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05 - 11.10.2010
SUMMARY
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FIRST GENERAL CONGREGATION (MONDAY, 11 OCTOBER 2010 - MORNING) -
CONTINUATION
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SECOND GENERAL CONGREGATION (MONDAY, 11 OCTOBER 2010 - AFTERNOON)
- NOTICES
FIRST GENERAL CONGREGATION (MONDAY, 11 OCTOBER 2010 -MORNING) -
CONTINUATION
- REFLECTION BY THE HOLY FATHER
At the opening of the First General Congregation this morning,
Monday 11 October 2010, after the brief reading of the Hour of Terce,
the Holy Father Benedict XVI gave the following reflection:
Dear brothers and sisters,
On October 11 1962, 48 years ago, Pope John XXIII inaugurated
Vatican Council II. At the time, on October 11, the feast day of the
Divine Motherhood of Mary was celebrated and, with this gesture,
with this date, Pope John wished to entrust the whole Council into
the motherly hands and maternal heart of the Madonna. We too begin
on October 11th, we too wish to entrust this Synod, with
all its problems, with all its challenges, with all its hopes, to
the maternal heart of the Madonna, the Mother of God.
Pius XI, in 1930, introduced this feast day, 1600 years after the
Council of Ephesus, which had legitimated, for Mary, the title of
Theotokos, Dei Genitrix. With this great word Dei Genitrix,
Theotokos, the Council of Ephesus had summarized the entire doctrine
of Christ, of Mary, the whole of the doctrine of redemption. So it
would be worthwhile to reflect briefly, for a moment, on what was
said during the Council of Ephesus, on what this day means.
In reality, Theotokos is a courageous title. A woman is the Mother
of God. One could say: how is this possible? God is eternal, he is
the Creator. We are creatures, we are in time: how could a human
being be the Mother of God, of the Eternal, since we are all in
time, we are all creatures? Therefore one can understand that there
was some strong opposition, in part, to this term. The Nestorians
used to say: one can speak about Christotokos, yes, but Theotokos
no: Theos, God, is beyond, beyond the events of history. But the
Council decided this, and thus it enlightened the adventure of God,
the greatness of what he has done for us. God did not remain in
Himself: he went out, He united in such a way, so radically to this
man, Jesus, that this man Jesus is God, and if we speak about Him,
we can also speak about God. Not only was a man born that had
something to do with God, but in Him was born God on earth. God came
from himself. But we could also say the opposite: God drew us to
Himself, so that we are not outside of God, but we are within the
intimate, the intimacy of God Himself.
Aristotelian philosophy, as we well know, tells us that between God
and man there is only an unreciprocated relationship. Man refers to
God, but God, the Eternal, is in Himself, He does not change: He
cannot have this relation today and another relationship tomorrow.
He is within Himself, He does not have ad extra relations. It is a
very logical term, but it is also a word that makes us despair: so
God has no relationship with me. With the incarnation, with the
event of the Theotokos, this has been radically changed, because God
drew us into Himself and God in Himself is the relationship and
allows us to participate in His interior relationship. Thus we are
in His being Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we are within His being in
relationship, we are in relationship with Him and He truly created
the relationship with us. At that moment, God wished to be born from
woman and remain Himself: this is the great event. And thus we can
understand the depth of the act by Pope John, who entrusted the
Council, Synodal Assembly to the central mystery, to the Mother of
God who is drawn by the Lord into Himself, and thus all of us with
Her.
The Council began with the icon of the Theotokos. At the end, Pope
Paul VI recognized the same title of Mater Ecclesiae to the Madonna.
And these two icons, which begin and end the Council, are
intrinsically linked, and are, in the end, one single icon. Because
Christ was not born like any other individual. He was born to create
a body for Himself: He was born - as John says in Chapter 12 of his
Gospel - to attract all to Him and in Him. He was born - as it says
in the Letters to the Colossians and to the Ephesians - to summarize
the whole world, He was born as the firstborn of many brothers, He
was born to unite the cosmos in Him, so that He is the Head of a
great Body. Where Christ is born, the movement of summation begins,
the moment of the calling begins, of construction of his Body, of
the Holy Church. The Mother of Theos, the Mother of God, is the
Mother of the Church, because she is the Mother of He who came to
unite all in His resurrected Body.
Saint Luke leads us to understand this in the parallel between the
first chapter of his book and the first chapter of the Acts of the
Apostles, which repeat the same mystery on two different levels. In
the first chapter of the Gospel the Holy Spirit comes upon Mary and
thus she gives birth to and gives us the Son of God. In the first
chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, Mary is at the center of Jesus’
disciples who are praying all together, pleading with the cloud of
the Holy Spirit. And thus from the believing Church, with Mary at
its heart, is born the Church, the Body of Christ. This dual birth
is the only birth of the Christus totus, of the Christ who embraces
the world and all of us.
Birth in Bethlehem, birth at the Last Supper. Birth of the Infant
Jesus, birth of the Body of Christ, of the Church. These are two
events or just one event. But between the two lie truly the Cross
and the Resurrection. And only through the Cross comes the path
towards the totality of Christ, towards His resurrected Body,
towards the universalization of His being in the unity of the
Church. And thus, bearing in mind that only from the wheat fallen to
earth can a great harvest be reaped, from the Lord pierced on the
Cross comes the universality of His disciples reunited in this His
Body, dead and risen.
Keeping this connection between Theotokos and Mater ecclesiae in
mind, we turn our attention to the last book of the Holy Scripture,
Revelation, where, in chapter 12, we can find this synthesis. The
woman clothed with thesun, with twelve stars over her head and the
moon at her feet, gives birth. And gives birth with a cry of pain,
gives birth with great suffering. Here the Marian mystery is the
mystery of Bethlehem extended to the cosmic mystery. Christ is
always reborn in all generations and thus takes on, gathers humanity
within Himself. And this cosmic birth is achieved in the cry of the
Cross, in the suffering of the Passion. And the blood of martyrs
belongs to this cry of the Cross.
So, at this moment, we can look at the second psalm of this Hour,
Psalm 81, where we can see part of this process. God is among gods -
they are still considered as gods in Israel. In this Psalm, in a
great concentration, in a prophetic vision, we can see the power
taken from the gods. Those who seemed to be gods are not gods and
lose their divine characteristics, and fall to earth. Dii estis et
moriemini sicut homines (cf. Psa 81:6-7): the wresting of power, the
fall of the divinities.
This process that is achieved along the path of faith of Israel, and
which here is summarized in one vision, is the true process of the
history of religion: the fall of the gods. And thus the
transformation of the world, the knowledge of the true God, the loss
of power by the forces that dominate the world, is a process of
suffering. In the history of Israel we can see how this liberation
from polytheism, this recognition - “Only He is God” - is achieved
with great pain, beginning with the path of Abraham, the exile, the
Maccabeans, up to Christ. And this process of loss of power
continues throughout history, spoken of in Revelation chapter 12; it
mentions the fall of the angels, which are not truly angels, they
are not divinities on earth. And is achieved truly, right at the
time of the rising Church, where we can see how the blood of the
martyrs takes the power away from the divinities, starting with the
divine emperor, from all these divinities. It is the blood of the
martyrs, the suffering, the cry of the Mother Church that makes them
fall and thus transforms the world.
This fall is not only the knowledge that they are not God; it is the
process of transformation of the world, which costs blood, costs the
suffering of the witnesses of Christ. And, if we look closely, we
can see that this process never ends. It is achieved in various
periods of history in ever new ways; even today, at this moment, in
which Christ, the only Son of God, must be born for the world with
the fall of the gods, with pain, the martyrdom of witnesses. Let us
remember all the great powers of today’s history, let us remember
the anonymous capital that enslaves man, which is no longer in man’s
possession, but is an anonymous power served by men, by which men
are tormented and even killed. It is a destructive power, that
threatens the world. And then the power of the terroristic
ideologies. Violent acts are apparently made in the name of God, but
this is not God: they are false divinities that must be unmasked;
they are not God. And then drugs, this power that, like a voracious
beast, extends its claws to all parts of the world and destroys it:
it is a divinity, but it is a false divinity that must fall. Or even
the way of living proclaimed by public opinion: today we must do
things like this, marriage no longer counts, chastity is no longer a
virtue, and so on.
These ideologies that dominate, that impose themselves forcefully,
are divinities. And in the pain of the Saints, in the suffering of
believers, of the Mother Church which we are a part of, these
divinities must fall, what is said in the Letters to the Colossians
and to the Ephesians must be done: the dominations, the powers fall
and become subjects of the one Lord Jesus Christ. On this battle we
find ourselves in, of this taking power away from God, of this fall
of false gods, that fall because they are not deities, but powers
that can destroy the world, chapter 12 of Revelations mentions
these, even if with a mysterious image, for which, I believe, there
are many different and beautiful interpretations. It has been said
that the dragon places a large river of water before the fleeing
woman to overcome her. And it would seem inevitable that the woman
will drown in this river. But the good earth absorbs this river and
it cannot be harmful. I think that the river is easily interpreted:
these are the currents that dominate all and wish to make faith in
the Church disappear, the Church that does not have a place anymore
in front of the force of these currents that impose themselves as
the only rationality, as the only way to live. And the earth that
absorbs these currents is the faith of the simple at heart, that
does not allow itself to be overcome by these rivers and saves the
Mother and saves the Son. This is why the Psalm says - the first
psalm of the Hour - the faith of the simple at heart is the true
wisdom (cf Psa. 118:130). This true wisdom of simple faith, that
does not allow itself to be swamped by the waters, is the force of
the Church. And we have returned to the Marian mystery.
And there is also a final word in Psalm 81, “movebuntur omnia
fundamenta terrae” (Psa 81:5), the foundations of earth are shaken.
We see this today, with the climatic problems, how the foundations
of the earth are shaken, how they are threatened by our behavior.
The external foundations are shaken because the internal foundations
are shaken, the moral and religious foundations, the faith that
follows the right way of living. And we know that faith is the
foundation, and, undoubtedly, the foundations of the earth cannot be
shaken if they remain close to the faith, to true wisdom.
And then the Psalm says: “Arise, God, judge the world” (Psa 81:8).
Thus we also say to the Lord: “Arise at this moment, take the world
in your hands, protect your Church, protect humanity, protect the
earth”. And we once again entrust ourselves to the Mother of God, to
Mary, and pray: “You, the great believer, you who have opened the
earth to the heavens, help us, open the doors today as well, that
truth might win, the will of God, which is the true good, the true
salvation of the world”. Amen
[00013-02.04] [NNNNN] [Original text: Italian]
At this General Congregation 170 Fathers were present.
SECOND GENERAL CONGREGATION (MONDAY, 11 OCTOBER 2010 - AFTERNOON)
- REPORTS ON THE CONTINENTS
- INTERVENTIONS IN
THE HALL (BEGINNING)
At 4:30 p.m. today, with the recital of the Adsumus, the
Second General Congregation took place, for the reading of
the Reports on the Continents and to
begin the interventions by the Synodal Fathers in the Hall on the
Synodal theme The Catholic Church in the Middle East: Communion
and Witness. "Now the company of those who believed were of one
heart and soul" (Acts 4:32).
The Acting President Delegate was H. Em. Card. Leonardo
SANDRI, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches
(VATICAN CITY).
Following the interventions on the theme of the Synod, there was
a period for free discussion by the Synodal Fathers, in the presence
of the Holy Father.
At this General Congregation, which ended at 8:55 p.m. with the
prayer Angelus Domini, 163 Fathers were present.
REPORTS ON THE CONTINENTS
For Africa: H. Em. Card. Polycarp PENGO, Archbishop of Dar-es-Salaam,
President of the "Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and
Madagascar" (S.E.C.A.M.) (TANZANIA)
For North America: H. Em. Card. Roger Michael MAHONY, Archbishop
of Los Angeles (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)
For Asia: H. Exc. Mons. Orlando B. QUEVEDO, O.M.I., Archbishop of
Cotabato, Secretary General of the "Federation of Asian Bishops'
Conferences" (F.A.B.C.) (PHILIPPINES)
For Europe: H. Em. Card. Péter ERDŐ, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest,
President of the Episcopal Conference, President of the "Consilium
Conferentiarum Episcoporum Europae" (C.C.E.E.) (HUNGARY)
For Oceania: H. Exc. Mons. John Atcherley DEW, Archbishop of
Wellington, President of the "Federation of Catholic Bishops'
Conferences of Oceania" (F.C.B.C.O.) (NEW ZELAND)
For Latin America: H. Exc. Mons. Raymundo DAMASCENO ASSIS,
Archbishop of Aparecida, President of Latin American Episcopal
Council (C.E.L.AM.) (BRAZIL)
The Interventions on the Continents are published below:
For Africa: H. Em. Card. Polycarp PENGO, Archbishop of Dar-es-Salaam,
President of the "Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and
Madagascar" (S.E.C.A.M.) (TANZANIA)
I am speaking here in the name of the Symposium of Episcopal
Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) of which I am the
current president.The Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa
and Madagascar has an intrinsic link with the Church in the Middle
East specifically through the Church in Egypt which is part of both
Africa and the Middle East.
Egypt, not withstanding the cultural and linguistic differences with
sub-Saharan Africa is by geographical necessity part of the Church
in Africa (SECAM) as much as it is part of the Church in the Middle
East through linguistic and cultural factors. The two component
factors of the belongingness of the Church in Egypt are certainly
not incompatible. On the contrary they can be positively exploited
for the good of the Church both in Africa and in the Middle East.
On the one hand, Christians are migrating from the Middle East due
to what may be considered oppressive conditions against the
Christian Faith in some of the Middle East countries. On the other
hand, many young African Christians are flocking every year from sub
Saharan Africa to Northern Africa (including Egypt) for studies,
employment or on transit to Europe and the Middle East. Many of
those young people leave their countries as fervent Christian
practitioners. When they come to Northern Africa, they find
themselves in an atmosphere of Islamic predominance allowing for
very limited freedom of practicing their Christian Faith.
This reminds me of the situation obtaining in Eastern Africa not so
many years ago. Until some fifty years ago, Islam was so predominant
on the East African coast of the Indian Ocean that it threatened the
faith of the Christian youth coming from the interior areas of the
continent in search of jobs in the sisal estates and government
offices in the coastal areas.
What saved the situation in Eastern Africa was the close
co-operation between the Christian missionaries in the interior and
those on the coast. The young people going to the Coast took
introductory letters from the missionaries at home to the
missionaries on the coast who received these youths in established
Christian settlements. There they could continue to practice their
faith freely.
Today, no Christian on the coasts of Eastern Africa feels obliged to
hide his Christian identity despite the fact that Islam continues to
be the religion of the majority. Separate Christian settlements are
no longer needed also.
With regard to the above described situation in Northern Africa and
the Middle East, methods of action may need to be very different.
Yet, closer co-operation between the sub-Saharan Church and the
Church in North Africa and the Middle East remains and will always
remain of paramount importance for the survival of Christianity on
both sides. SECAM is an excellent tool for such co-operation.
[00018-02.02] [RC001] [Original text: English]
For North America: H. Em. Card. Roger Michael MAHONY, Archbishop
of Los Angeles (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)
On behalf of the Bishops and the Catholics in North America, I am
pleased to offer my greetings to all our brother Bishops and
Catholics from the various Churches in the Middle East gathered for
this historic Special Assembly. We are blessed in our countries to
have very large numbers of your members living in our midst and in
solidarity with the Catholic Church in the United States.
My focus here will be on the question of how Christians from the
Middle East in the diaspora are living the mystery of communio
among themselves and other Christians. I will then turn my attention
to the specific witness that Christians from the Middle East are
challenged to give.
Although my remarks have broad application across North America, I
will give examples from my experience in the Archdiocese of Los
Angeles since all of the Eastern Catholic Churches are represented
in our Archdiocese.
Witness to Communio
While acknowledging their union with Rome, interecclesial
relations should be encouraged, not only among the sui iuris
Churches in the Middle East but especially in the diaspora (para
55). Recognizing the haemorrhaging of Christians from the Middle
East to Europe, Australia, and the Americas, we have sought various
ways to transform emigration into a new opportunity for support for
these Christians as they become established throughout the
diaspora (para 47-48). We try to support these Eastern Catholic
Churches sui iuris by welcoming them and by assisting them in
the establishment of parishes and schools, cultural institutions and
organizations to serve the needs of their people as they settle in
the West.
We have welcomed Assyrian-Chaldean, Coptic, Greek Melkite, Maronite,
and Syriac Catholics, and the Archdiocese has assisted several of
them over the years with financial loans and other means to help
these peoples make a home in Los Angeles. In my twenty-five years as
Archbishop, I have visited each of these communities, encouraging
them "to be themselves" while living within the geographic area of
the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Among other
resources, we have the Eastern Catholic Pastoral Association, which
provides clergy from these and other Eastern Catholic Churches to
gather bimonthly for prayer and mutual support in an effort to
coordinate pastoral activities in a spirit of mutual edification
rather than rivalry (para 55).
Communio is at the heart of the divine life: diversity in unity;
unity in diversity. Unity in diversity; diversity in unity, lies at
the heart of the communio which is the Church. In the United
States, deep respect for diversity poses unique challenges. "The
faithful of the various Churches sui iuris often frequent a
Catholic Church different from their own" [i.e., a Roman Catholic
Church]. "Such people are asked to maintain their attachment to
their own community, i.e., the one in which they were baptized" (para
56).
But many Eastern Catholics coming from the Middle East do not do
this and simply become Roman Catholic. Two practical examples of the
tension between diversity and unity will suffice. When it comes to
the question of enrolling their children in Roman Catholic
elementary schools, where there is a reduction in tuition for
children of those who are active "parishioners", how do Christians
of the Eastern Churches maintain their attachment to the Church in
which they were baptized? How might Roman Catholic pastors,
administrators and heads of schools be educated and encouraged to
assist these immigrants in retaining their connection with their own
community by not placing additional burdens on them such as having
to choose between joining a Roman Catholic parish for the benefit of
a tuition reduction, or retaining their membership in a parish of
their own Eastern Church?
A second example might highlight the tension: many Eastern Churches
admit infants to the Eucharist beginning with Baptism. When
parishioners of these Churches attend Roman Catholic Masses their
young children, who are accustomed to receive the Eucharist, are
often prohibited from doing so.
Greater sensitivity to very practical matters such as these would
ease the plight of the Eastern Catholic immigrants from the Middle
East. Do our seminary courses give sufficient attention to the
practical challenges that priests and pastors will face if they are
to help this diaspora live the mystery of communio in a way
that respects the legitimate diversity of peoples of these Churches?
Throughout North America there are many Catholic institutes of
higher learning. The preparation of catechists, the provision of
spiritual and liturgical formation, and theological training in
these Catholic Colleges is almost exclusively Roman in orientation.
Where do Eastern Catholic immigrants fit in at these Catholic
educational institutes which are keen to offer courses and seminars
on other religions, be it Judaism, Islam, Buddhism or Hinduism, but
little if any attention is given to the theology, liturgy or
spirituality of the Eastern Churches? Especially in areas with a
high concentration of such immigrants, how might we assist these
institutes of higher learning, as well·as our seminaries, to
recognize the need for such courses so that members of this
diaspora might "acquire a sufficient knowledge of theology and
spirituality proper to the Church to which they belong" (para 64)?
Witness to Forgiveness
A particularly challenging area in assisting the peoples of the
Eastern Churches to live the fullness of the Gospel is addressed in
Lineamenta 90f, “The Desire and Difficulty of Dialogue with
Judaism” and 95f, “Relations with Muslims”. Many of these
initiatives have already been taken up in our country and in our
Archdiocese where we have a strong ecumenical, interfaith and
interreligious legacy. Regrettably, such initiatives take place
without much participation on the part of immigrant Christians from
the Middle East. In fact, they are often critical of our efforts in
these arenas, especially in the matter of forgiveness (para 68,69,
113).
Often Middle Eastern Christians come to north America with attitudes
and opinions toward both Muslims and Jews that are not in keeping
with the Gospel or with the strides we have made in the Church's
relations with other religions. Because we in Los Angeles live "up
close" with peoples of many different faiths, how can we assist the
people of this particular diaspora to correct these erroneous
beliefs which might then influence their homelands through
Christians living in the West? Although they may not want to hear
it, Christians living in the Middle East and emigrating to the West
need to be challenged to be a sign of reconciliation and peace. The
sine qua non of both is forgiveness.
I have found that the biggest challenge we face with our immigrant
peoples - whether they be Middle Eastern Catholics or Vietnamese
Catholics who have fled their country for Southern California, or
Cubans who have fled Cuba for the Miami shores - is not one of
assisting them in living the mystery of communio between and
among various Christians and Christian Churches. The biggest
challenge is to help them respond to the grace of giving witness to
the Gospel by forgiving those enemies who quite often are the
principal reason for their leaving their homeland to find peace and
justice on our shores. We would do well to be mindful of our late
Holy Father, Pope John Paul II. After giving his message for World
Day of Peace 2002 to the world's diplomats, he summed it all up in
the challenging phrase: "No peace without justice, no justice
without forgiveness."
[00022-02.02] [RC005] [Original text: English]
For Asia: H. Exc. Mons. Orlando B. QUEVEDO, O.M.I., Archbishop of
Cotabato, Secretary General of the "Federation of Asian Bishops'
Conferences" (F.A.B.C.) (PHILIPPINES)
On behalf of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences, I
express our deep gratitude to you for inviting me to represent the
Federation of Asian Bishops' Conference (FABC) and participate in
this important Synod. Likewise on their behalf may I express our
communion and solidarity with all the Synod Fathers gathered here
today, most especially with our brother Bishops in the Middle East.
Our theme is Communion and Witness. It is a theme very close to
the heart of the Church in Asia. No.55 of the Instrumentum
Laboris expresses a significant desideratum: to foster unity in
diversity, to encourage communities to cooperate among themselves, "
... some responses suggest periodically calling (perhaps every five
years) an assembly of the entire episcopate of the Middle East."
May I share with you the experience of Asian Bishops. Meeting every
four years since 1974 the Bishops in the Federation of Asian
Bishops’ Conferences have had a very positive experience in
promoting communion. Consider that the FABC has 25 regular and
associate members, including two ancient Eastern rites - Syro-Malabar
and Syro-Malankara, in 28 countries and territories. It covers that
vast region of Asia bounded by Kazakhstan in the West, Mongolia in
the North, Japan in the East, Pakistan and India in the South,
Indonesia and East Timor in the Southeast. Despite diverse social,
economic, political, cultural, and religious situations, Asian
Bishops have gained a certain degree of communion, fellowship,
solidarity, cooperation. This is so because of a common vision of
mission and pastoral priority.
In 1970 Asian Bishops gathered in Manila were inspired by the
message of Pope Paul VI who had spoken about pastoral challenges in
Asia. In 1974 they met for their first Plenary Assembly as a
Federation approved by the Holy See. They drew up the following
common vision of the mission to proclaim Jesus as the Lord and
Savior. They stated:
Evangelization is the carrying out of the Church's duty of
proclaiming by word and witness the Gospel of the Lord. In Asia this
task is carried out:
The insertion of the Gospel into the cultures renders the local
Churches truly present within the life and cultures of our peoples;
Through the insertion of the Gospel into the religious traditions,
the Asian religions are brought into living dialogue with the
Gospe1, so that the seeds of the Word in them may come to full
flower and fruitfulness within the life of our peoples;
Finally, through the preaching of the good news to the poor (Lk
4: 18), Christ's renewing life and the power of His pascha1 mystery
is inserted into our people's search for human development, for
justice, brotherhood and peace (FABC I, 1974, nos. 25-28).
They also drew up a common pastoral priority which is the
building of the local church.
The local church is a church incarnate in a people, a church
indigenous and inculturated. And this means concretely a church in
continuous, humble, and loving dialogue with the living traditions,
the cultures, the religions - in brief with all the life realities
of the people in whose midst it has sunk its roots deeply and whose
history and life it gladly makes its own.
For the Asian Bishops such a vision of a local church and mission is
best reflected in the building of Basic Ecclesial Communities, by
which a parish or a diocese becomes a "communion of communities."
Supported by the various pastoral offices of the FABC, Asian Bishops
strive together towards this vision of mission and pastoral
priority. Through their leadership the Church in Asia continues to
undergo waves of conversion or renewal, towards a renewed
evangelization and discipleship of life, a Church renewed in the
Word and Bread of God. Yesterday during his homily the Holy Father
reminded us that “communion is a gift of the Lord”, communion
ultimately in the life of God. That requires our response of
profound renewal or conversion.
The Holy Father also reminded us: “Without Communion there is no
witness; the life of communion is truly the great witness.” How
imperative these words are for the whole Church in Asia, including
the Middle East.
We are a "little flock" in Asia, less than 3% of the more than three
billion Asians. In the light of rising religious suspicions and
extremism sometimes erupting in violence and death, we can surely be
afraid or timid. But we are fortified and encouraged by the words of
the Lord, "Fear not, little flock." Confidently then we need to
make our communion a reality and a witness of the Lord. For in
many places in Asia where there is no freedom of religion the only
way to proclaim the Lord is to witness to Him by a silent but
truly faithful Christian life, a life of love for God and
service to our neighbour (see Pope John Paul II, Ecclesia in Asia,
no. 23).
That witness urges us as bishops in communion with the Holy Father
and with one another to address seriously the great pastoral
challenges before us in Asia, such as the phenomenon of
migration which is sometimes called the new slavery, the negative
impact of economic and cultural globalization, the issue of climate
change, issues or religious extremism, injustice and violence;
religious freedom, and biogenetic issues that threaten human life in
the womb and from conception to natural death.
In our dialogue as an expression of communion in the household of
God, we pray that we could draw up a common pastoral approach
to these problems as a form of witness to the faith we have in the
Lord Jesus.
[00019-02.04] [RC002] [Original text: English]
For Europe: H. Em. Card. Péter ERDŐ,
Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, President of the Episcopal
Conference, President of the "Consilium Conferentiarum Episcoporum
Europae" (C.C.E.E.) (HUNGARY)
In the name of the European bishops represented by the Presidents
of all the Episcopal Conferences of the continent, gathered ten days
ago in Zagreb at the 40th plenary session of the Council of European
Episcopal Conferences, I express my most heartfelt and cordial
greetings to the prelates present here and to all the Catholics of
the Middle East.
Seen from Europe, the Holy Land and the Middle East are found to the
east. It is from there that the light of Christ came, that light
that remains forever the true Invincible Sun that will never set.
The face of Jesus shines like the sun (Mt 17:2) and illuminates the
whole history of humanity. But the chosen disciples saw this
splendor on the mount of the Transfiguration as the drama of the
Passion and Resurrection of the Lord were already being prepared.
Europe is in debt to the Middle East. Not only do a multitude of the
fundamental elements of our culture come from that region, but the
first missionaries to our continent came from there too. We
gratefully conserve the memory of the event described in the Acts of
the Apostles: “One night Paul had a vision: a Macedonian appeared
and kept urging him in these words, 'Come across to Macedonia and
help us.' Once he had seen this vision we lost no time in arranging
a passage to Macedonia, convinced that God had called us to bring
them the good news” (Acts 16:9-10). It was a providential decision
by the Holy Father Benedict XVI to dedicate an entire year to Saint
Paul, the Apostle to the Nations, whose fervor and wisdom are
extremely relevant for the new evangelization.
Speaking of this, I have to recall our European episcopal pilgrimage
to Tarsus, the city of St Paul, but I have to also repeat the
expression of sorrow and solidarity of the Europan bishops that we
offered on the occasion of the violent death of His Excellency Mons.
Luigi Padovese, President of the Bishops’ Conference of Turkey.
When we consider the Middle East, we Europeans have to examine our
consciences. Is the Gospel message still alive among us, that good
news that we received from the Apostles? Or is that light and
enthusiasm that stems from faith in Christ absent now from our
lives?
In our times, when Christian refugees and emigrants arrive in Europe
from various Middle Eastern countries, what is our reaction? Do we
pay enough attention to the reasons that force thousands if not
millions of Christians to leave the land where their ancestors lived
for almost two thousand years? Is it also true that our behavior is
responsible for what is happening? We are truly facing a great
challenge. We have to examine the nature and effects of the changes
in Europe and in the Western world. Do we know how to effectively
express our support to the Christians of the Middle East? Are the
principle factors in public life in Europe still sensitive to the
illuminated human values that come from Christianity? Or are they
largely indifferent to and distrustful of that precious inheritance
of ours? An inheritance without which Europe would not even exist in
a cultural sense.
The Christians who come from the Middle East knock on the doors of
our hearts and re-awaken our Christian conscience.
How do we welcome these brothers and sisters, what can we do to
ensure that their ancient inheritance - which is also
ecclesiastical- is conserved for the future?
The theme of this synod is The Catholic Church in the Middle East:
communion and witness. In the Acts of the Apostles we read that the
multitude of the believers was “of one heart and soul”
(Acts 4:32). Such a communion still exists in the Church today;
rather, the communion of the saints is an article of our Creed. Such
an essential communion has to be - like the Church itself - both
visible and invisible at the same time, it has to move in the world
of grace but also in society. The Catholics of Europe pray, work,
struggle and fight to be present and effective in visible society as
well. Despite all the sadness, all the disappointments, all the
negative experiences and sometimes the discrimination or pressures
that strike Christians who try to follow their conscience, we never
give up hoping that our Europe too will be able to find again its
identity that is profoundly rooted in the culture of life, hope and
love. The more we are aware of our Christian vocation in society,
the more we will also be capable of displaying and radiating the
force of the Gospel which is powerful and capable of transforming
human society in our century as well. Faithful to the teaching of
Vatican Council II demonstrated in a special way in the Pastoral
Constitution Gaudium et Spes, we have to follow the invitation of
the Church: “Those who are suited or can become suited should
prepare themselves for the difficult, but at the same time, the very
noble art of politics,and should seek to practice this art without
regard for their own interests or for material advantages. With
integrity and wisdom, they must take action against any form of
injustice and tyranny, against arbitrary domination by an individual
or a political party and any intolerance. They should dedicate
themselves to the service of all with sincerity and fairness,
indeed, with the charity and fortitude demanded by political life.”
(GS 75f)
“Physician, heal thyself” (Lk 4:23) - writes St Luke, the “dear
doctor” (Col 4:14). We therefore have to heal ourselves - we, the
Christians of Europe - with the help of the Holy Spirit so that we
can reflect the light of Christ, received from the East, and pass on
the gift obtained through our courageous witness.
In this sense I ask for God’s blessing on this Synod and on all the
Christians of the Middle East: Stella Orientis, pray for us!
[00020-02.04] [RC003] [Original text: Italian]
For Oceania: H. Exc. Mons. John Atcherley DEW, Archbishop of
Wellington, President of the "Federation of Catholic Bishops'
Conferences of Oceania" (F.C.B.C.O.) (NEW ZELAND)
Geographically, Oceania could not be further from the Middle
East, and yet the links between our two regions are strong.
I represent the Federation of Catholic Bishops of Oceania: Australia
(32 dioceses) Papua New Guinea (22), New Zealand (6) the Episcopal
Conference of the Pacific consisting of 17 dioceses and
ecclesiastical territories. In total a diverse and scattered
community of about 6 million Catholics, small “islands of humanity”
(Radcliffe) in the vastness of the Pacific Ocean that covers
one-third of the world' s surface.
In November 1998, all the Bishops of Oceania assembled here for the
Synod for Oceania. We were challenged to "Walk the way of Jesus
Christ, to tell his truth and to live his life." It is a
communio of faith and charity that links us with the Churches of
the Middle East, we have come to appreciate the rich diversity
members of these Churches bring to Oceania. We recognize their
vulnerability in living as minor Churches, and we "are eager to
appreciate, understand and promote the traditions, liturgy,
discipline and theology of the Eastern Churches." (EIO 12)
Out of Australia's five million Catholics there are a small, but
significant number of Catholics who belong to the Eastern Catholic
Churches. The two largest Eastern Catholic Churches in Australia are
the Maronite and Melkite, each of which is an established diocese
(eparchy), with a bishop (eparch) who is a member of the Australian
Catholic Bishops Conference and who from time to time come to the
New Zealand Conference meeting. As well as these Eastern Catholic
Churches, there are also Chaldean, Syrian, Syro-Malabar and Coptic
Catholic Churches.
The Maronite, Melkite and Chaldean Eparchies extend into New
Zealand, offering pastoral and liturgical services to their
communities there too.
The wider Middle East is present in Oceania through migrants and
refugees who have made their home in the region: European Jews from
earliest days of Australia and New Zealand settlement, as well as
refugees from Germany in the 1930s, and survivors of the Shoah;
Lebanese, Palestinians, Egyptians; Iraqi, both Christian and Muslim;
and in more recent years, Kurdish refugees from Iraq, Iran and
Turkey.
Our historical links are strongly marked by war and peace .
Australian and New Zealand troops (ANZACS) trained in Egypt during
the early years of the Great War (1914 - 1918); sadly the next
generation was back in Egyptian desert again in the early 1940s of
the Second World War.
Fijian peace keeping forces have served with the United Nations in
both Lebanon and Sinai.
These links are cemented today through the presence of many pilgrims
from Oceania who visit the Holy Land; through refugee resettlement;
aid development programmes of Caritas Internationalis; the
presence of international religious orders who are dedicated to
educational work, or the support of the Holy Places.
Response to the Instrumentum Laboris:
There are two themes of the Instrumentum Laboris I would like
to respond to from the experiences of Oceania.
1.Communion and Witness;
The Instrumentum Laboris has brought to our attention in a
new way the challenges facing the Christians in the Middle East: the
complex political conflicts, questions of freedom of religion and
conscience, living in daily contact as a minority in majority
Islamic or Jewish communities, and the constant movement of peoples
through emigration and immigration. We are far away, but aware that
we are linked to all Christians in the Middle East through a common
baptism, ecclesial tradition, faith in Jesus Christ and commitment
to his mission. We would like our Christian brothers and sisters in
the Middle East to know that we value this communion, that we commit
ourselves to stand in solidarity as they suffer, and will support
them in prayer and practical assistance in the challenges they face
daily.
2. A commitment to interfaith relations:
The Churches in Oceania are novices in this field, we have much to
learn from the sustained commitment of the churches of the Middle
East to the dialogue of Abrahamic faiths. We recognize the
complexity of the historical and cultural context in which this
dialogue is carried out with the signs of hope in the peace process,
as well as the setbacks of misunderstanding, persecution and
betrayal.
The Introduction to the Instrumentum Laboris speaks of the
need for Christians to get know their Jewish and Muslim neighbours
well if they are to collaborate with them in the fields of religion,
social interaction and culture for the good of society.
[00021-02.04] [RC004] [Original text: English]
For Latin America: H. Exc. Mons. Raymundo DAMASCENO ASSIS,
Archbishop of Aparecida, President of Latin American Episcopal
Council (C.E.L.AM.) (BRAZIL)
In the first place, I would like to thank the Holy Father
Benedict XVI for my nomination as a participant, in my role as
President of the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Conference,
at this Synod of the Churches which makes their pilgrim way in the
Middle Eastern countries. Thank you so much, Holy Father, for this
nomination which honors and pleases me and which is a sign of the
deference of Your Holiness for the Church of Latin America.
The fellow Churches of the Middle East are the cradle of the Church
of Jesus Christ and the first place of its expansion and, even more,
the privileged place for the manifestation of the “fullness of time”
in the person of the Lord Jesus.
In participating in this Synod for the Middle East I would like to
gratefully recognize the immense wealth that we have all received
from you. In the first place, the sacred books of the Bible that
nourish our encounter with the Lord and illuminate us on each
decision that we must make for our personal and ecclesial life.
Also, the living Tradition and the Councils, which, in their dynamic
reception, allow our Churches with their unique and varied wealth,
to make our people share the life of Jesus Christ. Furthermore we
must not forget the rich Pneumatology of the Eastern Churches.
Your fundamental multi-culturalism is a sign of the first ecclesial
expansion. In time it has undergone many adjustments and numerical
and socio-political imbalances and has undergone many corrections.
Today as well, in our globalized world, marked by many tensions,
there is something that we live each day and about which we can
learn a great deal from the history and the difficulties present in
these Churches.
The theme of the secularism of the governments that lead our people
in many cases has become discriminatory because of ideological
intransigence as well as, for many of us, a thematic imposition, an
“Islamization” of the public. This is a challenge that we share with
you, which requires us to fight for a true religious freedom in the
public sphere. We must keep this in mind even in catechesis with the
aim of forming Christians and citizens who are conscious of their
rights and duties. The Holy Father Benedict XVI, in his visit to
France (2008), took up the precious concept of a “positive laity”.
This situation gives rise to a challenge in which we have acquired a
new consciousness. This being the formation of the laity in our
Churches. During our last general Conference for Latin America and
the Caribbean (in 2007), which took place in Aparecido in Brazil, it
was emphasized that this formation must begin with a deep personal
encounter with Jesus Christ, that marks and lasts as a constant
experience in each person’s life and with a proper formation in the
rock created by the Word of God faced with the new cultural
situation we are living today. This must allow the presence of the
laity in the new aeropagi and in the tasks of public service.
In mentioning the lay disciples, we cannot avoid mentioning the huge
importance of the family for the formation of human and Christian
values. All families, today, are suffering from a generalized
fracture caused by the speed with which everything changes today.
Therefore it must not inhibit its educational strength. Under
certain aspects of the family, we may coincide with Muslim faithful
and we have seen this during the ballots of international
organizations. However there are other aspects of the concrete
concept of family that are further from the Muslim concept, for
example concerning the role of the woman in the family and in
society.
To form the laity for today does not dispense, rather it requires
even the formation of priests that realize the deep need for a great
“personal and pastoral conversion” to make their parishes and
apostolates places and ministries of missionary animation like the
first Christian communities. It is necessary to go through a
pastoral of conservation to a pastoral enlivened by the missionary
spirit. In the General Conference of Aparecido, the Holy Father
asserted that being “disciples and missionaries of Jesus Christ” are
two sides of the same coin. There is no disciple if there is no
missionary, and there are no missionaries if one is not a disciple.
This necessary “conversion” will also have important consequences in
the vocation pastoral. The youth of today wishes to give themselves
generously to the God of Life, but holds back when perceiving only
efforts in self-preservation and does not discover the transforming
novelty of the Gospel in our present history. The vocational
pastoral must help young persons discover Jesus as a “path, Truth
and Life” and show them the different roads to follow Jesus,
underlining the vocation to priesthood and to consecrated life.
In our Latin American and Caribbean countries, we have many Eastern
immigrants - first and second generation - the majority being
Christians. Many have become part of the Latin Church and there are
small groups with their own heptarchies. We would like them to grow
more in the conscience of our common Catholic faith and come closer
in a shared missionary action. At this time, we are developing in
all our Churches what is called the “Continental Mission”, the fruit
of the General Conference of Aparecido. It would be a splendid
witness to be able to join this evangelizing effort.
Finally, we would like to share with you the concerns about the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Even in this we are in communion with
the Holy Father in his effort to find a solution to the conflict.
May peace be re-established between these two people in the land of
Jesus!
We ask the Lord Jesus, through the intercession of the Most Holy
Mary, Queen of the Apostles, to breathe His Spirit which renews all
things over this Synodal Assembly.
[00040-02.02] [RC006] [Original text: Spanish]
INTERVENTIONS IN
THE HALL (BEGINNING)
Then the following Fathers intervened:
- H. Exc. Mons. Elias CHACOUR, Archbishop of Akka, Acre,
Ptolemaid of the Greek-Melkites (ISRAEL)
- H. Exc. Mons. Boutros MARAYATI, Archbishop of Alep of the
Armenians (SYRIA)
- H. Exc. Mons. Kyrillos WILLIAM, Bishop of Assiut, Lycopolis of the
Copts (ARAB REPUBLIC OF EGYPT)
- H. Exc. Mons. Botros FAHIM AWAD HANNA, Titular Bishop of Mareotes,
Curia Bishop of Alexandria of the Copts (ARAB REPUBLIC OF EGYPT)
- H. Exc. Mons. Youhannes ZAKARIA, Bishop of Luxor, Thebes of the
Copts (ARAB REPUBLIC OF EGYPT)
The summaries of the interventions are published below:
- H. Exc. Mons. Elias CHACOUR, Archbishop of Akka, Acre,
Ptolemaid of the Greek-Melkites (ISRAEL)
They decided to survive and to continue their very special
mission, following the orders of their Compatriot, the Man from
Galilee, Jesus from Nazareth. My Compatriot, My Champion and my
Parishioner.
Luke 24/45-49 Acts 1/4-5 and very specially Mark 16/15 “Fear not
little flock go in to all the world and preach the good news to all
creation”. Since then, my ancestors, started spreading around and
everywhere the exciting news revolving around an empty tomb and a
RISEN MAN. We never stopped preaching this exciting news. That is
why Peter and Paul were sacrificed and killed here in Rome.
During the twenty past centuries our Christians from the Holy Land
were like condemned and privileged to share oppression, persecution
and suffering with Christ. He is risen but his cross is still high
in our sky. Our Christianity is still hanging on that terrible
cross. They still live under daily threats from officials who dream
continuing the transfer of our minority, away from their lands,
their homes, away from their ancestral homeland. If it was not for
Him, the cross would have been damned and hated.
Centuries long are gone loaded with our sufferings and our
persecutions.
But today our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI called the Catholic
Church and all Christians of good will to divert their sight and to
turn around, towards the remnant of the family of Christ. We come
over here to invite you all to reconsider your priorities regarding
the Holy Lands, and regarding its inhabitants. For sure the shrines
and the Holy Places are. important. The Franciscan brothers have
been keen and loyal custodians and protectors of the Holy Places.
Being the archbishop of the largest Catholic Church in the Holy
Land, the Melkite Catholic Church, I insistently invite you and
plead with the Holy Father to give even more attention to the Living
stones of the Holy land. Once more, attention is given despite our
unworthiness and undeservedly, we could restore the smile of hope on
the faces of our children. We then can have the tools and the means
to. We are in Galilee since immemorial times. Now we are in Israel.
We want to stay where we are, we need your friendship more than your
money.
[00024-02.06] [IN002] [Original text: English]
- H. Exc. Mons. Boutros MARAYATI, Archbishop of Alep of the
Armenians (SYRIA)
The ecumenical movement is going through a real crisis, the best
proof of this is the bad situations facing the Churches of the
Middle Eastern Council today, which has been for years at the
forefront of ecumenical work in our countries. We hope that today’s
crisis will be a passing phase of the initial progress in the
opening of a new page of ecumenical work, moving from the
bureaucratic style, the development projects, and financial
administration, towards encouraging a spirit of fraternity, dialogue
and communion among the Churches.
The Instrumentum laboris in all its pages has an ecumenical aspect,
because all of it concerns all the Churches of the Middle East, we
would like to add that this special assembly will not retain its
true Christian and Catholic dimensions, unless it is read in the
light of our relations with the Churches and other Christian
communities. It was said that: "Together we are or we are not at
all".
1) I see something missing between paragraphs 14 and 15, would it
not be important to mention that Damascus was the place of Saint
Paul's conversion, from where he left to go to Arabia, and then to
all other nations? We have commemorated the Pauline year , which was
announced by his Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. In Antioch, the
disciples of Christ were called Christians. To the north of Aleppo,
monastic and religious life prospered, during the 4th century. From
Simeon the Elder to Saint Maroun, the archeological sites still bear
witness to this. This is an ecumenical fact that leads us back to
our common Christian roots. We have to revive it, not only on the
local level but also on the universal level, so that these roots may
support our Christian presence throughout history.
2) In the 25th paragraph, the Intrumentum laboris, mentions " the
situation in each Middle Eastern country varies”, not only is this a
fact, it is also an undeniable fact. If we want this Special
Assembly to be fruitful, we should think about a special conference
for each country, having an ecumenical aspect, where we can discuss
the issues according to the local situations. Without any doubt, the
challenges are the same, but every country has its own situation.
3) The challenges mentioned in the Instrumentum laboris, especially
the challenge of emigration (paragraphs 43 - 48), are a serious
concern for us as well as for other Churches and local Christian
communities. This is a real ecumenical concern. And here it is our
obligation to ask: is there a plan to evacuate the Christians from
the East? For the past 100 years, emigration or violent deportation
have continued to occur from the East. In 1915, hundreds of
thousands of Armenian Christians were deported violently, from their
countries, and they faced the first genocide in the 20th century, by
the Ottomans. Among those martyrs was the Bishop Ignatius Maloyan.
The same thing occurred among the Chaldeans and the Syrians… Many
Christians were sent from their villages and cities. These acts
continued with the Palestinian events, the civil war in Lebanon, the
Islamic Revolution in Iran, the invasion of Iraq… Christians are
martyrized, forced to emigrate, forced to leave from all the
Churches without distinction. Are we waiting for the day where the
world as a spectator amidst the indifference of the Western Churches
will sit back and watch the “Death of the Christians of the East”?
Despite the crises and difficulties that face our Christian life and
our ecumenical relations, we still “believe, hoping against every
hope” (cf. Rom 4:18).
[00025-02.02] [IN003] [Original text: Arabic]
- H. Exc. Mons. Kyrillos WILLIAM, Bishop of Assiut, Lycopolis of
the Copts (ARAB REPUBLIC OF EGYPT)
The liturgy, according to the Instrumentum Laboris, is a deeply
rooted feature of Eastern culture, thus one cannot lessen its
strength in order to preserve the intensity of the faith today.
History asserts that in our Middle Eastern countries, the liturgy
has always been a school for education in the faith and Christian
morality, especially when one considers our population, simple and
for the most part illiterate, thanks to numerous biblical readings
(six daily readings in our Coptic liturgy, even more on feast days
and on certain celebrations) and to prayers composed of juxtaposed
biblical quotations.
For this reason we must maintain it with reverence according to the
text of Eastern canons law (cfr canon 39 of CCEO).
In the Constitution, Sacrosanctum Concilium, paragraph four, Vatican
II affirms the equality of all rites with regard to rights and
dignity. In the conciliar decree Orientalium Ecclesiarum, the
Council fathers affirm a special regard for the patrimony of Eastern
churches, and emphasize their kind deeds towards the Universal
Church, quoting Leo XIII’s apostolic letter of November 30, 1894,
“Orientalium Ecclesiarum”.
The Conciliar Decree on Eastern Catholic Churches likewise urges all
Westerners who are in contact with these Churches, to apply
themselves in learning and respecting Eastern liturgies... and it
refers to the Motu Proprio “Orientis Catholici” of Benedict XV of
October 15, 1917 and Pius XI’s Encyclical of September 8, 1926,
“Rerum Orientalium”.
Canon 41 of the CCEO confirms this and requires them to know these
liturgies precisely and to practice them.
Now, we can see that quite a few Latin religious persons translate
the Latin liturgy into Arabic and they celebrate it for our Eastern
faithful helping them thus to separate from their churches and to
weaken their belonging to them.
With regards to the liturgical language (Instrumentum Laboris 72),
we did not wait for Vatican II to translate our liturgical texts
into the current language of our people. Since its origins, our
Coptic liturgy was celebrated in the different dialects in Upper
Egypt, and in the larger cities in Greek, the language of culture
and of daily life. Since the beginning of the tenth century, we an
find everything in Arabic. One factor which has helped to preserve
the faith, and if we compare with other neighboring countries such
as North Africa, we observe that several centuries later,
Christianity, which flourished at the outset, has vanished; because
a foreign liturgy in a little-known language had been imposed upon
them.
I have an explanation to ask for and a wish to hope for: In a
country such as ours, Egypt, where all (Catholics, non-Catholics and
even non-Christians) are Copts, what is the purpose of the Latin
liturgy in Arabic? If there are Latins, it is their right to
celebrate the Latin Mass, but in a language other than Arabic,
because this attracts our faithful and helps in their dispersal.
[00026-02.03] [IN004] [Original text: French]
- H. Exc. Mons. Botros FAHIM AWAD HANNA, Titular Bishop of
Mareotes, Curia Bishop of Alexandria of the Copts (ARAB REPUBLIC OF
EGYPT)
Through a particular choice of God, Sacred Scripture was born in
our land of the East, bringing with it the characteristics of our
culture; through a similar choice, the Divine Word became incarnate
and shared our reality in the East. He gave himself up to death on
the Cross for the salvation of all.
The first annunciation of the Gospel began in the East. Our Churches
continue to be faithful to the witness of the Gospel, with God’s
help, and that of all the Catholic Church and all men of goodwill,
giving to the world and to the Church faithful witnesses to their
faith, to the Word, to justice, and to fraternal love. Thus the Word
of God will always be the guide for our missionary undertaking.
The Word of God has always fed the peoples of the East and so they
have produced rich Biblical, liturgical, theological and spiritual
traditions.
The source of the Word of God is still active, but the thirst for it
is still powerful in our lands. This is why we need other
specialists, centers and pastoral communities to study, meditate on,
live and spread Biblical culture in our reality, so that the Word
will be the foundation of all education, teaching and dialogue to
construct the civilization of the Gospel and love for the good of
all.
[00030-02.03] [IN005] [Original text: Italian]
- H. Exc. Mons. Youhannes ZAKARIA, Bishop of Luxor, Thebes of the
Copts (ARAB REPUBLIC OF EGYPT)
My intervention concentrates on the renewal of the missionary
activity of the Eastern Churches, since the Instrumentum laboris did
not deal with this sufficiently.
From the beginning of Church history, the faithful of the East were
characterized by missionary zeal, and by enthusiasm in realizing the
Lord’s mandate, which asks for the preaching of the Gospel
throughout the world.
The weakness and division of the Roman Empire, the violence of
national conflicts, the adversity in dogmatic discussions between
Christians, the divisions of the Church and successively, the Arab
and Islamic dominions in the Middle East have weakened the Eastern
Churches, and have conditioned their presence in the East; and as a
result there has been a drop in missionary enthusiasm, and the
evangelical impulse has been reduced, as mentioned in the
Instrumentum laboris no. 20.
Despite the fact that the Church in the Middle East today is a
minority living in the midst of a non-Christian majority, and is
fighting against the danger of its own decline, and is struggling to
maintain Christian faith in the hearts of its faithful, this Church
must not be afraid or be ashamed and must not hesitate in obeying
the mandate of the Lord which asks it to continue teaching the
Gospel.
Starting from this Synod, I ask our Eastern Churches to renew their
missionary enthusiasm and their preaching activities; they
furthermore must promote the formation of their children that they
may rediscover their missionary vocation and be encouraged to
enthusiastically consecrate their lives to proclaiming the Gospel,
thus participating with the children of the Universal Church,
especially those of the Western Church, in the service of the
preaching of the Word of God throughout the world.
[00027-02.02] [IN006] [Original text: Italian]
NOTICES
- PRESS CONFERENCE
PRESS CONFERENCE
The second Press Conference on the Synod works (with simultaneous
translations in Italian, English, French, and Arabic) will be held
in the John Paul II Hall of the Holy See Press Office on Monday 18
October 2010 (following the Relatio post disceptationem) at
about 12:45 pm. Speakers:
- H. Em. Card. Leonardo SANDRI, Prefect of the Congregation for
the Oriental Churches (VATICAN CITY), Delegate President
- H. B. Ignace Youssif III YOUNAN, Patriarch of Antioch of the
Syrians (LEBANON), Delegate President
- H. Em. Card. John Patrick FOLEY, Grand Master of the Equestrian
Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem (VATICAN CITY), President
of the Commission for Information
- Rev. F. Federico LOMBARDI, S.I., Director of the Holy See Press
Office (VATICAN CITY),
Ex-officio Secretary of the Commission for Information
The third Press Conference on the Synod works (with simultaneous
translations in Italian, English, French, and Arabic) will be held
in the John Paul II Hall of the Holy See Press office on Saturday 23
October 2010 (following the
Nuntius
and the l’Elenchus finalis
propositionum)
at about 12:45 pm. Speakers:
- H. B. Antonios NAGUIB, Patriarch of Alexandria of the Copts
(ARAB REPUBLIC OF EGYPT), Relator General
- H. Exc. Mons. Joseph SOUEIF, Archbishop of Cyprus of the Maronites
(CYPRUS), Special Secretary
- H. Exc. Mons. Cyrille Salim BUSTROS, S.M.S.P., Archbishop of
Newton of the Greek-Melkites (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA), President
of the Commission for the Message
- Rev. F. Federico LOMBARDI, S.I., Director of the Holy See Press
Office (VATICAN CITY), Ex-Officio Secretary of the Commission for
Information
For the access permit, audio-visual operators (cameramen and
technicians) and photoreporters are requested to apply to the
Pontifical Council for Social Communications.
Notice to readers
Error correction
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