: (emphasize saints and
ancestors)
My second suggestion is:
A set of Eucharistic celebrations could be prepared which are
dealing with the different aspect of the Eucharistic mystery. They
could suggest suitable readings, a special preface, special
presidential prayers and different possibilities to highlight the
particular theme during the Eucharistic prayers. Such a set of
Eucharistic celebrations could be used in parishes occasionally in
order to highlight a special aspect of the Eucharistic mystery.
[00258-02.02] [AU020] [Original text: English]
- Mr. Zbigniew NOSOWSKI, Director of the Catholic monthly "Więź",
Warsaw; Member of the National Council for the Laity in Poland
(POLAND)
1. 10 years ago together with friends of the same generation I
prepared a book and a TV series entitled "Children of Vatican II ask
questions". The phrase we chose - "children of the Council" - became
quite popular in Poland as a name for those Catholics who were born
together with II Vatican Council and who do NOT remember any other
liturgy but the one in our native language, for whom things
discovered anew by the last Council as universal call to holiness,
ecumenical openness, dialogue with other religions and with
non-believers - are by no means novelties, but a part of the obvious
Church's official teaching, part and parcel of Tradition.
Out of this experience let me now use this opportunity of speaking
at the Synod of Bishops that is taking place in the year of the 40th
anniversary of the closing of Vatican II in order to thank God's
Providence for this great gift of the Council and of postconciliar
reforms, including a liturgical one. There have been, of course,
many abuses in celebrating the Eucharist and they should be
overcome. But let me express my conviction that were it not for the
liturgical reform, many Catholics of my generation would have not
found their place in the Church (or at least it would have been much
more difficult).
2. The Eucharist is undoubtedly the most important moment of the
Church's life. Let me use the business language - it is the Church's
flagship or showcase. Very often it is the only reality through
which a number of nominal Catholics or non-Catholics have any direct
contact with the Church. Therefore, even for pragmatic reasons, we
should do our best in every parish in order to make Sunday mass a
truly beautiful one, inspiring, leading its participants into depth.
It is fine when parishes are revitalized with festive garden-parties
or sport activities, but the most important element of parish life
should be care for the Sunday Eucharist.
In this field the responsibility of a priest is the crucial one. If
a Mass is only said by a priest, it is only listened to by his
parishioners. If it is celebrated by a priest as the great mystery,
if he knows, feels and expresses the spirit of liturgy, if he in a
visible way prays while celebrating the Eucharist - it is
experienced by the laity as an invitation to the deep communion with
God.
3. So much depends on the priest, but at the same time let me say
that what I'm lacking in this Synod's discussions is a reflection on
lay spirituality, say: lay Eucharistic spirituality. Instrumentum
laboris mentions it very briefly in numbers 75-76, but it reduced
there to devotions. For me the Eucharistic spirituality is not just
mass attendance and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. It covers
the whole life.
Especially lay Christians of today do need a new understanding of
relations between the Eucharist and their everyday life. The
Eucharist - as a sacrifice, as a presence, as a meal, as a memorial
- says something very important and very concrete to our daily
decisions, to what we do in our marriages, in our families, in our
offices, in our kitchens, in our bedrooms, in the social life. It
says: the more you give yourself to others, the more you'll find
yourself; the more you love, the more you should sacrifice; the more
you give, the more you'll receive. This is the Eucharistic attitude,
in this way you become a truly Eucharistic person, even if you do
not participate in the Holy Mass everyday. In this way Mary was a
woman of the Eucharist - yet before it was established!
4. My over 20 years experience of participation in the "Faith and
Ught" movement founded by Jean Vanier and Marie-Helene Mathieu leads
to my final suggestion. In these communities, gathered around
persons with mental handicaps, I learned that the Church has got two
treasures: the Eucharist and the poor. But both treasures rather
seldom go together. We need visible signs of their unity. In a
special way those who take part in sharing of the Eucharistic bread
should always in a visible way express their solidarity with the
poor ones who do not have their daily bread to eat.
[00259-02.02] [AU021] [Original text: English]
- Ms. Marie-Hélène MATHIEU, International Coordinator of the
Movement "Foi et Lumière" (FRANCE)
With reference to No. 79 of the Instrumentum Laboris, there is
mention here to the link between Christ present in the Eucharist and
Christ present in disable persons, whether physical, sensorial,
psychic or mental (who represent 20 to 25% of the population).
1. The attitude of society, in spite of all the progress
accomplished is often still scornful and considered as a cast out.
(For example, laws on abortion envisage the suppression of a disable
child right up to the eve of birth). At the extreme opposite ends of
these customs, Jesus shows special love for all the disable people.
In addition to the treasure of His presence in the Eucharist, jesus
assures us of His presence in the poor and weak.
2. John Paul II, speaking of mentally disable people, said to them:
“Take your place in the heart of the Church”. How can the parishes
help them to better find this place?
Special adjustments can contribute towards this, but what is more
important is the quality of welcome which allows each one to feel
loved, called to love, and to be useful.
3. The Church asks parents for the unconditional respect of the
sacred life of their child since his or her conception. Since it is
important at the same time, for her to give them light, support them
and assure them of her presence by their side in the human and
spiritual growth of their samll child!
4. People who have a mentally disable person, since they cannot
express themselves with words, they can show by their attitude that
they can distinguish the body of Christ from ordinary nourishment,
and can be prepared to receive it.
Conversely, some priests, referring to Canon Law 913 hesitate to
give the Eucharist to people who are very disable who do not seem to
have relations.
Could one not consider the great wish and joy of Jesus to give
Himself to the most deprived of His faithful? Could the practices of
the Oriental Churches concerning the three sacraments of Christian
initiation help the Church to deepen her reflection on this subject?
[00260-02.04] [AU022] [Original text: French]
- Mr. Alexei V. JUDIN, Professor of History of the Church and of
Inter-confessional Dialogue in the Russian Federation, Russian State
University for the Humanities, St. Thomas College (Moscow) (RUSSIAN
FEDERATION)
I would like to make a brief reference to number 86 of the
Instrumentum Laboris on the theme Eucharist and Ecumenism.
As you know, in Russia we Catholics face in a serious way the
problem of dialogue with the Orthodox. In this Synodal Hall we have
recently heard different interventions on this point, among them the
practical specification of Card. W. Kasper. The reports of Card. L.
Husar and some of the Prelates of the Catholic Oriental Churches.
The question asked by Card. Husar about the paradoxical existence of
the “supersummit” of Christian life in the perspective of the unity
of the Churches, touches my heart and seems most demanding. The
truth is that before the Sacrament of the Eucharist, we, both
Catholic and Orthodox, experience that true amazement which has been
mentioned so often during this Assembly. This amazement is
disconcerting and frustrating. The reality is that it is exactly in
the ecumenical significance of the Eucharist that the great scandal
of the division among Christians reveals itself. Exactly in front of
the Eucharistic Christ it becomes evident that there are no excuses
for the disintegration of the Christian world.
From us Catholics there are norms that regulate intercommunion with
non Catholics. But the mutual recognition with the Orthodox of the
real presence of the Lord in the Eucharist commits us to take steps
forward in the road or coming closer once again. Which steps must we
take? First of all, without violating the well set out rules and
diluting Catholic identity, we must think how to overcome the
present ecumenical crisis. Ecumenism, in its present form is
concentrated above all on arguments over diverse historical,
theological issues, etc. The dimension of a spiritual Ecumenism
limits itself to generic prayers and fraternal encounters at
different levels, but stops in short, before the Eucharist. In
effect, all these expressions and events try to evade the
Eucharistic reality.
In this case, I think the self-same presence of Jesus in the
Eucharist should guide us towards the future. It is necessary to go
in depth to the meaning of this living presence of the Lord. This
common path must continue on the road already begun of reciprocal
knowledge. In the last century we made real progress in that
knowledge, and we should not content ourselves with the fruits
gathered up to now.
How can we deepen this knowledge in the perspective of the
Eucharist? I have no certain answer, but I can offer you a proposal.
We have many charisms in the Catholic Church - the charisms of the
diverse Orders, the different Religious Congregations, of the
various Movements, etc. We can assure the unity between them, not
only on a juridic-administrative level, but also on a spiritual
level. These charisms, these spiritual gifts of the Catholic reality
are very different among themselves. Perhaps even more
differentiated, if not in doctrine, definitely in sensitivity and
expression, than the Catholic reality and the Orthodox reality in
their complex whole. Therefore, if we are able to organize things in
the Catholic environment guaranteeing unity among the different
charisms, why can we not bring closer the Eucharistic Mystery
together in the reconciled unity between the Orient and the West.
The crucial and decisive issue in this case is summarized in the
absolute sincerity in retaining that our strength is in Christ and
in his Eucharistic presence, as the well known Orthodox theologian,
Pavel Florenskij, said.
[00292-02.02] [AU023] [Original text: Italian]
- Mr. Francisco José GÓMEZ ARGÜELLO WIRTZ, Co-Founder of the
Neo-Catechumenal Way (SPAIN)
I cannot neglect bearing witness before this Assembly to that which
the Lord is doing.
I have still before my eyes the encounter of cologne, where the Way
has brought more than 100 thousand young people and where, as a
fruit of the Days with Pope Benedict XVI, in the vocational
encounter that we had the day after, a thousand young people to
enter the Seminary, and so many girls for the life of contemplation
and adoration.
How was this event possible? The Pope said it in Cologne: form
communities based on faith that walk a journey towards Christ, in
communion with the Pope and with the Bishops.
It is amazing to think that behind each of these young people there
is a small community in the Parish, in which they are following a
journey of Christian Initiation and in which the Eucharist,
celebrated in their own community, is fundamental to mature their
faith and their vocation.
Many of these youths come from families that are already rebuilt,
and others, that were far from the Church, have seen the signs of
faith in living communities. They have received the proclamation of
the kerygma in Catechesis and have initiated a post-Baptismal
catechumenate of rediscovery of Baptism, at the centre of which is
the Easter vigil that sings and realizes the mystery of our
salvation.
Given that the Eucharist, Easter of the week, feeds Christian life,
we must ask ourselves today: What si Christian life? What does the
Church announce?
That God has sent his son to the world to make the world pass from
this world to Heaven, from slavery to freedom, from death to life.
Christ, is risen, the Church cries! Christ has won over death and
lives risen in Christians. How can we carry this news to the world?
St Paul says: “always we carry with us in our body the death of
Jesus so that the life of Jesus, too, may be visible in our body...”
so that “when death is at work in us”, the world receives life. (2
cor 4:10;12)
This is the dynamism of Easter that feeds out faith: we need Christ
to give us, in the Eucharist his dying for us, in the broken bread
and in his Blood poured out, in order to show his Resurrection, his
eternal life, to the world.
[00293-02.04] [AU024] [Original text: Italian]
Sr. Margaret WONG, F.D.C.C., of the Congregation of the Cannossian
Daughters of Charity; Promoter of the Centers of Eucharistic
Adoration (Hong Kong)
Thank you for allowing me to speak on behalf of the disabled people
of HK.
In the past, most of our handicapped people were deprived of
Eucharistic Celebration because the churches were "not" accessible.
Thank God that in 1993, the Diocesan Pastoral Centre for Disabled
was set up and our disabled started having masses for different
groups, according to their special needs. Despite our limitation and
poverty, like the poor widow in the Gospel, we invested "all" we had
with wholeheartedness.
In those years, our society was full of fear and uncertainty before
the return to China in 1997. Recognizing our powerlessness in
resolving any problem, we started to commit ourselves to daily
holy-hour and intercessory prayers in the Handicapped Centre. By
1996, Adoration was extended to 12 hours daily, focussing on prayer
for the sanctification of priests. We were deeply touched by
witnessing the disabled take all the sacrifices to come for Mass and
adoration, while the so called "able" have no time.
Meanwhile, the percentage of people with psychological problems and
suicidal tendency was ever increasing. These people with a broken
self-image, broken relationships and broken spirit were rejected by
their broken families and our broken society marked with secularism
and materialism. We see in the Eucharist the broken heart of Christ
thirsting to save a broken humanity; in Him we learn to embrace and
love sincerely all these broken ones. We invited them to seek
spiritual healing from our Eucharistic Lord. Many inner healings
were reported, and we also received numerous phone calls from
strangers requesting intercessions. In response to the urgent inner
calling to my heart from our Lord, in 2002, I set up a small group
aiming at Lay consecrated life with the name "Eucharistic Oblates
for the Vulnerable" with the full support from our Bishop Joseph
Zen. It started with 7 members with physical, mental or other
vulnerabilities and we were all dedicated to perpetual adoration. We
believe that vulnerability is a loving gift from the Father and can
be transformed into blessings, a pathway for sanctification through
the transforming power of the Eucharist.
To start with, our group supported the daily adoration at the
Pastoral Centre to become a Perpetual Adoration centre. With the
increase of members, we had a 2nd Perpetual Adoration Centre since
Ash Wednesday of this year. In both Centres, we are blessed to have
daily mass (with homily), Benediction, Marian hour and sung Divine
Office (even for the blind), weekly Lectio Divina for different age
groups, monthly Healing Masses and Catechesis and several Retreats
centred on Eucharistic With this special Charism of joining broken
people to Eucharistic adoration, the Lord gradually sends us many
volunteers who are also dedicated to perpetual Eucharistic adoration
to help our ministry, such as:
1. To fast on bread and water every Wednesday and Friday, and to
pray particularly for individual priests.
2. Weekly, and monthly Eucharistic adoration for Children, and even
over-night adoration during Holidays.
3. Eucharistic adoration for hundreds of primary school students of
which only around 10% are Catholic, calling on the amazement of
their teachers for their extraordinary attentiveness towards the
Eucharistic Lord.
4. Eucharistic adoration in Republic China, resulting with daily
holy hour or even perpetual adoration in all the Parishes to which
we have gone. (e.g.Bien Chuen in Hebei, & St. Peter and Paul in
Shanghai).
5. Spiritual Healing of SARS patients and relatives, as well as
front line medical workers at critical periods
6. Daily Lunch time fasting & intercession.
7. Intercession from 12 midnight to 6 a.m. for the priest's homily.
8. Website: www.eucharisticoblate.org/.
We pray that, through the intercession of our late Pope John Paul
II, the Eucharistic Lord may feed the hunger of our Chinese people
with His Word and His Bread and soon His majesty may reign in China.
Maranatha. Amen.
[00305-02.05] [AU025] [Original text: English]
♦ NOTICES
● BRIEFING
● SECOND PRESS CONFERENCE
● THIRD PRESS CONFERENCE
● BRIEFING
The Briefing of the linguistic groups of Saturday 15 October 2005
will take place at mid-day.
● SECOND PRESS CONFERENCE
Accredited journalists are informed that on Saturday 22 October
2005, at 12:45 p.m., in the John Paul II Conference Hall of the Holy
See Press Office, the Third Press Conference will be held on the
works of the XI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops
(Elenchus finalis). There will intervene:
● H.Em. Card. Francis ARINZE
Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of
the Sacraments
President-Delegate
● H.Em. Card. Juan SANDOVAL IÑIGUEZ
Archbishop of Guadalajara (Mexico)
President-Delegate
● H.Em. Card. Telesphore Placidus TOPPO
Archbishop of Ranchi (India)
President-Delegate
● H.Exc. Most. Rev. Msg. John Patrick FOLEY
Titular Archbishop of Neapolis in Proconsulari
President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications
President of the Commission for Information
● H.Exc. Most. Rev. Msg. Sofron Stefan MUDRY, O.S.B.M.
Bishop Emeritus of Ivano-Frankivsk, Stanislav of the Ukrainians
Vice-President of the Commission for Information
● THIRD PRESS CONFERENCE
Accredited journalists are informed that on Saturday 22 October
2005, at 12:45 p.m., in the John Paul II Conference Hall of the Holy
See Press Office, the Third Press Conference will be held on the
works of the XI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops
(Elenchus finalis).
● H. Em. Card. George PELL
Archbishop of Sydney (Australia)
● H. Em. Card. Marc OUELLET, P.S.S.
Archbishop of Québec (Canada)
● H.Exc. Most. Rev. Msg. Roland MINNERATH
Archbishop of Dijon (France)
Special Secretary
● H.Exc. Most. Rev. Msg. Salvatore FISICHELLA
Titular Bishop of Voghenza
Auxiliary of Rome
Magnificent Rector of the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome
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