| 29 - 26.10.2012 SUMMARY
- SMALL GROUPS: SIXTH, SEVENTH AND EIGHTH SESSIONS
- TWENTIETH GENERAL CONGREGATION (FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26 2012 - MORNING)
- ERRATA CORRIGE
SMALL GROUPS: SIXTH, SEVENTH AND EIGHTH SESSIONS
Tuesday afternoon, October 23 2012 and Wednesday, October 24 2012, the Small Groups continued their meetings. The presences were: 249 Fathers in the Sixth Session, 259 in the Seventh Session and 259 in the Eighth Session.
The last phase of the Small Groups work ended with the approval by each Small Group on the collective amendments, with absolute majority, which were given by the Relators of the Small Groups to the General Secretariate of the Synod of Bishops at the end of the work by the Small Groups.
The result of the work by the Relator General with the Special Secretary and the Relators from the Small Groups and some Experts will be presented, in the form of the Final List of Propositions, during the Twenty-First General Congregation, this afternoon Friday, October 26 2012.
Voting is foreseen during the Twenty-Second General Congregation, tomorrow morning, Saturday, October 27 2012. The results of the vote will be communicated in the Twenty Third and last General Congregation of tomorrow afternoon.
TWENTIETH GENERAL CONGREGATION (FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26 2012 - MORNING)
- PRESENTATION AND VOTING ON THE MESSAGE FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD BY THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS
- AUDITIO DELEGATORUM FRATERNORUM (VI)
- AUDITIO AUDITORUM (V)
Today, Friday, October 26 2012, at 9:00 a.m, with the chant of the Hour of Terce, the Twentieth General Congregation began for the presentation and voting on the Message by the Synod of Bishops to the People of God.
President delegate on duty H. Em. Card. John TONG HON, Bishop of Hong Kong (CHINA).
At the opening, the Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, His Exc. Nikola ETEROVIĆ, congratulated, on behalf of the Assembly, the Patriarchs and Archbishops who will be made Cardinals by the Holy Father Benedict XVI during the next Concistorium to be held on November 24 2012. The Secretary General. Going back to the announcement made by the Holy Father himself during last Wednesdays General Audience, recalled that four of the new Cardinals are Synodal Fathers at the XIII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops: His. B. Béchara Boutros RAÏ, O.M.M., Patriarche of Antiochia of the Maronites, Head of the Synod of the Maronite Church (LEBANON); His B. Baselios Cleemis THOTTUNKAL, Archbishop Major of Trivandrum of the Syro-Malankarese, Head of the Synod of the Syro-Malankarese Church (INDIA); His Exc. Mons. John Olorunfemi ONAIYEKAN, Archbishop of Abuja (NIGERIA); His Exc. Mons. Luis Antonio G. TAGLE, Archbishop of Manila (PHILIPPINES).
A Fraternal Delegate and several Auditors also intervened.
At this General Congregation, which ended at 12:30 am with the prayer of Angelus Domini 258 Fathers were present.
PRESENTATION AND VOTING ON THE MESSAGE FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD BY THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS
During this General Congregation, the President, the Vice President and the Members of the Commission for the Message read the Message to the People of God by the Synod of Bishops, in the 5 language versions it was edited to (Italian, English, French, Spanish and German).
The final and entire text will be published in the next Bulletin of the Synod of Bishops.
A summary of the Message is published below:
At the beginning of the document, the bishops recalled the evangelical passage from John which tells about the encounter of Jesus with the Samaritan woman at the well: this is the image of contemporary man with an empty vessel, who is thirsting and is nostalgic for God, and to whom the Church must turn to make the Lord present to him. And just like the Samaritan woman, who encounters Jesus, he can but become a witness of the proclamation of salvation and hope of the Gospel.
Looking specifically at the context of new evangelization, the Synod therefore reminds of the necessity to revive faith, which risks being made obscure in the context of todays cultures, also faced with the weakening of the faith by many baptized persons. The encounter with the Lord, which reveals God as love, can only come about in the Church, as the form of receptive community and experience of communion; from this, then, Christians become its witnesses also in other places. However, the Church reasserts that to evangelize one must be evangelized first of all, and sends out a plea - starting with herself - for conversion, because the weaknesses of Jesus disciples weigh upon the credibility of the mission. Conscious of the fact that the Lord is the guide of history and therefore that evil will not have the last word, the bishops invite the Christians to overcome fear with faith and to look at the world with serene courage because, while full of contradictions and challenges, this is still the world God loves. Therefore no pessimism: globalization, secularization and the new scenarios of society, migration, even with the difficulties and suffering they entail, they must be seen as opportunities for evangelization. Because this is not a question of finding new strategies as if the Gospel was to be spread like a market product, but rediscovering the ways in which individuals come close to Jesus.
The Message looks at the family as the natural place for evangelization and reasserts that it should be supported by the Church, by politics and by society. Within the family, the special role of women is underlined and there is a reminder about the painful situation of divorced and remarried persons: while reconfirming the discipline with regards to access to the sacraments, it is reasserted that they are in no way abandoned by the Lord and that the Church is the welcoming house for all. The Message also mentions consecrated life, witness of the ultra-earthly sense of human existence, and the parishes as centers for evangelization; it recalls the importance of permanent formation for priests and religious men and women and invites the laity (movements and new ecclesial realities) to evangelize, remaining in communion with the Church. New evangelization finds a welcome cooperation with the other Churches and ecclesial communities, they too moved by the same spirit of proclamation of the Gospel. Special attention is focused on the young persons in a perspective of listening and dialogue to redeem and not mortify their enthusiasm.
Then, the Message looks at dialogue, seen in many ways: with culture, which needs a new alliance between faith and reason; with education; with science which, when it doesnt close man in materialism it becomes an ally for the humanization of life; with art; with the world of economy and work; with the ill and the suffering; with politics, where an uninterested and transparent involvement towards the common good is asked for; with other religions. In particular, the Synod emphasizes that interreligious dialogue contributes to peace, refutes fundamentalism and denounces any violence against believers. The Message recalls the possibilities offered by the Year of the Faith, by the memory of Vatican Council II and by the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Finally, it indicates two expressions of a life of faith, which are especially meaningful for new evangelization: contemplation, where silence allows for the better reception of the Word of God, and service to the poor, in the view of recognizing Christ in their faces.
In the last part, the Message looks at the Church in the various regions of the world and addresses a word of encouragement for the proclamation of the Gospel to each of them: to the Eastern Churches wishing to be able to practice faith in conditions of peace and religious freedom; to the African Church asking for develop evangelization in the encounter of ancient and new cultures, calling then upon the governments to cease the conflicts and violence. The Christians of North America, who live in a culture with many expressions distant from the Gospel, must look towards conversion, to being open to welcoming immigrants and refugees. Latin America is invited to live the permanent mission to face todays challenges such as poverty, violence, even the new conditions of religious pluralism. The Church in Asia, even while being a small minority, often placed at the edges of society and persecuted, is encouraged and exhorted to the steadfastness of faith. Europe, marked by an even aggressive secularization and wounded by past regimes, has nevertheless created a humanistic culture capable of giving a face to the dignity of man and to the building of the common good; todays difficulties therefore must not dishearten the European Christians, but must be perceived as a challenge. Oceania is asked to feel once again the involvement of preaching the Gospel. Finally, the Message closes with trust in Mary, the Star of New Evangelization.
[00365-02.05] [NNNNN] [Original text: Italian]
AUDITIO DELEGATORUM FRATERNORUM (VI)
The following Fraternal Delegate intervened:
- H. G. IRINEJ [Bulović], Bishop of Bačka (SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO)
The summary was not received before the closing of the Bullettin.
AUDITIO AUDITORUM (V)
The following Auditors intervened:
- Rev. Sister Mary Prema PIERICK, M.C., Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity (INDIA)
- Prof. Yong Suk Francis Xavier OH, Secretary General of the " Catholic Lay Apostolate Council of Korea" (KOREA)
- Mrs. Rita María PETRIRENA HERNÁNDEZ, Head of the Department of Pastoral Coordination of the Episcopal Conference of Cuba (CUBA)
- Rev. F. Emmanuel TYPAMM, C.M., General Secretary of the "Confédération des Conférences des Supérieurs Majeurs d'Afrique et de Madagascar" - CO.S.M.A.M (CAMEROON)
- Rev. Sister Yvonne REUNGOAT, F.M.A., General Superior of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, Salesians of Don Bosco (FRANCE)
- Prof. Carl Albert ANDERSON, Supreme Knight of the Order of the Knights of Columbus (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)
- Dr. José María SIMÓN CASTELLVÍ, President of the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations (FIAMC) (SPAIN)
- Rev. Piergiorgio PERINI, President of the International Service Organism for the Parish Cells Evangelization (ITALY)
- Dr. Chiara AMIRANTE, Founder and President of the "Comunità Nuovi Orizzonti" (ITALY)
- Dr. Curtis A. MARTIN, Founder and President of the "Fellowship of Catholic University Students" - FOCUS (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)
- Dr. Ernestine Sikujua KINYABUUMA, Professor Maria Malkia University Institute of Lubumbashi, Member of the Focolare Movement (DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO)
- Rev. Sister Rekha (Mary Joseph) CHENNATTU, R.A., Professor of New Testament at the Pontifical Institute of Philosophy and Religion in Pune (INDIA)
- Mrs. Gisèle MUCHATI, Regional Manager of the " New Families " Movement (SYRIA)
- Mrs. Chantal LE RICQUE, Lay member of the Archdiocese of Paris (FRANCE)
- Mrs. Patricia Ngozi NWACHUKWU, L.S.M., Worthy President of the Ladies of St. Mulumba (NIGERIA)
- Rev. Renato DE GUZMAN, S.D.B., Main Assistant for the Pastoral "Grade School and High School Departments, Don Bosco Technical Institute", Makati City (PHILIPPINES)
The summaries of the interventions are published below:
- Rev. Sister Mary Prema PIERICK, M.C., Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity (INDIA)
Our Mother Theresa is known for the work done for the poor. Not all are immediately aware of the aim of our work, that is"to bring souls to God and God to souls".When asked by the Minister of Social Work about the difference between his work and her work, she responded: "You do it for something, we do it for Someone". From the beginning of the Congregation Mother knew that the work would need much deep fervent prayers and much penance. With a confident faith and in a spirit of loving trust, total surrender and cheerfulness she had only one desire to quench the thirst of Jesus for love and for souls. Contemplating Jesus on the Cross she knew and taught us how to live our vows of poverty, obedience and charity. Our vocation is not the work, but to belong to Jesus and as Jesus told Mother "You vocation is to love, suffer and save souls".
In many countries the sisters take medicine to interior villages, where Jesus is not yet known. The very sick ones are admitted in our homes, where they receive the treatment mostly for tuberculosis. During their stay with us the poor share in the prayers of the sisters. They hear the Word of God, are present for Holy Mass and Eucharistic Adoration. They learn about God's merciful love for them and to pray the rosary. Their deepest questions about life receive an answer. At their return to their village they spread their experience of Jesus to their families and neighbors.
In Kolkata volunteers come from many countries to share in the service of the poor in our homes. They come from all walks of life with very different expectations. These young people are invited to participate in the Holy Mass at 6 o'clock in the morning. After their service where they have touched Jesus in the poor, they return to Mother House to adore Jesus in the Eucharist at 6pm. Usually a priest is available for confession. Lately we have an increasing number of chinese volunteers·. One day a young woman approached Mother beaming with joy:"I have found Jesus in the home for the dying".
A young man shared his experience in these words:"I have come to change Kolkata, now I see that Kolkata has changed me.
Our Mother spread the Kingdom of the Immaculate Heart by offering a miraculous Medal to every person she met. We go two by two, rosary in hand and Our Lady opens the doors and the hearts of the poor for Jesus to enter. Please, pray for us, that we may make the Church fully present by our love for Jesus and the poor wherever God has sent us.
I thank Your Holiness and you dear Bishops for caring lovingly for the spiritual needs of our sisters in your dioceses.
The sisters and our poor are praying for you and the fruitfulness of this Synod.
[00322-02.03] [UD038] [Original text: English]
- Prof. Yong Suk Francis Xavier OH, Secretary General of the " Catholic Lay Apostolate Council of Korea" (KOREA)
I'd like to start my intervention by calling attention to an expression from being evangelized to evangelizing appearing in the Instrumentum Laboris number 13, especially to the passage being evangelized. It is very clear why the New Evangelization requires being evangelized before evangelizing. Let's look at the Korean Church which is known as a dynamic one in the world. Now as many as nearly 60% of newly baptized Korean Catholics within 3 years drift away from Church. Only about 30% of Korean Catholics attend Mass on a weekly basis: what was worse, the rate in an archdiocese fell below 20%. It is like filling a bottomless vessel. Problems are not only for lay people. Recently a few priests and religious left the Church to follow an unauthorized private or a pseudo-religion based on a wrong hermeneutics of the Book of Revelation. These are all rooted in not being evangelization. Thus, the Church needs an ongoing internal renewal, a continuous passing. The question is how to do it. In this regard, much is expected from parishes and families.
I have heard from a Korean father a case of a young woman's conversion to Buddhism. She was born to devout Catholic parents and her brother used to be a Salesian monk, now working for young people as a professional psychiatrist. She was considered to have grown up in an evangelized family. She was asked what made you decide to convert to Buddhism? she answered, As a Catholic, I always felt something was missing. One day, I was on a bus and heard a Buddhist monk giving a talk on the radio. I felt that what he was saying might contain truth. So I ordered the entire set of tapes for his lectures. She was regarded unfortunately as having failed to find the fountain of village which will best quench her thirst for spiritual satisfaction.
The New Evangelization is thought to need warm-hearted community spirit of the sort shown by Blessed Pope John Paul II toward a spoiled priest who demeaned himself by becoming a beggar. The Pope asked him to hear his confession, saying Once a Priest, always a Priest.
[00315-02.04] [UD035] [Original text: English]
- Mrs. Rita María PETRIRENA HERNÁNDEZ, Head of the Department of Pastoral Coordination of the Episcopal Conference of Cuba (CUBA)
Like many countries in Eastern Europe we have suffered from decades of promoting a Marxist culture with its consequences; it was a very complex and difficult time for the Church, but she did not give up her loyalty to Christ and the people. Years of silence were lived, it was a sacrificial silence, it was a fruitful silence. We wanted to better hear God speaking to the heart of the Christian community to stand in the middle of this new reality.
I would like to say from our experience that when the Church has a difficult mission, she becomes creative, the Church is able to find new paths. The Church is humble because she knows that she is fragile, poor and small. But as the apostle Paul said my power is made perfect in weakness, then the Church reveals better the Master's face.
For years, through their pastoral plans, the Church in Cuba has put its accent on being a praying Church, missionary and incarnated and therefore had to necessarily be the Church of openness, the Church of dialogue, the Church of participation, the Church of forgiveness, the Church of deaconry.
In Cuba one of the faces of the New Evangelization has been the three-yearly period of preparation for the Jubilee Year when we are celebrating the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the image of the patron saint of Cuba; that small Christian community that is less than 2 percent of the population has been a bridge between Grace and the people when millions of Cubans went out to the streets to meet the Pilgrim Virgin who went round the whole island.
In communion with the pilgrim Church in Latin America and the Caribbean, as we were invited to be the Aparecida document, we want to be disciples and missionaries overflowing with gratitude, called to inform our people about life in Jesus Christ.
[00316-02.02] [UD036] [Original text: Spanish]
- Rev. F. Emmanuel TYPAMM, C.M., General Secretary of the "Confédération des Conférences des Supérieurs Majeurs d'Afrique et de Madagascar" - CO.S.M.A.M (CAMEROON)
To transmit Christ to the world today, consecrated persons must re-read their lives.
It is true that we already transmit, more or less faithfully, Christ and His Gospel.
However, the new poverties of our globalized world oblige us to adopt new attitudes for transmitting Christ.
The experience we are living in the COSMAM, on the African continent, leads us to say that to communicate the Christian faith with joy and to build a civilization of love today, it is necessary for we the consecrated to rediscover certain fundamental elements of our consecration. I would like to name seven.
1. The centrality of Christ in our lives as consecrated,
2. Fraternal life in community,
3. An incultured spirituality,
4. The prophetism of consecrated life through the preferential option for the poor,
As certain of the founders of our Institutes said, the poor are our Masters and our Lords. Should we not stop being fearful? And, widely open the doors of our hearts to the Spirit of Pentecost and offer our lives to todays poor to preserve Peace in the world?
We never empty the pot at night, this African proverb shows us the attitude to have. That of organizing ourselves to always have something in reserve to give to the poor. Could this not be a counter witness unfavorable to evangelization rather than giving nothing to a poor person who truly is needy and who reaches his hand out to us?
5. Collaboration among consecrated persons
6. Unity in diversity and not in uniformity
7. Collaboration with the laity
If the family is the privileged place for the proclamation of the Gospel, it is time to form ourselves, consecrated and laity, to put ourselves at the service of each other, each with our own talents; this would help, us, the consecrated, to not fall into the temptation of thinking we are superior to others in the Church of Christ which is the Church-Family.
[00288-02.02] [UD022] [Original text: French]
- Rev. Sister Yvonne REUNGOAT, F.M.A., General Superior of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, Salesians of Don Bosco (FRANCE)
As women religious life, we are able to bear witness to the fascination of our vocation when we allow ourselves to be evangelized by God, thus expressing a beautiful, achieved, happy consecrated life, capable of encounter and sharing. In order to retrieve a truly prophetic style we must root it in the mystical, giving reason to the hope that is in us. We must not only be believers, but also believable.
Being loved by God is expressed in fraternal communion: a dimension that todays world understands more immediately because it is hungry and thirsty for simple and true relationships reflected in the relationship with God. Our communities can become a laboratory of an evangelical universal citizenship in an intercultural, interreligious, complex and globalized world.
As women, I think we can more greatly develop the attitude to reciprocity, humanizing life and qualifying relationships.
Evangelization is such that if it penetrates with humility and love in the folds of the human and tries to live it everyday generating the desire for God and thus opening the door of faith. Evangelization needs channels of transmission, of a cultural and educational mediation, capable of penetrating in the scenarios of the contemporary world to meet the young and the poorest and offer their proposals for human and Christian growth. As Consecrated Salesians we evangelize by teaching, thus becoming missionaries of love, especially toward the young and the poorest. In our mission, we feel the support of Mary, Mother and Teacher.
[00313-02.02] [UD033] [Original text: Italian]
- Prof. Carl Albert ANDERSON, Supreme Knight of the Order of the Knights of Columbus (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)
The Christian family is essentially missionary. But its mission - which flows from its being - is far greater than any external activities of evangelization, social or political reform to which Christian families commit themselves. These activities truly bear fruit when they flow from the foundational mission that places the family founded upon sacramental marriage at the heart of the very mission of the Church. In the words of John Paul II, the family has the mission to guard, reveal and communicate love - the love that is a reflection of the Trinitarian communion and that shares in Gods love for humanity(Familiaris Consortio, 17. ).
In the Churchs mission of evangelization, love alone is effective - the love of the crucified and risen Lord. Christian spouses first receive this love as a divine gift and as a task. No amount of worldly influence or power can take the place of this gift. As the Instrumentum Laboris notes, this love, which the family has the task of living and communicating, is the driving force of evangelization. It is what allows the proclamation of the Gospel to permeate and transform the whole temporal order(Instrumentum Laboris, 92). This love alone, when it is authentically lived in families, can be at the basis of a renewal of that genuinely human culture which Blessed John Paul II called a civilization of love.
May our pastors become ever more conscious of the pressing need for a New Evangelization of the Christian family - to help the Christian family in its mission to become what it is(Cf. Familiaris Consortio, 17) an icon of Gods own communion. This is the only way for the family to be a place of healing and of humanity for the men and women of our time. Above all, families need pastoral help in coming to an awareness of what they are: a saved and saving community( Cf. Familiaris Consortio, 49) a sacramental reality at the heart of the Churchs mission of evangelization.
Many Synod Fathers have entrusted our efforts to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary Star of the New Evangelization. In the Western Hemisphere, Blessed John Paul II entrusted our efforts to Our Lady of Guadalupe under the title Star of the New Evangelization in his apostolic exhortation, Ecclesia in America.
Five centuries ago, Mary appeared in our hemisphere during a great clash of civilizations. In her, the native peoples saw a true reflection of themselves and at the same time a perfect expression of a new inculturation of the Christian faith. Her message of reconciliation, unity and love brought forth the great evangelization of an entire hemisphere. Today, we face in many ways a great clash of civilizations made more troubling by an accelerating process of globalization. May we, like Blessed John Paul II, see in Our Lady of Guadalupe a sure path today for the New Evangelization.
Finally, we see on every continent grave threats to the Churchs freedom. Whether these threats arise from a militant religious fundamentalism or a militant atheism, the globalization of such threats and the complicity of many governments with them call us to a new solidarity in the defense of religious liberty as a condition of the New Evangelization.
[00181-02.03] [UD002] [Original text: English]
- Dr. José María SIMÓN CASTELLVÍ, President of the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations (FIAMC) (SPAIN)
Many Catholic doctors believe it is extremely important for the future of the Church and of humanity to give a real impulse to the teachings of Humanae Vitae of Pope Paul VI. Whoever respects H.V. ensures they are faithful to their husband or wife, does not kill their children in abortion, nor do they procreate artificially and they see children as anexquisite gift from Heaven. If necessary for serious reasons, will use modern means of natural fertility control but never a contraceptive.
The transmission of human life is one of the most intimate contact between God and Man. (...) Both create something that will be eternal. Children are forever! That is why it is necessary for schools, universities, seminaries and other means of apostolate of the Church to promote this healthy doctrine without hiding it or abusing it, without cowardice and perseverance.
Catholic doctors have spent years picking up a radical reduction in the number of obstetricians who follow the teachings of the Church. We believe it would be necessary to promote from this Synod a "Marshall" plan for Motherhood. Mothers in poor countries die for lack of basic obstetric care and mothers are manipulated in rich countries not to have children.
The Catholic Church can, and I humbly think it should, surpass the multimillion-dollar investment of Bill Gates, with a preferential option for mothers, neither exclusive nor excluding, but certainly preferential to them and their children.
[00189-02.00] [UD010] [Original text: Spanish]
- Rev. Piergiorgio PERINI, President of the International Service Organism for the Parish Cells Evangelization (ITALY)
Cardinal George Hume, with a bold but effective expression, compared the parish to a sleeping giant. We have to waken the parish, it is necessary for the parish to become aware of its task of evangelization.
The Parish Cells of Evangelization, little groups that are constantly multiplying, can transform the parish progressively and globally into an ardent community of faith directed at the evangelization of the distant, recovering the value of the kerygmatic announcement of Jesus as the one and universal Savior.
It is determining to believe in and promote the action of the Holy Spirit in the lay faithful, who, because of their belonging to the Church rooted in the sacrament of baptism, have the vocation and mission of proclaiming the Gospel (cf. ChL 33). A characteristic intuition of the cells is the evangelization of their own OIKOS, that is, of where they live; that is where they have to announce the God News. This all began for us in 1987 with 4 cells in the parish of St Eustorgio: today hundreds of thousands of cells are present throughout the world.
If you want to live this experience, you will have a great deal of work, but also so much joy that will motivate your priestly life; you will have to have a great deal of patience, but, above all, great courage, which is a gift of the Holy Spirit.
[00186-02.04] [UD007] [Original text: Italian]
- Dr. Chiara AMIRANTE, Founder and President of the "Comunità Nuovi Orizzonti" (ITALY)
In 1991, I began to go out on the streets at night in the most dangerous areas of Rome, motivated by a simple desire: to share with my most desperate brothers the joy of encountering the Risen Christ himself. Hearing the cries of the people of the night I discovered that the real evil that these many needy brothers that I met on the streets had in common was not so much drugs, prostitution, alcohol, depression, loneliness...but death of the soul (the wage paid by sin is death, Rm 6:23). This led to a certainty impressing itself forcefully on me: only the encounter with the Risen Christ could have given life back to those brothers in death that I met every night on the streets. I was thus motivated in 1994 to open a simple center for youth on the streets, based on the Gospel, and since then, thousands of youth, after having discovered the love of God and after a journey of healing of heart and human formation and evangelization, became witnesses to the love of God among their peers and committed themselves regularly to initiatives of evangelization.
In six years more than 250,000 people have wanted to get involved in the new evangelization to carry this revolution of love to the world. Moreover, centers and initiatives for evangelization have increased: 174 Centers of Welcome, Evangelization Training, families available to welcome; 152 Service Teams involved in: communication and mass media, animation and performances, training and publishing, international cooperation and social services. This enables us to meet with an average of two million people per year with various initiatives on evangelization and to realize that 80% of the youth we meet today (including youth in schools in the in neighborhoods) live in situations of serious distress. Youth seek happiness in the streets of death which the prophets of lies continue to promote: success, power, money, pleasure. It is absolutely essential that there be a renewed commitment to the first announcement, the use of media, witness with ones life that Jesus is the way to fullness of glory, peace and the life that this Synod can contribute to impress upon the heart of every Christian the words of Saint Paul: Preaching the gospel gives me nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion and I should be in trouble if I failed to do it! (1 Co 9:16)
[00310-02.04] [UD030] [Original text: Italian]
- Dr. Curtis A. MARTIN, Founder and President of the "Fellowship of Catholic University Students" - FOCUS (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)
I find it helpful to understand the New Evangelization as a means to fulfilling the central theme of Vatican II, the Universal Call to Holiness.
The Catholic laity must accept their co-responsibility to evangelize.
In my work with university students we have used a simple three-step process to form disciples: Win, Build, Send.
1 - Win: We, who have encountered Jesus, go out and love people, because Christ first loved us. In the midst of our friendships with them, we introduce them to our greatest friend, Jesus.
2 - Build: Once they have encountered Jesus, we build them up in the knowledge and practice of the faith. There is a crisis of faith and many Catholics have not embraced the teachings of the Church, they do not know that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist, or of the Inerrancy of Sacred Scripture. They have not accepted the difficult teachings, such as Humanae Vitae, without the fullness of Catholic faith, authentic renewal is impossible. We must be transformed.
3 - Send: As these young disciples grow in their practice of the faith, they are sent out, with our continued care, to begin the process anew. Holiness will take a lifetime, but the work of evangelization can begin shortly after an authentic encounter with Jesus; think of the Samaritan woman at the well.
Here are some of the benefits of discipleship:
1) Everyone can do this, it is universal
2) This is based upon friendship; therefore everyone involved is known, loved and cared for.
3) Evangelized people discern their vocations
4) The exponential power of this Biblical model is unmatched in its ability to reach the world.
Jesus told us: "It is to the glory of my Father that you should bear much fruit and be my disciples" John 15:8.
[00230-02.04] [UD017] [Original text: English]
- Dr. Ernestine Sikujua KINYABUUMA, Professor Maria Malkia University Institute of Lubumbashi, Member of the Focolare Movement (DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO)
As teachers in contact with students, we realize that youth while living in a culture of easiness, are searching for a great ideal and a radical life based on the Gospel. One of them declares this in reference to the words by Chiara Lubich: Go, do not speak, but live!, without knowing it, he quoted the words of Paul VI.
In our intervention, we present some of their experiences witnessing their life based on the Word of God lived daily. We also present how they do not remain indifferent in contact with the Christian values.
In the complete change of globalization, Africa is undergoing crises on all levels, in its political and economic life as well as on the cultural level. Thus rebellions emerge here and there in the search for a way out.
We present how the Hand of God intervenes in our small enterprises where our life may seem endangered, but with the courage given to us by our faith in the Words of Jesus in Mt 25:35: saying that all that we will have done for the little ones in our cities, it will be as if we had done it to Him.
This is also how we reached the rehabilitation of three dormitories in the main prison of Lubumbashi; with the help of an international ONG, we have created a small stock house to fight against the raising of prices of primary needs products in the prison and for the moment, having a peaceable climate of collaboration, with the penitentiary personnel, we created a tailors workshop allowing the inmates to learn a profession.
[00231-02.02] [UD018] [Original text: French]
- Rev. Sister Rekha (Mary Joseph) CHENNATTU, R.A., Professor of New Testament at the Pontifical Institute of Philosophy and Religion in Pune (INDIA)
I would like to begin this sharing with one of the most powerful moments of evangelization in my personal life. This happened 20 years ago when I was sent to the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome to study the Bible. My grandfather who was 92 years old told me the following: when you study the Bible in Rome, it should not become an intellectual exercise, but a spiritual experience of awakening/enlightenment. Always keep this in mind: to be a biblical student/scholar does not mean that you master the Word of God but let the Word of God master your life! It was easier for me to teach mathematics and physics, but teaching the New Testament is a difficult task as it constantly challenges me to enter into a process of Kenosis: self-renunciation, sacrifice and suffering for the sake of the Gospel values. My teaching ministry has become a WAY of participating in the Paschal Mystery of Christ in my daily life.
When I think of the New Evangelization, I cannot but turn to the Gospel of John, my favourite book in the New Testament. The paradigm of Christian way of life emerging from John 15 (the Vine and Branches) is characterized by contemplation (abiding in God's love), communion (loving one another) and commitment (bearing fruit). 1) Contemplation is our way of abiding in God's love by constant communication and deep communion with God, our personal encounter and relationship with God/Jesus. This contemplation leads us to an abiding relationship with one another. 2) Communion refers to our mission ad intra: John 13 presents love for one another as a sign of Christian identity in the world, and the Johannine Jesus prays for the unity of the Christians - that they may be ONE (John 17). The church then becomes a dwelling place of God in the secular world characterized by broken relationships. 3) Commitment refers to our mission ad extra. The mission consists in revealing God's gracious, merciful, immense love in the world today through our active participation in the mission of God in favor of the poor, the needy and the suffering. The New Evangelization begins when we have a greater integration of the three quintessential aspects of our Christian WAY of LIFE - contemplation, communion and commitment, when we allow the Word of God to master our lives!
[00358-02.03] [UD019] [Original text: English]
- Mrs. Gisèle MUCHATI, Regional Manager of the " New Families " Movement (SYRIA)
When I got married thirteen years ago I was aware of the fact that I was doing so in order to do Gods will and that I would have done whatever it took with my husband to fulfill His design of love for us and our family. I was supported a great deal in this journey by the Christian formation I received in the parish as well as by the spirituality of Communion of the Focolare movement, which reminds me constantly to return to the Gospel as a path to tread in order to change my way of thinking, acting and desiring and seeking to match that of Jesus, and to live to carry Gods love to the world. With my family we seek to put charity into practice, transmitting the Christian faith into that which is the most life-giving: a personal relationship with God, with Jesus, which springs forth in new ways from individual and family prayer and from love of neighbor.
We share this journey with many other families (New Families) in Syria who are involved both individually and collectively in living the Gospel and proclaiming it in personal contact as well as in small meetings, attentive to the educational, economical and cultural challenges that the Christian family in Syria faces.
Thanks to the efforts of New Families, a project for local distance adoptions has been in operation in Syria since 2005 which provides monthly assistance to children and a school for deaf and mute children, both Christian and Muslim, born of one couples generous work.
In the current tragedy in Syria, New Families, with many others, is opening up to the needs of refugees, seeking to keep alive at all costs faith in God, for whom nothing is impossible. In Aleppo, in August, spontaneous small groups were organized in various neighborhoods to pray the Rosary, so that the voice of prayer might frequently be raised even amidst the noise of gunshots and bombs.
The unity that was experienced strengthens and gives peace even in danger; faith in Gods love is stronger, hope is alive.
[00305-02.03] [UD026] [Original text: Italian]
- Mrs. Chantal LE RICQUE, Lay member of the Archdiocese of Paris (FRANCE)
No. 78 of the Instrumentum laboris invites us to verify our life of faith to be instruments of proclamation of the Gospel through, among others, the ability to live forms of fundamental and authentic adhesion to the Christian faith, whose simple character can already serve as a witness to the transforming power of God in our history.
I was happy to read this phrase in the Instrumentum laboris, because this radicality of adhesion to the Christian faith, this is what the auxiliary of the Apostolate wishes to live. This holds a special place in the diocese, since it only exists through the call of a bishop for the service of the Kingdom of God.
This apostolic vocation saw the dawn thanks to Cardinal Mercier who, during the 1920s, thought that he could make the laity participate in his apostolic charity by calling on them to deliver their life to God and thus being instruments of communication of the love of God in the different environments of their life.{line Engaged in the apostolic life of the diocesan Church, the auxiliary of the Apostolate participates on his part in the mission of the Bishop, whether hoping the Church remains in the situation it is in or whether asking it to answer other needs.
It sees in its presence among human realities and in the sharing of the conditions of life of mankind, all during its life, a way of working at the recapitulation of all things in Christ.
Referring to this presence in human realities, I hope that the Synod will encourage the laity to know the social doctrine of the Church and to take responsibilities at whatever level, within the different commitments and thus be witnesses of the love of Christ. I think that the role of the laity in evangelization will be more evident.
[00308-02.02] [UD028] [Original text: French]
- Mrs. Patricia Ngozi NWACHUKWU, L.S.M., Worthy President of the Ladies of St. Mulumba (NIGERIA)
The Family is held in high esteem in Africa, particularly in Nigeria. It is the first organized school for New Evangelization. The Sacrament of Marriage requires unconditional love, complementary role play, the ability to forgive and to share. These attributes are enshrined in the unwritten code of family life. In this beautiful set up, families pray together and the love of sharing is enjoyed by the children of the marriage. The family is therefore an ideal locus for imparting the catechetical and social teachings of the Church. In this setting however, the mother more often assumes the unchallenged role of a catechist. The foremost role of the Nigerian woman is that she is always with the children and monitors their growth even up to adulthood.
Women in Nigeria play an unassailable part in the mission of the Church to the poor and needy which I consider a credible channel for transmission of the Faith. Some statistics say that women constitute 60 percent of members in the Churches in Nigeria. These women in collaboration with the large number of Women Religious in Nigeria have been motivated to pursue the goals of evangelization in Nigeria by forming different groups which address different interests and needs in the mission of the Church. One of such groups in Nigeria of which I am President is the Ladies of the Knights of St. Mulumba which is found in over 50 dioceses of Nigeria working in the apostolate in various ways. I mention some of them below
- provision for the poor, less privileged and homeless - healthcare services in very remote villages of the country
- hostel accommodation for youth, immigrants in urban areas without an alternative
- youth empowerment workshops for jobless youth with support to be self reliant
- recovering girl-victims of trafficking and empowering and resettling them
Such activities are carried out with a conscious engagement in dialogue especially with the Muslims even in rather difficult circumstances. The Ladies of St Mulumba have so far distributed over 10,000 copies of the Catechism of the Catholic Church as a way of transmitting the faith of the Church and contributing to the work of evangelization.
[00342-02.03] [UD041] [Original text: English]
- Rev. Renato DE GUZMAN, S.D.B., Main Assistant for the Pastoral "Grade School and High School Departments, Don Bosco Technical Institute", Makati City (PHILIPPINES)
Renewed integral evangelization as found in The Acts and Decrees of the 2nd Plenary Council of the Philippines (PCP II) in 1991 are in three main areas: catechesis, worship, and social apostolate. Of these three, the first and to be given priority is renewed catechesis. IL, no. 92 also mentions the link between evangelization and catechesis as well as the various interventions in the aula. Based on the catechetical practice in the Philippines, among the areas that catechesis has to be in constant renewal I suggest the following: 1) initial proclamation and catechesis, 2) the affective dimension of faith in catechesis, and 3) catechists as communicative evangelizers in view of the new evangelization.
For the first area, catechists need to ascertain that there has been the initial proclamation and personal encounter of Jesus among the catechized. How can the catechized be in touch and in communion with Jesus (Catechesi Tradendae, [CT] 5) if they have not first of all encountered him? From systematic instruction to deepening of faith the catechized personally encounter Jesus the Evangelizer and commit themselves to think like him, to judge like him and to live as he lived (General Directory for Catechesis, [GDC]53; Catechesi Tradendae, 20) as they integrate knowledge of faith with their daily life through fostering Gospel values and developing faith convictions.
The second area of renewal in today's catechesis, the affective aspect of faith formation facilitates the initial proclamation or the kerygma to take place. The catechists makes the catechetical experience less heady and cerebral but more value-laden and touching the heart.
The third area of renewal is to form catechists as communicative evangelizers. There is a need to highlight catechesis as a process of communication, such that the catechists foster in themselves the qualities of Jesus Christ the Perfect Communicator (Communio et Progressio, 10). For the new evangelization catechists are both teachers of the faith and educators to the faith, skilled both in facilitating human-divine communication and in using the gadgets of social communication during the catechetical activity. In the formation of catechists, the theology and spirituality of communication are priority subjects together with technology of communication.
These three areas in renewing catechesis in view of the new evangelization aim at making our catechesis truly evangelizing. Catechists in the new evangelization need to be conscious that they educate in the faith while evangelizing, and they evangelize [proclaim the Good News] while educating (GDC, 147).
[00343-02.03] [UD042] [Original text: English]
ERRATA CORRIGE The corrections published in the Errata Corrige in Bulletin No.29 can be found in the specific Bulletins published in these Internet pages. |
