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15 - 13.10.2012
SUMMARY
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TENTH GENERAL CONGREGATION (SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13 2012 - AFTERNOON)
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VOLUMES ON THE XI AND XII GENERAL ORDINARY SYNODS OF THE BISHOPS
- ENCHIRIDION OF
THE NEW EVANGELIZATION
- NOTICES
TENTH GENERAL CONGREGATION (SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13 2012 - AFTERNOON)
- INTERVENTIONS
IN THE HALL (CONTINUATION)
Today, Saturday, October 13 2012, at 4:30 p.m, with the recitation
of Psalm 22 (23) the Tenth General Congregation began for the
continuation of the interventions by the Synod Fathers in the Hall
on the Synodal theme: «The New Evangelization for the
Transmission of the Christian Faith».
President delegate on duty H. Em. Card. Laurent MONSENGWO PASINYA,
Archbishop of Kinshasa (DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO).
A period for free discussion followed.
At this General Congregation, which ended at 7:00 pm with the prayer
of Angelus Domini 222 Fathers were present.
INTERVENTIONS IN
THE HALL (CONTINUATION)
The following Fathers intervened:
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H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Romulo G. VALLES, Archbishop of Davao
(PHILIPPINES)
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Rev. F. Heinrich WALTER, General Superior of the Schoenstatt Fathers
(GERMANY)
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H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Leonardo ULRICH STEINER, O.F.M., Titular Bishop
of Tisiduo, Auxiliary Bishop of Brasília (BRAZIL)
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H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Santiago Jaime SILVA RETAMALES, Titular Bishop of
Bela, Auxiliary Bishop of Valparaíso, General Secretary of the Latin
American Episcopal Council (C.E.L.A.M.) (COLOMBIA)
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H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Ðuro HRANIĆ, Titular
Bishop of Gaudiaba, Auxiliary Bishop and General Vicar of
Ðakovo-Osijek (CROATIA)
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H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Benjamin PHIRI, Titular Bishop of Nachingwea,
Auxiliary Bishop of Chipata (ZAMBIA)
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H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Marko SEMREN, O.F.M., Titular Bishop of
Abaradira, Auxiliary Bishop of Banja Luka (BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA)
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H. Exc. Rev. Mons. José Domingo ULLOA MENDIETA, O.S.A., Archbishop
of Panamá (PANAMA)
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H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Ricardo Antonio TOBÓN RESTREPO, Archbishop of
Medellín (COLOMBIA)
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H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Markos GHEBREMEDHIN, C.M., Titular Bishop of
Gummi of Proconsular, Apostolic Vicar of Jimma-Bonga (ETHIOPIA)
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H. B. Béchara Boutros RAÏ, O.M.M., Patriarch of Antiochia of
Maronites, Head of the Synod of the Maronite Church (LEBANON)
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H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Juan de la Caridad GARCÍA RODRÍGUEZ, Archbishop
of Camagüey (CUBA)
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H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Julio César TERÁN DUTARI, S.I., Bishop Emeritus of Ibarra
(ECUADOR)
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H. Exc. Rev. Mons. José Luis AZUAJE AYALA, Bishop of El Vigía San
Carlos del Zulia, Vice President of the Episcopal Conference
(VENEZUELA (BOLIVARIAN REP. OF))
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H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Nicodème Anani BARRIGAH-BÉNISSAN, Bishop of
Atakpamé (TOGO)
The summaries of the interventions are published below:
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Romulo G. VALLES, Archbishop of Davao
(PHILIPPINES)
Mention is made in the Instrumentum laboris [no. 80] of the
beautiful experience of the formation and development of Basic
Christian Communities in parishes, and that this has transformed
these parishes into animated and enlivened communities of faith. Our
experience in the Philippines - and I have first-hand experience of
this in the region and island of Mindanao - confirms this. We call
them Basic Ecclesial Communities. The Christian faith is better
sustained and nourished, and deepened and protected when lived and
practiced by individuals and families in these Basic Ecclesial
Communities. In these communities, the witness to and confession of
faith and the necessary catechism about our faith, are experienced
more intensely; the celebrations of faith, especially the Holy
Sacrifice of the Mass, are experienced as moving encounters of the
Lord, in his Word and the Eucharist; and the service in charity is
easily seen and closely felt. Our positive experience of the
presence of Basic Ecclesial Communities in our dioceses and parishes
makes us very hopeful that our mission - the New Evangelization for
the Transmission of the Christian Faith - can be done. We are
convinced that the emergence and development ofBasic Ecclesial
Communities is truly inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Mention is also made in the Instrumentum laboris [nos. 138-146]
about the Demands of Initial Proclamation. This really caught my
attention. First, because there is a very good and interesting
explanation and description given about it. Second, that in many
dioceses in the Philippines, we have been actually doing and
organizing events and activities which can truly be considered modes
of "Initial Proclamation" without really considering and explicitly
referring to them as such, in the way the Instrumentum laboris
describes them. We have continued doing them because we have seen
how effective they are in sustaining and nourishing and celebrating
our faith in the Lord Jesus. Now we know more. Now we are greatly
encouraged.
[00140-02.03] [IN109] [Original text: English]
- Rev. F. Heinrich WALTER, General Superior of the Schoenstatt
Fathers (GERMANY)
If we look at the long term, then the Church in the Western world
cannot be renewed without the renewal of the family. Whoever has
childern has a future. Parents with many children are statistically
considered the happiest persons in society. Marriage and family must
be recognized today as a vocation. This is where evangelization
occurs. The believers follow, going against the current in
relationship to society, the path of the sequela of Christ. For this
they must be supported intensely in the preparation towards
matrimony. The Sacrament of Matrimony is very precious. The failure
of matrimony often has tragic consequences. We must ask ourselves
clearly which are the conditions necessary for the Sacrament of
Matrimony. Here a distinction must be made for the good of the
family. The family remains the foundation for learning the faith.
The family means seeing one’s home as the house of God. Children,
with their parents, follow the lengthy path in learning the faith.
The vitality of a community is connected to these homes. Families
are not only the privileged location for evangelization, but
inasmuch as they are laity they are also agents of evangelization.
In South America, I came to know about the project of familial
missions. A number of families meet and during their holidays they
go to live in a community for one week. Here they live very simply,
and, as a family, go from house to house to bear witness to their
faith. In this way, cities and districts are evangelized. Seeing
these families publically bearing witness to their vocation is a
sign of hope.
[00141-02.02] [IN110] [Original text: German]
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Leonardo ULRICH STEINER, O.F.M., Titular Bishop
of Tisiduo, Auxiliary Bishop of Brasília (BRAZIL)
I would like to refer to the subjects of the transmission of the
faith. Lumen Gentium states that “by reason of their special
vocation it belongs to the laity to seek the kingdom of God by
engaging in temporal affairs and directing them according to God's
will... There they are called by God that, being led by the spirit
to the Gospel, they may contribute to the sanctification of the
world, as from within like leaven, by fulfilling their own
particular duties. Thus, especially by the witness of their life,
resplendent in faith, hope and charity they must manifest Christ to
others” (LG, 31).
- The Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi recalls that “the
laity can also feel themselves called, or be called, to work with
their pastors in the service of the ecclesial community for its
growth and life, by exercising a great variety of ministries
according to the grace and charisms which the Lord is pleased to
give them” (no. 73).
- The document of the Latin American Conference of Bishops in Santo
Domingo (no. 97), taking its inspiration from the Apostolic
Exhortation Christifideles, invites all lay persons become the
protagonists of new evangelization, of human promotion and of
Christian culture. The constant promotion of the laity is necessary,
free from any type of clericalism and without diminishing the
intra-ecclesial. That the non-evangelized baptized should become the
main recipients of new evangelization. This will effectively be
achieved if the laity, conscious of their baptism, will answer the
calling of Christ to be converted to being the protagonists of the
new evangelization.
New evangelization should take youths into consideration as ‘new
agents’ of evangelization: the young who evangelize the young. To
prepare them for catechesis, through the participation in the life
of the Community of faith and the missionary experiences to be able
to work in the Community and in society. To consider the new
aeropagi of youths themselves as the world of education, media,
internet, art and others. Indefeasible spaces for the new
evangelization.
[00143-02.04] [IN112] [Original text: Italian]
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Santiago Jaime SILVA RETAMALES, Titular Bishop
of Bela, Auxiliary Bishop of Valparaíso, General Secretary of the
Latin American Episcopal Council (C.E.L.A.M.) (COLOMBIA)
New Evangelization can be carried out, since at least two estimates.
The first is from an ecclesiology which responds to the II Vatican
Council, reread for Latin America, by the event of Aparecida, which
characterizes the Church as a sign and instrument of salvation,
which comes out and it is understood because of the announcement of
Jesus Christ and service to the world as icon of the Trinity. The
second assumption is the capacity for empathy and sympathy with the
world and, therefore, a church that talks, which does not fear
anything that is human, especially because the Son of Man came to
bring to fulfillment to all men and to the whole man.
From this perspective the Church "as always" calls to open up new
scenes to evangelize; it cannot be a "traditional” community, but
anchored in a live tradition. It cannot be a community of closed and
selfish hermeneutics, but a community that feels challenged by the
Word of God, which listens with a prolific silence. It cannot be a
powerful community that "im-poses" but which "ex-poses" because it
is fully aware of the holder of the Truth and Life. No community can
be ritualistic, but that which redefines life and puts it in the
horizon of transcendence for sacramental medidtation.
We can never forget that our origin is Jesus of Nazareth the Messiah
who was disparaged and crucified, and therefore, we are disciples of
he who was excluded and stigmatized by his society. From this
conviction we must commit ourselves in the New Evangelization.
ne [00144-02.03] [IN113] [Original text: Spanish]
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Ðuro HRANIĆ, Titular
Bishop of Gaudiaba, Auxiliary Bishop and General Vicar of
Ðakovo-Osijek (CROATIA)
The Church in Croatia still has many people, and the question of
evangelization focuses on catechistic and mystagogic attempts to
deepen personal faith and its ecclesial and sacramental dimensions,
in order that they might survive the current growing wave of
secularization, so that they may become capable of justifying the
reasons for their own hope and take on responsibility in the various
fields of public life.
Although Communism has collapsed, its fragments remain to this day -
concealed in the mentalities and models of life, which operate
everywhere. They are present even in the mentality of Catholics, who
are tempted to withdraw from both public life and civil society. The
ideological relics of a materialist and atheist nature have in
recent years moved towards the positions, values and needs of
liberal neocapitalism. With the excuse of protecting and promoting
human rights, freedom and democracy, these promote through political
life, the mass media and associations of civil society an entirely
libertine style of life. Since they are presented as the
spokespersons and protectors of democracy, of the scientific
approach, and of culture, the positions they take become
indisputable.
Behind a demagogy of tolerance, we frequently find ourselves in
reality at odds with a culture of irony and irreverence with regard
to the faith and to Christian values. Often nowadays, Catholics not
only in Croatia but also elsewhere, feel like Alexsamenos at the
dawn of Christianity, in the school for imperial slaves destined to
serve the Emperor on the Palatine Hill.
One feels the need to seek a suitable approach which, prior to
evangelical proclamation, makes an effort to accept and enter into
dialogue at a cultural and anthropological level.
[00145-02.05] [IN114] [Original text: Italian]
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Benjamin PHIRI, Titular Bishop of Nachingwea,
Auxiliary Bishop of Chipata (ZAMBIA)
Taking into account Numbers 122, 159 and 160 of the Instrumentum
Laboris, we, the Zambian Episcopal Conference (ZEC) and the
Association of Member Episcopal Conferences of Eastern Africa (AMECEA),
hereby affirm that a well-formed clergy and religious will enhance
the evangelizing effort of the Church in the New Evangelization,
since in Africa Evangelization is still in its infancy for the most
part. A committed clergy will help form the mind and spirit of the
whole people of God such that through their teaching and life,
people will learn from and imitate their pastors. So far this effort
has been hampered by, at times, an approach to the pastoral ministry
which has two aspects, one theoretical and the other practical. All
those who have been through priestly and religious formation have a
very good academic and theological preparation but are often poor
witnesses of the word they preach. In order to have any impact at
all in the preaching of the Word in the New Evangelizing effort, the
pastors will have to lead by example. This will require a better
preparation of the formators and also a better following up of the
candidates to the priesthood and religious life. Large numbers of
students in our seminaries are usually not marched by an equal ratio
of formators. This makes it impossible for any meaningful formation
to take place, leading to a situation where many unsuitable
candidates do actually make it to the priesthood but later become
bad shepherds rather than good shepherds, scattering instead of
gathering the sheep. Diocesan Bishops and other Local Ordinaries
will have to resist the ftlinetemptation of just finding personnel
to fill up vacant places in the parishes and institutions. They will
have to resist the temptation of sending just any academically
qualified priest into a seminary house of formation, since academic
qualification is not equal to suitability to form another human
being into a worthy shepherd of the flock. Local Ordinaries will
need to invest more in on-going formation programs and other
seminars which can help shepherds to become also good managers of
both spiritual and temporal goods of the Church.
[00147-02.04] [IN116] [Original text: English]
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Marko SEMREN, O.F.M., Titular Bishop of
Abaradira, Auxiliary Bishop of Banja Luka (BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA)
New evangelization experienced in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BaH) is
directed to the self-evangelization of the Church and the
evangelization of the world we live in. Because BaH is a land of
mission and Catholics are a minority, it is necessary to renew the
missionary impulse of the announcers of the Gospel to being more
open to the act of grace of the Holy Spirit, witnessing with their
life the Good News and so the Holy Spirit may open the hearts of
those listening to accept and live the Gospel. The aim of
evangelization is the metanoia and the fundamental option for the
Word of God.
BaH, just like many other nations in transition, from the fall of
Communism to the rise of new states, have been through war and
post-war difficulties. The difficulties lived by the population
emerge, especially those of the decimated Croat Catholics. In BaH
there were more than 1,200,000 refugees. Of the 830,000 Catholics,
465,000 were made to leave their homes and their native residences,
because of “ethnic and religious cleansing”. Now, sixteen years
after the war, in all of BaH there are about 463,000 Catholics,
which means that 367,000 Catholic expatriates never returned to BaH.
The following have occurred: moral and ethical crises,
infrastructures, homes, churches, destroyed, the presence of the
phenomenon of secularism, unemployment, poverty, inequality of
rights, disorders and dysfunctions of the State itself. There is an
attempt to recreate trust among the peoples and the various
religions and to renew dialogue and ecumenism, but it isn’t
advancing in leaps and time is necessary. A need for greater
evangelization of the family, because a hedonistic mentality has
entered, the culture of the dead: drugs and other addictions.
The starting point for new evangelization must be the return to the
sources, re-discovering the heredity of the peoples and the Nation,
with a special effort in reinforcing the ethical and moral values in
society, compromised by the prior totalitarianism and the new
violence of war.
[00148-02.03] [IN117] [Original text: Italian]
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. José Domingo ULLOA MENDIETA, O.S.A., Archbishop
of Panamá (PANAMA)
Jesus ordered his disciples to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, in
Galilee and to go to the furthest confines of the earth. And it was
precisely this testimony of love that most engendered the admiration
of the pagans. The testimony of Christian love continues to have
evangelical strength today, as Blessed Pope John Paul II affirmed:
“the future of evangelization depends in great part on the Church of
the home” (FC 52).
However, for our family to reflect the face of the Church of the
home, it is necessary to be a true community of love and life, of
faith and salvation. And this will be possible inasmuch as it is
reinforced within the nucleus of the family and in the sacrament of
marriage.
However, in order to arrive at this we must develop and reinforce a
pastoral care that accompanies marriage and families. We must
dedicate more time and better resources to the preparation for the
sacrament of marriage. We await with great interest the Vademecum
prepared by the Pontifical Council for the Family, which will
certainly contribute to the improvement of the human and Christian
qualities of marriage. We must give greater pastoral dedication to
sacramental marriages already celebrated through guidance programs
in order that they be strengthened and prepared for the fulfilment
of their commitments within the family, Church and society. The
catechism of adults requires more attention on the part of all the
Church.
This is without neglecting families in irregular situations, who
constitute another cause for pastoral concern. In spite of this
constant attention to the pastoral care of “irregular” families
(divorced and remarried), it seems that an adequate answer to the
problem has not been found and it is a frequent source of evident
dissatisfaction for the faithful who experience situations of this
type and who feel misunderstood, judged, condemned and excluded,
although they continue to believe in the mercy of God the Father and
wish to live in the bosom of the Church.
[00149-02.03] [IN118] [Original text: Spanish]
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Ricardo Antonio TOBÓN RESTREPO, Archbishop of
Medellín (COLOMBIA)
The New Evangelization in order to transmit faith should be much
more than multiplying what we have done, it should be a full act,
that in the circumstances of today’s world , highlights the
intelligence, guiding freedom, moving the feelings, committing all
life .
Evangelization is an event, at the same time complex and simple.
Complex because we can place it in the order of creation, simple
because grace produces it naturally for those who are willing. In my
humble opinion, the various processes in which evangelization is
developed , should favor three specific and fundamental experiences.
Firstly, the experience of the fatherhood of God. An encounter with
Christ and a process of discipleship with him should enable a
fundamental and native experience of Jesus. Affiliation therefore
would be desirable to come back to the initial kerygma of Jesus: God
is near, his paternity is in action, his kingdom is close at hand
(Mark 1:15, Luke 17:20). Whoever, with the grace of the Holy Spirit
reaches this experience, meets forever the meaning of life and has
the strength to carry out the project that is in the plans of God.
Secondly, it is necessary to have in a concrete way the experience
of the Christian community. Because the New Evangelization is an
ecclesiastical act which must promote the community at all levels:
family as first domestic Church, small ecclesiastical communities as
fundamental space for life, the parish as living center of
spirituality and pastoral which integrates and where other realities
meet, the particular Church which, following the teaching of Vatican
II, makes the mystery of the Church concrete and authentic.
Thirdly, we must get to the experience of the joy of giving to God.
Transmitting the faith is not a load, it is a necessity, is a
guarantee, it is the life itself of those who live the earlier
experiences. Woe to me if I do not evangelize, said Paul (cf. 1 Cor
9:16) The true evangelization arises from the contact with God and
with men in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the humble and brave
testimony of what is experienced and cannot be silenced.
[00150-02.02] [IN119] [Original text: Spanish]
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Markos GHEBREMEDHIN, C.M., Titular Bishop of
Gummi of Proconsular, Apostolic Vicar of Jimma-Bonga (ETHIOPIA)
The program of preparing and educating catechists in various
dioceses be revitalised, reviewed and formed to prepare Catechists
for their particular ministry in the Church.
The Office of Catechist to be recognised and instituted as stable
ministry that has a permanent place in the local Church.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church remains very difficult to
understand for many of the faithful, there is need to simplify it
and also to have simplified versions in the various local languages.
Catechesis to be put within the context of On-Going Formation so
that the pessimistic impression that catechism is only for children
is changed.
The Catechetical program to be situation and also appealing to the
faithful at different age groups. Catechetical material to be
suitable for all the age groups.
Pastoral training centres to refine and intensify the development of
the different methods of helping those who are involved in
catechesis.
The involvement of parents, godparents and the Christian community
in the preparation of
children for sacraments.
The Church needs to re-affirm the irreplaceable role of catechists
in the Church and equip them with resources that will make them
efficient ministers of the New Evangelization. They need to be
offered enough resources to sustain their families and also enable
them to understand their role in the Church as a vocation. At this
great moment of renewal in proclaiming and transmitting the faith, a
decision to that effect would be seen as a very strong support and
resource in the new evangelization called for in the Church.
[00154-02.04] [IN123] [Original text: English]
- H. B. Béchara Boutros RAÏ, O.M.M., Patriarch of Antiochia of
Maronites, Head of the Synod of the Maronite Church (LEBANON)
With reference to the Instrumentum laboris no. 56-57, interreligious
dialogue is an important part of the new evangelization. I will
limit myself to the dialogue with Islam in the Arab countries. This
dialogue is mentioned among the new economic, political and
religious actors, appearing on the world scene.
It is a specific dialogue, like the one described in the Apostolic
Exhortation “Ecclesia in the Middle East”, which the Holy Father
signed on September 15th during his visit to Lebanon: “This dialogue
is based on the spiritual and historical bonds uniting Christians to
Jews and Muslims. It is a dialogue which is not primarily dictated
by pragmatic political or social considerations, but by underlying
theological concerns which have to do with faith. They are grounded
in the sacred Scriptures and are clearly defined in the Dogmatic
Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium and in the Declaration on
the Church’s Relation to Non-Christian Religions Nostra Aetate” (no.
19).
Evangelization is practiced in the Arab countries in an indirect
way, in other words in Catholic schools, universities, hospitals and
social institutions belonging to the dioceses and religious orders
open to Muslims as well as Christians. Indirect evangelization is
above all practiced via the means of social communication,
especially the Catholic ones, that broadcast the liturgical
celebrations and various religious programs. We would like to point
out some secret conversions by Muslims to Christianity.
The allocutions pronounced by the Holy Father in Lebanon and the
Apostolic Exhortation “Ecclesia in the Middle East”, will help to
reach a “Christian spring”, which will contribute, through the grace
of God and by a new clarified evangelization, to a true “Arab
spring” of democracy. Liberty, justice, peace,and the defense of
man’s dignity against all forms of violence and the suppression of
rights.
[00161-02.02] [IN124] [Original text: French]
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Juan de la Caridad GARCÍA RODRÍGUEZ, Archbishop
of Camagüey (CUBA)
The new evangelization is very old. It comes from the first and
greatest evangelist: Jesus Christ. He tells us: "Go to all people."
It is very important because if we go, to whom do we proclaim the
Gospel of Christ?
Blessed John Paul II, messenger of truth and hope and Benedict XVI
went to Cuba and the Holy Spirit made Cuban Catholics go to knock on
every door of every house to announce the arrival of those who came
in the name of Christ. The Virgin of Charity, Mother and Patroness
of Cuba, through a historical picture, went to all the peoples of
Cuba and the missionaries were soon to announce that the Virgin is
the Mother of the Son of God made man and that charity must unite
all the children of the Virgin.
We bishops too have a mandate to go and meet our sheep in their
homes, places for youth, sports fields, holiday locations, prisons,
hospitals, schools and others to tell them that the way to
happiness, the real and true life, is Christ.
Visiting those unfamiliar with the Gospel of Christ we can teach in
the captivating creativity and patience of the mother who feeds her
son who does not want to, but ends up eating. We have the mandate to
teach everything the Lord commanded us. Positively teaching the
wonder of life which begins at the mother’s breast, natural
marriage, faithful and fruitful, the wealth of the elderly, the
virtues and values, is more effective than scolding and threatening
those who have been wrong many times out of ignorance. Perhaps
because they could not do things any differently.
Evangelization in Cuba began with the administration of sacraments.
Like today, many people without really knowing what they want, want
to baptize their children and celebrate Masses for the dead. The
pastoral art is catechizing before, in the middle of the celebration
and after.
Charity has always been and effective evangelistic witness. May the
Holy Spirit allows us to build communities that are distinguished by
love for one another and with all. St. John of Avila and St.
Hildegard have been in heaven for centuries and yet today they
continue to evangelize. Without doubt, the best evangelists are the
holy men and women.
When the Bishop is the protagonist of evangelization in his diocese,
his whole Church is behind him.
[00162-02.02] [IN127] [Original text: Spanish]
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Julio César TERÁN DUTARI, S.I., Bishop Emeritus of
Ibarra (ECUADOR)
The goal of a New Evangelization of Christian faith lived entirely
in all its dimensions:
1. What we believe in is a historical person who overcomes and
rescues history: Jesus Christ, Son of God and the Holy Mary, died
and resurrected, given to the world as permanent novelty for his
presence and activity in the Church; divine Word made flesh and
offered to us to solve the human enigma and discover the mystery of
God's Trinitarian love, giving communion of eternal life that
transforms reality.
2. The individual believer: whoever has a thirst for truth and
justice is called to be this, in a personal encounter with the event
of the living Christ, by the gift of grace that makes the human
response possible.
3. The act itself of believing occurs in processes of planting,
growth and purification, to engage people in multiple relationships
with God, each other and to the human environment and land; it
develops in supportive participatory communities, of disciples and
missionaries who pray and celebrate the Word, practice and witness
it, in the communion of the only Church and its Pastors, thus
involving the whole life, both private and public, always in a
dialogue with the world to offer to Jesus Christ.
[00163-02.02] [INI26] [Original text: Spanish]
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. José Luis AZUAJE AYALA, Bishop of El Vigía -
San Carlos del Zulia, Vice President of the Episcopal Conference
(VENEZUELA (BOLIVARIAN REP. OF)
Faith and charity in Christian life require that one mutually
supports the other. Charity without faith is mere philanthropy (cf.
IL 123), and faith that is not expressed in charity is an abstract
faith; so both faith and charity involve the testimony of Christian
life. Faith in charity shows us the face of Christ and sustains the
preferential option for the poor, knowing that this option is
"implicit in the Christological faith in the God who became poor for
us, enrich us with his poverty " (DI Aparecida, 3). Charity, in
turn, bears witness to faith in the Risen Lord, who has given us the
fullness of life.
The Church holds a valuable instrument of guidance and orientation
for a New Evangelization of the social: Social Doctrine with its
missionary component: the witness of love of Christ through the work
of justice, peace and human development proposed in this doctrine
(cf. VC 15). She must become announcement and witness of faith in
the Resurrected who makes all things new.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, the Social Doctrine of the
Church has played a key role in strengthening the faith of
Christians, so that as "missionary disciples of Jesus Christ we have
the priority task of witnessing the love to God and neighbor with
concrete works "(DA 386). If we therefore assume a New
Evangelization of the social, we must give you a new appreciation of
the Social Doctrine of the Church, knowing that she is "announcement
and witness of faith. It is an indispensable instrument of education
and place of faith" (CV 15), which leads us to be able to host and
transmit his teachings with "parrhesia", pervading with its contents
catechesis, liturgy, Christian education, the pensum of seminaries,
religious houses, permanent formation of Bishops and priests, and
above all lay formation. In fact it is lay people, because of their
secular character, who have the responsibility of transforming the
socio-cultural-political-economic reality of our peoples.
[00164-02.02] [IN127] [Original text: Spanish]
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Nicodème Anani BARRIGAH-BÉNISSAN, Bishop of
Atakpamé (TOGO)
Our local Church is young and in full bloom. She represents
approximately 25% of the population in Togo. However, she is faced
with many challenges, of which I will mention four important
concerns that refer to numbers 18, 29, 34, 57, 65 and 66 of the
Instrumentum laboris.
1. The growth of Islam. The rapid expansion of Islam and especially
the spreading of fundamentalism in West Africa enormously worries
the Church. It only takes one day to become Muslim; but it is
impossible to renounce this religion later. On the other hand, the
preparation of catechumens lasts from three to four years in our
dioceses; yet the baptized may quit the Catholic faith easily.
2. The proliferation of sects. The poverty of our people, youth
unemployment, political deception, the strong religiosity of our
people all make up a fertile terrain where sects grow and easily
gather their adepts from among our faithful.
3. Secret and esoteric societies, especially the freemasons reign as
masters at the head of the State, in the most important institutions
and in all the intellectual circles of our country.
4. The lack of a formation of faithful.
5. The ministry of healing. More and more priests devote themselves
to this ministry of liberation, of deliverance, of spiritual healing
of the faithful, especially those coming from paganism, who feel a
certain anguish when facing sorcery and the phenomenon of
witchcraft.
The Episcopal Conference of Togo is convinced that the new
evangelization should begin with the evangelizers themselves. She is
full of hope and calls the entire Church to a pastoral conversion in
humility and trust.
[00165-02.02] [IN128] [Original text: French]
VOLUMES ON THE XI AND XII GENERAL SYNODS OT THE BISHOPS
"The Word of God in the Life and the Mission of the Church" and "The
Eucharist: Source and Summit of the Life and Mission of the Church"
were the themes of the XII and XI Ordinary General Assemblies of the
Synod of Bishops, celebrated in the Vatican in 2008 and 2005. Two
volumes, which are entitled with the same synodal theme, have been
offered by the Secretary General and the American Bible Society to
the Synodal Fathers and other Participants in this Assembly.
Edited by the Lateran University Press, the texts were edited by,
respectively, the Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, H. Exc.
Mons. Nikola ETEROVIĆ, Tit. Archbishop of
Cibale (VATICAN CITY), and by Fr Roberto Nardin, OSB Oliv., Monk of
the Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore, Professor of Theology at the
Pontifical Lateran University (ITALY).
They are both composed of four parts. They contain synodal acts,
from announcements to themes, with the relative preliminaries,
through the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortations “Verbum Domini” and
“Sacramentum Caritatis”.
The available documentation is broad: synodal works are reviewed,
retracing all of the General Congregations, meetings of the Working
Groups, the development of the Propositions and information on Synod
activities. In the Appendices are the texts of the Secretary
General, in particular the Lineament, the Instrumentum laboris, the
list of Participants and the various Commissions.
[00221-02.03] [NNNNN] [Original text: Italian]
ENCHIRIDION OF THE NEW EVANGELIZATION
The Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization offered to
the Synodal Fathers and other Participants in the XIII Ordinary
General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops the “Enchiridion of the New
Evangelization”, in a special edition for the Year of Faith.
The text, edited by the Vatican Publishing House, contains texts of
Pontifical and Council Magisterium. The publication is an instrument
which collects the multiformity of expression of “New
Evangelization” and its richness, by means of a wide selection of
extracts from speeches, messages, homilies, apostolic letters and
other papal documents since 1939. It also contains excerpts from
official documents from Vatican Council II.
All texts were chosen according to their relevance to the New
Evangelization.
The Enchiridion presents this theme beginning with the formation and
circulation of the idea itself over the course of the last decades,
and demonstrates its importance for the Church today.
[00222-02.05] [NNNNN] [Original text: Italian]
NOTICES
- BRIEFING
BRIEFING
On Monday 15 October 2012 the usual Briefings for the Language
Groups have been brought forward to 13:00. The Press Attaches will
be accompanied by a Synodal Father, according to the following list:
Italian language group
- H. B. Sviatoslav SCHEVCHUK, Archbishop Major of Kyiv-Halyč,
Head of the Synod of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UKRAINE)
English language group
- H. Em. Rev. Card. Timothy Michael DOLAN, Archbishop of New York,
President of the Episcopal Conference (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA),
Member of the commission for the Message
French language group
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Nicolas DJOMO LOLA, Bishop of Tshumbe,
President of the Episcopal Conference (DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO)
Spanish language group
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Carlos AGUIAR RETES, Archbishop of
Tlalnepantla, President of the Episcopal Conference, President of
the Latin American Episcopal Council (C.E.L.AM.) (MEXICO)
German language group
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Franz-Peter TEBARTZ-VAN ELST, Bishop of Limburg
(GERMANY) |
