| 14 - 13.10.2012 SUMMARY
- NINTH GENERAL CONGREGATION (SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13 2012 - MORNING)
- COMPOSITION OF THE COMMISSION FOR INFORMATION
- ERRATA CORRIGE
NINTH GENERAL CONGREGATION (SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13 2012 - MORNING)
- INTERVENTIONS IN THE HALL (CONTINUATION)
- AUDITIO DELEGATORUM FRATERNORUM (III)
Today, Saturday, October 13 2012, at 9:05 a.m, in the presence of the Holy Father, with the chant of the Hour of Tierce, the Ninth 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).
During the General Congregation a Fraternal Delegate intervened.
Concluding, the Secretary General announced the composition of the Commission for Information, which is published in this Bulletin.
At this General Congregation, which ended at 12:30 am with the prayer of Angelus Domini 241 Fathers were present.
INTERVENTIONS IN THE HALL (CONTINUATION)
The following Fathers intervened:
- H. B. Fouad TWAL, Patriarch of Jerusalem of Latins, President of the Conference of Latin Bishops in the Arabic regions (CELRA) (JERUSALEM)
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Francesco MORAGLIA, Patriarch of Venice (ITALY)
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Sócrates René SÁNDIGO JIRÓN, Bishop of Juigalpa, President of the Episcopal Conference (NICARAGUA)
- H. Em. Rev. Card. Odilo Pedro SCHERER, Archbishop of São Paulo (BRAZIL)
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Filippo SANTORO, Archbishop of Taranto (ITALY)
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Julio Hernando GARCÍA PELÁEZ, Bishop of Istmina - Tadó (COLOMBIA)
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. José Guadalupe MARTÍN RÁBAGO, Archbishop of León (MEXICO)
- H. Em. Rev. Card. Peter Kodwo Appiah TURKSON, President of the Pontifical Council for ice and Peace (VATICAN CITY)
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. José Octavio RUIZ ARENAS, Archbishop Emeritus of Villavicencio, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization (VATICAN CITY)
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. José NAMBI, Bishop of Kwito-Bié (ANGOLA)
- Rev. F. Jose PANTHAPLAMTHOTTIYIL, C.M.I., General Prior of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (INDIA)
- H. B. Card. George ALENCHERRY, Archbishop Major of Ernakulam-Angamaly of the Syro-Malabars, Head of Synod of the Syro-Malabar Church (INDIA)
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Jesús Esteban SÁDABA PÉREZ, O.F.M. Cap., Titular Bishop of Assura, Apostolic Vicar of Aguarico (ECUADOR)
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. François LAPIERRE, P.M.E., Bishop of Saint-Hyacinthe (CANADA)
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. António José DA ROCHA COUTO, S.M.P., Bishop of Lamego (PORTUGAL)
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Bonifacio Antonio REIMANN PANIC, O.F.M., Titular Bishop of Saia maggiore, Apostolic Vicar of Ñuflo de Chávez (BOLIVIA)
- Rev. F. Marco TASCA, O.F.M. Conv., Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Nikolaos FOSKOLOS, Archbishop of Athēnai, Apostolic Administrator "sede vacante et ad Nutum Sanctae Sedis" of Rhodos (GREECE)
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Petru GHERGHEL, Bishop of Iaşi (ROMANIA)
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Manuel José MACÁRIO DO NASCIMENTO CLEMENTE, Bishop of Porto (PORTUGAL)
- Rev. Julián CARRÓN, President of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation (ITALY)
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Leo Laba LADJAR, O.F.M., Bishop of Jayapura (INDONESIA)
- H. B. Baselios Cleemis THOTTUNKAL, Archbishop Major of Trivandrum of Syro-Malankars, Head of the Synod of the Syro-Malankar Church (INDIA)
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Berislav GRGIĆ, Bishop Prelate of Tromsø (NORWAY)
The summaries of the interventions are published below:
- H. B. Fouad TWAL, Patriarch of Jerusalem of Latins, President of the Conference of Latin Bishops in the Arabic regions (CELRA) (JERUSALEM)
The pilgrimage to the Holy Places and to the living stones is an excellent method of reviving our faith and that of the Pilgrim, and knowing better the cultural, historic and geographic context in which the mysteries in which we believe were born, an occasion for a personal and incarnate encounter with the person of Jesus.
The Christians of the Holy Land are the direct descendants of the very first Christian community and the collective living memory of the history of Jesus. The visit to the Holy Places, duly prepared and guided by reading the Word of God, and the encounter with the community can strengthen believers of little faith and enable the rebirth of the faith in those in whom it has died.
In this time, in which the Holy Places are at times offended and assaulted, the presence of pilgrims is a true testimony to faith and communion with our Church of the Calvary. We need you, your prayers and your solidarity! There, where the Apostles called to Jesus, Increase our faith (Lk 17:5), come, you too, dear brother Bishops, with your priests, seminarians and communities, and ask the Lord for the faith and the peace that is missing.I consider it an urgent necessity that our faith be a lifestyle that brings us closer to others. We must change a certain negative mentality that regards faith as belonging to a sociological faction leading to militance and violence. True faith helps us to feel more like the sons of God and therefore to be brothers to others, even at the cost of the cross and of bloodshed.
The new evangelization, in order to be modern and effective, must start from Jerusalem: it must begin from the first Christian community anchored to the person of Christ, having a cause for which it is willing to face any sacrifice and to give the gift of life itself.
Our community lives as a minority among believers of other faiths. Circumstances have pushed these to close in on themselves, to defend themselves, sensitive to their own rights and attentive to their locations and their rites. Introverted and fearful communities. For many the faith is a hereditary and social fact, when instead it should be more personal and committed. It is not about survival, but about breaking through and communicating.
[00146-02.04] [IN115] [Original text: Italian]
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Francesco MORAGLIA, Patriarch of Venice (ITALY)
This intervention relates to Nos. 153-157 of the Instrumentum laboris: the point Faith and knowledge. In line with the constant magisterium of the Church and, more recently, of John Paul II (Fides et ratio) and Benedict XVI (Lectio magistralis, Regensburg, September 12th 2006), I hope that the new evangelization allows greater space for catechesis, with special attention to the complementarity of faith and reason. We are grateful for the commitment of those who, with competence and sensitivity, undertake the pastoral of high culture, favoring dialogue with intellectuals and Christian scientists, with whom I am engaged in honest research. Also at the level of ordinary catechesis, one must take a path towards a more shared consciousness of the cultural dimension of faith, in order that the believer might not live in psychological submission, perceiving himself to be in delay in relation to the historical moment. It is not unusual for the Catholic to experience a sort of inferiority complex with regard to modernity and post-modernity due to a personal, unresolved conflict between faith and reason. The silence of the average Catholic, in giving reasons for his hope, is resounding. Beyond strengthening the first proclamation, the reading of the Bible, the lectio divina - in line with Dei Verbum and the post-synodal exhortation Verbum Domini - I consider it necessary, with regard to the new evangelization, to consolidate the structural link between reason and faith. This means allowing culture into the ordinary pastoral: that is, nowadays, to respond to a Christian diaconia with regard to history, faced with a culture that develops ever more from the knowledge of science and technology, generating instrumental and functional thought. In this situation, in Italy, the majority of young people, once their Christian initiation is complete, lose their relationship with the Church, the faith, God. There are multiple causes for this: however, I believe that in a not insignificant number of cases the faith is not supported by a catechesis that is friendly towards reason, able to offer a true anthropological instruction and able to legitimize the plausibility of the Christian choice. It is necessary to relaunch the CCC, giving greater space to its content in order to avoid reduction to a do-it-yourself faith; the fides quae is often missing from our catechesis. Methodology is important but not at the expense of content or heightened theological experience. If with God or without God everything changes, it is our duty to re-focus catechesis on God and on how much Christian revelation says about Him, not forgetting that the God of Jesus Christ - as Benedict XVI reminds us - is, together, Agapee Logos.
[00177-02.03] [IN140] [Original text: Italian]
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Sócrates René SÁNDIGO JIRÓN, Bishop of Juigalpa, President of the Episcopal Conference (NICARAGUA)
In view of the New Evangelization we must consider that in the Gospels there are many concrete examples of personalized ways of transmitting the faith, such as that related in the parable of the lost sheep (Lk 15: 1-7; Mt 18: 12-14) or the story of Jesus himself with the Samaritan woman (Jn 4: 7-27), and Nicodemus (Jn 3:1-21): this method produces a positive result in the recipients of the Word of the Lord. We the Bishops of Latin America have emphasized, on the basis of our experience at Aparecida, the importance of transmitting the faith in a personal way, given that the individual feels valued in the moment in which, from how we treat him according to Jesus style, he perceives his meaning to God and the Church.
While outlining a New Evangelization, we must not disregard the fact that growth in the Churchs numbers may in fact have led to a lack of the personal attention that Jesus gave; that is at the root of a situation in which many baptized persons do not feel they are treated as individuals, and many baptized are not evangelized.
Nevertheless, this personalized approach to transmitting the faith calls for many members to dedicate time to each individual and for this it is necessary to have the support of a family that is a special place in which to encounter the person of Christ. The family is the school of faith, the training ground for human and civil values (Address of His Holiness Benedict XVI, Inaugural Session of the Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean). Practically speaking, if in the New Evangelization there is an interest in transmitting the faith, which is now in crisis, there must also be an interest in the family, since, as His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI said during his inaugural homily for the Synod on October 7th: there is a clear link between the crisis in faith and the crisis in marriage.
[00113-02.05] [IN085] [Original text: Spanish]
- H. Em. Rev. Card. Odilo Pedro SCHERER, Archbishop of São Paulo (BRAZIL)
The New Evangelization needs new evangelizers. More than new methods and technical resources, it needs evangelizers with profound experience of the faith, nurtured in communion with God.
The Saints, throughout the history of the Church, have been true Christians and the most effective evangelizers. From the times of the Apostles and the first martyrs, the Church has been able to count on the testimony of the Saints in the most difficult moments of her life and her mission: martyr and confessor Saints, priest and doctor Saints, missionary and preacher Saints, mystic Saints, consecrated virgins, Saints of charity, and founding Saints. These were always true disciples and missionaries of Jesus and his witnesses in the world! In every country, the local Saints or those of the universal Church have sustained and continue to support the faith of the faithful: they are, for them, an example of life, as well as interceding brothers. The places of the Saints - Sanctuaries - are places of faith and consolation for the population of believers.
Therefore, the New Evangelization may find an immense resource in the life, testimony and intercession of the Saints. Devotion to the Saints and communion with the Saints allow the faithful to experience closeness to that Mystery of the Faith in which the Church believes and which she proclaims throughout the world.
This Mystery of the Faith, which is the same God-Trinity, and was brought close to us through Jesus Christ, has fascinated many Saints before us and may also fascinate the men and women of our time.
The life, testimony and intercession of the Saints is a great treasure of the Church and may be of great help for the New Evangelization!
[00114-02.03] [IN086] [Original text: Italian]
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Filippo SANTORO, Archbishop of Taranto (ITALY)
The New Evangelization is thirsty to meet Christians who are distant now and enter into dialogue with current culture in the world. But very often the world has no wish to enter into dialogue with us and, if it does, it is only in battles it has arranged according to the spirit of the time.
But also at the beginnings of Evangelization nobody was interested in having dialogue with Christians, with that small group of strange men who believed that a crucified man had risen from the dead. But in fact it was to this world that they turned, showing those who ignored or persecuted them the experience of a changed life and the proposal for salvation. They did not answer this world with a speech, but with the miracle of a transformed humanity.
After 27 years of mission and service to the Church in Brazil, I have returned to Italy, to a diocese of ancient evangelization, in a context of widespread and sincere popular religiosity where faith is seriously tried by secularization. Because of the effects of the pollution from the biggest steel plant in Europe, 12,000 people (20,000 in the related industries) risk losing their jobs, while many others have already fallen victim to tumors and other serious illnesses caused by the environmental pollution.
The Church has not stood on the sidelines, but immediately set out to defend life attacked by dioxin and other toxic substances, but it has also defended employment which allows life to develop. Not being in possession of a recipe for the solution to this grave problem, we offered a sympathetic presence and concrete support to all those affected by the disastrous effects of this sad alternative during this period of worldwide economic recession. We offer no solutions, but companionship, aware of our mission to be pilgrims alongside those who suffer, encouraging dialogue and working together for the common good. For this reason, I visited the workers of Blast Furnace 5 who were striking 60 meters above the ground and I met those afflicted by tumors, I visited the Anti-Leukemia League, Multiple Sclerosis, the national Tumors Association and other groups, including Children Against Pollution. But the conflict is ongoing and we can see the profound human and social crisis of this model of economic development.
Jesus embraced need, he took the side of the poor, the young, the sinners, the excluded. He loved them and in doing so revealed his Fathers face.
[00116-02.02] [IN087] [Original text: Italian]
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Julio Hernando GARCÍA PELÁEZ, Bishop of Istmina - Tadó (COLOMBIA)
Even though the Church is entirely responsible for transmitting the faith, the bishops must guarantee that this is carried out in a new way.
The bishop cannot renounce his charisma which commits him to evangelization. He is helped by the Holy Spirit to be the one responsible for enlivening, proposing and creating new ways of transmitting the faith amidst the spiritual desert that humanity inhabits.
To evangelize is his true disposition and vocation. He cannot be faithful or obedient to the Lords mandate if this is not his main task. The bishop does not evangelize because he likes to, nor as a strategy, but because he was called to this and been sent forth.
Should the bishop completely take on his apostolic responsibility, there will be a radical change, a true pastoral conversion in the particular church. The bishop, as the main person responsible for the transmission of faith, will be the agent of this change.
Reviving apostolic charisma raises the particular church to a level of permanent mission, consecrating all its force and resources so the kerygma, catechesis, community life and solidarity
are not missing to the flock in a systematic and integral way.
The bishop knows he is not alone, he is aided by the Spirit of the Risen One, the intercession of the great evangelizers and a numerous flock. As the successor of the apostles, he consecrates all his energy and directs all his action to guarantee the transmission of faith to a humanity thirsting to feel the love of God.
[00117-02.03] [IN088] [Original text: Spanish]
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. José Guadalupe MARTÍN RÁBAGO, Archbishop of León (MEXICO)
The Latin American magisterium makes frequent references to the pastoral value of popular piety.
We recognize that evangelization and purification of popular piety presents challenges that must be faced with pastoral creativity, because this, left at the mercy of pure sentimentalism and folklore, impedes the creation of a truly evangelizing culture able to transform the structures of sin, such as the social inequalities, violence, injustice and other manifestations that contradict human dignity and fraternal cohabitation.
I present an achievement that I think could be an inspiration: the Diocese of Querétaro, in Mexico, organizes an annual pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. This year will be the 122nd. Approximately 40,000 individuals went on the pilgrimage, divided into groups and accompanied by priests, seminarians and lay persons. During the journey, which lasts 17 days, the priests will celebrate the Eucharist daily, and offer the sacrament of Reconciliation.
The fruits of great value are:
Intensifying the Eucharistic rite through the Holy Hour which is held each day.
The pilgrimage, organized and accompanied starting from the diocese and the parishes, can convert to a tradition that raises positive changes of life and greater commitment with the planned pastoral.
[00118-02.03] [IN089] [Original text: Spanish]
- H. Em. Rev. Card. Peter Kodwo Appiah TURKSON, President of the Pontifical Council for ice and Peace (VATICAN CITY)
Fruit of Vatican Council II, the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace, during these meaningful times for the entire Church and for its particular mission so that both the justice and love of Christ toward the poor might be developed everywhere... to stimulate the Catholic community to promote progress in needy regions and international social justice, is enthusiastically inserted in the process of renewal in the Church's fundamental mission, which is new evangelization.
In fact, as underlined by the Instrumentum laboris of this XIII Ordinary Assembly in no. 130, going back to the teachings of the Supreme Pontiffs Paul VI and Benedict XVI, evangelization would not be complete if it did not take account of the unceasing interplay of the Gospel and of man's concrete life, both personal and social'. [...] Testimony to Christ's charity, through works of justice, peace and development, is part and parcel of evangelization, because Jesus Christ, who loves us, is concerned with the whole person. These important teachings form the basis for the missionary aspect of the Church's social doctrine, which is an essential element of evangelization. The Church's social doctrine proclaims and bears witness to faith. It is an instrument and an indispensable setting for formation in faith. Of course, from the profound pastoral experience of the Blessed John Paul II as Bishop of Krakow, as well as from his Petrine ministry, arose the most effective definition of the social doctrine of the Church: an instrument of evangelization.
The original reason for evangelization is Christs love for the eternal salvation of mankind; and the proclamation of Jesus Christ is the first and main factor of this development.
If renewal is a constant need of evangelization - more so evangelization of the social inasmuch as its strategies must accompany the transformations of society - it is certain that this is felt in a particular way now, at a turning point of history where the social question has radically become an anthropological question. This anthropological question forcibly takes up the question of God. If God is not refused explicitly, one tends to deem the openness of man to Transcendent as irrelevant.
Now, in consideration of this historical moment, there is an urgent need for even a new evangelization of the social, not only because it is an inescapable content of new evangelization, but also because it is, obviously, its effective instrument.
In fact, many persons are more sensitive today to questions of human rights, ecology, the fight against poverty, the themes that touch upon the concrete life of the individual and the common life of nations. This is a reality that can be drawn as an authentic opportunity for new evangelization; and for this reason, the opening of evangelization can effectively be the social one.
Therefore, this means finding new strategies. Here are some proposals:
- To persevere on the level of formation, with special attention placed on the study of the social doctrine of the Church in Seminaries, in the various houses of formation and in the parishes.
- To not ignore the opportunities offered by ecumenical and interreligious dialogue.
At the level of the apologetic attitude referred to in no. 138 of the Instrumentum laboris, it would be opportune to make the great tradition of social sanctity more greatly known. For example: the priests Arcangelo Tardini and Jose Maria Arizmandarrieta (Social pastoral), the Blessed Giuseppe Toniolo (employment), Robert Schuman, Alcide De Gasperi and Julius Nyerere (political field).
Still on this so-called apologetic front, it is inspired by what the Blessed John XXIII stated in the Encyclical Mater et Magister - that is, that it is not enough merely to formulate a social doctrine. It must be translated into reality.
- Finally to underline, once again, the importance of the new evangelization of the social, why not hypothesize the addition of the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church on the Vatican website, in the Fundamental Texts, along with the Catechism of the Catholic Church?
- Or, why not think about consecrating a Synodal Assembly to the theme of the (New) Evangelization of the social?
[00119-02.02] [IN090] [Original text: Italian]
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. José Octavio RUIZ ARENAS, Archbishop Emeritus of Villavicencio, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization (VATICAN CITY)
The maintenance and transmission of multiple religious manifestations remain, especially in de-christianized environments, an enduring witness of the undeniable thirst for God, present in all mankind. When this popular religiosity emerges from faith in Jesus Christ and is animated by an ecclesiastical spirit, it is manifest also in the true piety of the people of God, in a valuable and effective means of conveying the Gospel and reviving faith in the distant people.
So then, that popular piety in the circumstances of the present time might be taken as a true means for the announcement, is something that must be considered, firstly, as the object or scenario of the new evangelization so that faith that seeks to express, strives to be mature and authentic. This is achieved by first illuminating devotional practices so that their intention matches, in hierarchy and meanings with the truths of faith and consequent moral requirements.
Secondly, by the determined action of the shepherds who must accompany these devotions according to the truth, even at the cost of giving up some of the benefits that maintaining of it might bring.
Thirdly, by favoring the understanding of the Christian link between popular piety and the nature of the liturgy. By this last we mean, knowledge, proclamation and meditation on the Word of God will be of great help, as by this, God reveals himself and communicates hiumself and through this the baptized may engage in a sincere dialogue with Him
Guiding the various demonstrations of piety of the people of God towards the understanding of the faith and sacramental practice, have to represent one of the tasks that with diligence, have to be considered by the shepherds of the Church to take advantage of popular piety as a scenario for the New Evangelization..
[00120-02.04] [IN091] [Original text: Spanish]
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. José NAMBI, Bishop of Kwito-Bié (ANGOLA)
In its 500 years of experience in evangelization, with its light and its darkness, Angola now lives in circumstances of peace, and of profound social transformations aimed toward an economic growth which is attracting many foreign countries and seeing the proliferation of sects.
Thanks be to God, less pleasant memories of the past have been overcome. And currently, economic and social growth can be observed which, though oriented toward development, is far from responding to authentic and huge challenges.
Internally, a similar situation constitutes a pretext for drawing profit, allowing easy enrichment often at any cost (increasing the gap between rich and poor) and creating a dichotomy between faith and life. Externally, this gives rise to growing emigration, often dishonest and opportunistic.
The Church in Angola is attentive to this situation and, reading the signs of the times in the light of the Ecclesiastic Magisterium, in particular of the contributions of the last two Special Assemblies for Africa, has attempted to answer this challenge by putting into practice a family Pastoral, with a triennial pairing of themes: Family and Marriage; Family and Reconciliation; Family and Culture.
This has all been in order to relaunch a process which will bring us to take up again the itinerary of Christian initiation in families, in their condition of having a privileged space for evangelization. On the other hand, these and other situations cannot but call for a profound and permanent catechesis which involves the faithful Christian with regard to God, the Church and society.e
[00122-02.07] [IN093] [Original text: Portoguese]
- Rev. F. Jose PANTHAPLAMTHOTTIYIL, C.M.I., General Prior of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (INDIA)
It is very clear from the teachings of Jesus and the Church that evangelizing all peoples constitutes the essential mission of the Church. From this perspective it is also clear that evangelization is not one among the many activities but the most important mission of the Church. If evangelization is the major mission of the Church we should perceive every activity of the Church from this perspective. We should not have any activity under evangelization which does not aim at the proclamation and transmission of faith.
A Christ-centered. Word-based and world-oriented spirituality shall be the most important source of our New Evangelization. Attempts at new evangelization must focus mostly on a Word-based faith formation imparted to our faithful especially in the context of their thirst for the Word of
God.
Very serious attempts should be made to use mass media for evangelization so that the voice of God also could be heard among the many voices of the world. To use mass media effectively investments should be made in personnel and in resources at international, national and local levels in direct proportion to the need and importance of this ministry.
We must take innovative steps to use our institutions all over the world for the effective transmission of faith. Moreover, attempts should be made to bring about a deeper awareness of the responsibility of every Christian, individually and collectively, to become active agents of evangelization.
The proclamation of the gospel is the right and duty of the entire Church and of every baptized Christian. Hence the Church should also take creative steps in arranging for the Oriental sui juris Churches, such as, the vibrant Syro-Malabar Church, to proclaim the gospel beyond their present-day geographical boundaries. If the Church has a larger vision to open up new avenues for the Syro-Malabar Church and other Oriental Churches, it will definitely bear much fruit in evangelization work.
In the context of New Evangelization, while we should continue to promote the dialogue of religions, we should also be prepared to share the life-giving message of Jesus, especially because of the alarming growth of secularism and atheism which is a great threat to all religions.
[00124-02.04] [IN095] [Original text: English]
- H. B. Card. George ALENCHERRY, Archbishop Major of Ernakulam-Angamaly of the Syro-Malabars, Head of Synod of the Syro-Malabar Church (INDIA)
New Evangelization calls for a self evaluation within the Church. It is a fact that there are many in the Church who do not know who Christ is and what cost they have to pay to be his disciples. The Church has to become more and more a communion of persons who have encountered Christ and thereby volunteer by the power of the Grace of God to pay the cost of discipleship of Christ. The universal call to holiness has to become a fundamental awareness for all the Christian faithful. The uniqueness of Christian faith and the ever-renewed commitment to Christ in the Church has to become the driving force for the life of every Christian. Jesus Christ the unique savior is the one who works both in the evangelizer and the evangelized. He has said of himself: I am the truth, I am the light, I am the way, I am the door, I am the bread, and I am the life.
During the 50 years after Vatican II, the renewal of the Church has been multifaceted and highly productive. At the same time the lives and ministry of priests and men and women of consecrated life have become more functional than spiritual and ecclesial. It would seem that the present-day formation of priests and the religious personnel tends to make them functionaries for different offices in the Church, rather than missionaries inflamed by the love of Christ. Even in places of ad gentes missions of the Church, functioning through institutions have made the priests and the religious lose the impelling force and strength of the Gospel to which they are committed by their vocation. Secularization has impacted the lives of individual Christians and also of ecclesial communities. New Evangelization demands a thorough renewal of the lives of individual Christians and the reevaluation of the structures of the Church to empower them with the dynamism of the Gospel values of truth, justice, love, peace and harmony.
The transmission of faith is always through the traditions of the particular churches and Churches sui iuris. These traditions include celebration of the sacraments, especially the offering of the Holy Eucharist, the catechesis, the custom of daily family prayer, small Christian communities, observance of abstinence and penance in Lent and other periods of fast, the celebration of feasts, pilgrimages, practice of charity at all levels, people-friendly and family-oriented pastoral care and the participation of the laity in the administration of the church. Whatever traditions have proved to be successful in transmitting the faith in the particular and sui iuris Churches require more and more encouragement and support from all quarters of the Universal Church. Lack of clear vision and understanding of the communion ecclesiology visualized by the Vatican Council II is making the potentialities of evangelization and pastoral care of certain individual churches uncreative in some communities of their emigrants, especially those of the Oriental Churches. In recent years, there are signs of improvement in this sphere. The communion ecclesiology very much emphasized by Holy Father Benedict XVI has to become the ecclesiological vision of all of us Bishops in the Catholic Church. New evangelization for the transmission of the Christian faith has to initiate new measures for the freedom in evangelization and pastoral care for all the Churches sui iuris under the guidance of the Apostolic See.
[00123-02.03] [IN094] [Original text: English]
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Jesús Esteban SÁDABA PÉREZ, O.F.M. Cap., Titular Bishop of Assura, Apostolic Vicar of Aguarico (ECUADOR)
Nowadays, it is important to proclaim the Gospel in ones own culture, whether it be traditional or modern. The Incarnation is the foundation of enculturation. Until one achieves the evangelization of culture, the Gospel cannot enter into the person. St. Paul wanted to be "Jew with the Jews, Greek with the Greeks, to lead all to Christ".
If today we analyze the situation in the ancient cultures, we see that the presence of the Gospel is often considered as a form of colonization.
There are two approaches to this reality:
- a study of the "politics of religion" which states that "only if it is believable in Europe, will the Church be believable throughout the world"
- that of the missionary expressed in the advice given by Mons. Alejandro Labaka, missionary Bishop, who died as a martyr in Ecuadorian Amazonia.
To love those we want to evangelize, to sincerely believe that the Spirit of God is acting in all cultures and to accept that the Gospel is not the exclusive heritage of a culture but can and should be welcomed by all, is what will bring the joy of the Gospel to all peoples.
[00125-02.03] [IN096] [Original text: Spanish]
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. François LAPIERRE, P.M.E., Bishop of Saint-Hyacinthe (CANADA)
Number 130 of the Intrumentum laboris states that The Church's social doctrine proclaims and bears witness to faith. It is an instrument and an indispensable setting for formation in faith.
The Instrumentum laboris is at the same time very rich but rather weak in its treatment of the relation between New Evangelization and the social doctrine of the Church. The intimate bond that exists between the annunciation of the Gospel and the service of Justice and Peace does not seem to be sufficiently developed to me.
This situation risks making New Evangelization appear to be more of an answer to internal problems of the Church and not enough as a unique contribution to the development of justice and peace in the world.
Todays financial crisis makes us discover how avarice and cupidity have broken the ties of sense by separating the economy from its social dimension in human life.
These ties can only be found again by love, fraternity and friendship, which must be expressed not only in interpersonal relationships, but also in financial and commercial life as pointed out so well in the letter by Pope Benedict XVI Caritas in Veritate.
In this context, it is very important for the Church to be seen as a fraternity, a body, the Body of Christ. The community is already a proclamation of the Gospel of God.
In Christian initiation, we often separate love and justice, the path of faith and the social and political realities. Developing a culture of solidarity is an urgent need.
The great missionaries, throughout the centuries, have known how to join the audacious proclamation of the Gospel of Christ and involvement among the poorest. Their actions have often spoken louder than their words.
[00126-02.02] [IN097] [Original text: French]
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. António José DA ROCHA COUTO, S.M.P., Bishop of Lamego (PORTUGAL)
The Church of yesterday, today and always must have the characteristics of the face of Jesus Christ. It must therefore be filial, fraternal, loving, near and welcoming, as depicted by Blessed Pope John Paul II in Catechesi Tradendae (1979), no.67, and in Christifideles Laici (1988), no. 26.
It must have the dynamics of the first Christian communities, as the author of the book of the Acts of the Apostles presented them; always attentive to the Word of God, communion, the breaking of the bread and prayer (2:42-47, 4:32-35, 5:12-15), a permanent atrium of brotherhood open to the world in such a way as to be and to reflect a young, agile and beautiful Church, so young, agile and beautiful that people fight to enter it.
It must be, moreover, a herald church, completely bound to its Lord, not seduced by the novelty of the latest fashion, but rather firm in faithfulness to its Lord, which translates in a total gift of itself, in a lifestyle that is poor, humble, bare, happy, passionate, audacious, near and dedicated. Yes, we need proclaimers of the Gospel who are without gold, silver, copper, bags, two tunics...Yes, it is of conversion that I speak, and I ask myself this question: why did the Saints fight so hard, and with so much joy, to be poor and meek, while we work so hard to be rich and important?
[00127-02.04] [IN098] [Original text: Italian]
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Bonifacio Antonio REIMANN PANIC, O.F.M., Titular Bishop of Saia maggiore, Apostolic Vicar of Ñuflo de Chávez (BOLIVIA)
From the viewpoint of believers, we focus particularly on the phenomenon of the disintegration of the family. The absence of the father may be explained in many ways and in the light of many anthropological, cultural and economic factors. We believe that the proclamation of God the Father as given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ must be the source of the new evangelization in Bolivia (cf. DA 462).
The phenomenon of the absence of the father and its importance for social and personal life reflects the experience of the paternity of God and on the loss of typically Christian values, such as selflessness, fraternity, responsibility and forgiveness.
Probably the most sublime manifestation of God the Father in the New Testament is the parable of the Prodigal Son (Lk 15:11-32). It is precisely the awareness that he has such a father that makes possible the younger sons return to the life, the encounter and the paternal home, while it is the lack of this in the elder son that prevents him from enjoying the selflessness of his father.
Also the encounter between Jesus Christ and the Samaritan woman (Jn 4:4-43) throws new light on the difficult situation that every woman experiences today within the family. This encounter reveals the profound human identity of the Lord as man, prophet, Messiah, Savior of the World and Son of God the Father. It reveals the human identity of the woman, prostitute and without husband, who becomes a disciple and witness of the truth. And it is this type of encounter with Jesus that linethe New Evangelization refers us to - the New Evangelization must therefore be addressed to the Bolivian woman, as a mother and wife, often abandoned, undervalued and mistreated, so that through the encounter with Christ she too, like the Samaritan, might live in true dignity.
[00129-02.04] [IN100] [Original text: Spanish]
- Rev. F. Marco TASCA, O.F.M. Conv., Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual
As the sixth scenario to read and decipher on the part of this Synod (after culture, the phenomenon of migration, the economy, politics, scientific and technological research), nos. 59/62 of the Instrumentum Laboris point us to communications.
This is not limited to taking note of the massive spread and pervasiveness of the media, but also of the fact that today we live in culture that has truly been mass-media-ized.
Today the majority of men and women organize their working and emotional, recreational and relational lives with reference to the media (think of the internet and smartphones) and yet the media undoubtedly represent a great opportunity. In the communications media - writes Blessed John Paul II - the Church finds a precious aid for spreading the Gospel. The Church willingly employs these media to furnish information about itself and to expand the boundaries of evangelization, of catechesis and of formation, considering their use as a response to the command of the Lord: Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature (Mk 16:15) (Apostolic Letter, The Rapid Development, 24 January 2005, no.7).
This is about discovering that there exists a Christian way of being present in the digital world (Message of His Holiness Benedict XVI for the 45th World Communications Day, Truth, Proclamation and Authenticity of Life in the Digital Age, 24 January 2011), which today has to increasingly characterize itself as a proposal for an identifying profile (digital as well) that is coherent and at the same time welcoming.
The New Evangelization is a question of new relationships starting with those from which it is then possible to steer the explicit message of Jesus Christ as the one and universal saviour. If the world of the media is by definition massifying, the Christian perspective that has to operate in it is that which leads to welcoming the person in his individuality, in his being the recipient of the revelation of God. We therefore have to rejoice in the many opportunities that the new frontiers of the communications scenario offer us.
[00128-02.02] [IN099] [Original text: Italian]
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Nikolaos FOSKOLOS, Archbishop of Athēnai, Apostolic Administrator "sede vacante et ad Nutum Sanctae Sedis" of Rhodos (GREECE)
The Church, to proclaim the Gospel to twenty-first century mankind, must take into account the first evangelization carried out by the Apostles. In many regions of the world we see a repetition of the same difficulties encountered by, for example, Saint Paul in Athens and in Corinth.
To evangelize the world, the Church must be more streamlined: as David was unable to confront Goliath with the heavy weapons given to him by Saul, so the Church must abandon many of the usages of from medieval Europe (material and spiritual structures, ways of speaking, habits of the old times, etc), and, as the mystical Body of Christ Resurrected, must proclaim the Gospel of salvation to the modern world, maintaining unchanged its doctrine and its true Tradition. She must act not as a world power, nor as a European power, and offer the Gospel to the world, the joyful proclamation, preaching Christ who died and was resurrected to all in a clear and unequivocal fashion, as did the Apostles and the great missionaries, such as Saint Francis Xavier.
[00132-02.03] [IN101] [Original text: Italian]
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Petru GHERGHEL, Bishop of Iaşi (ROMANIA)
The story written by the Gospel in the Catholic Church in Romania, which is composed of three rites (Latin, Greek-Catholic and Armenian) knows the joy and sacrifice of many evangelizers. The true treasure of this proclamation is Jesus himself, Son of God, who has transformed the apparent failure of the Cross into an admirable victory of resurrection for the redemption of the world. There is no Gospel without the Cross. The hostility that the Gospel encounters in our times should not make us forget the logic of the Cross, where human intervention has not managed to suffocate divine grace.
During the difficult times of the recent atheist dictatorship in Romania, the Christian family has played a fundamental role, often being the only possibility of proclaiming the Gospel and transmitting the faith. And now, many migrant Romanian Catholics have helped the families with whom they work to rediscover the beauty of prayer and faith in Christ. The formation of parents is now a real pastoral priority.
In Romania the end of the atheist persecution has opened the doors to a promising ecumenical springtime. We have never abandoned prayer, but since a recent ordinance of the Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church has forbidden any prayer between Orthodox and Catholic faithful, we find ourselves forced to beseech God, before our brother delegates: Please Lord, allow at least the Lords Prayer to unite our children!
In conclusion, for a new evangelization the Catholic Church in Romania proposes: a) to restart with Jesus Himself, Gospel and evangelizer: b) to promote the Christian family, based on marriage and the formation of parents: and c) cultivate the ecumenism of prayer, in order that the unity of Christians might help the world to believe in Christ (cf. Jn 17:21).
[00166-02.02] [IN129] [Original text: Italian]
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Manuel José MACÁRIO DO NASCIMENTO CLEMENTE, Bishop of Porto (PORTUGAL)
The newness of the new evangelization is none other than the rediscovery and deepening of the constant newness of Christ, in the current circumstances of the Church and the world. Circumstances which in my country are defined, furthermore, as a very mobile population with an often opaque mentality.The mobility of the population adds to the rural exodus towards the city the ease of everyday communication between the various areas: this mobility has successive fixed and temporary points, for reasons of work or recreation (weekend). The opacity may derive from a greater density of temporal realities, which absorb immediate attention and medium term intentions, and not easily opened to spiritual and religious horizons. Thus personal and environmental secularism are generalized.
These circumstances lead to relatively new problems to evangelization, at least in terms of the intensity with which they present themselves. Communities that were more stable, such as families and parishes, where the knowledge of Christ and Christian life were naturally transmitted, no longer survive in the same way and they do not easily integrate their members, especially the younger ones.
Dispersion and itinerancy make habitual, family and community cohabitation difficult. The individualization of life, increased by technology, leads to subjectivism and virtualism which rarefy social and ecclesial reality. As a consequence, it is not easy to link together the individual and society, or the believer and the community. Nothing is easy, in effect.
I therefore believe that the newness to be sought for todays evangelization should be proposed as a rediscovery of living Christ in the co-existence of specific communities. These, in turn, should integrate interpersonal links, indispensable nowadays: inter-communitarian communities, fixed but interconnected points. In any case, indispensably communitarian, because we know that when we stay together we may best experience and share the presence of Christ Resurrected among us (cf. Jn 20:26).
The first communities, nurtured by authentic conversions and through a true Christian initiation, originated from the same vital testimony and from the reflection of their priests, socail and cultural expressions and practices with great breadth. The monastic and parochial communities that followed gave body and soul to medieval Christianity, with splendid results in various areas, both erudite and popular.
[00135-02.04] [IN104] [Original text: Italian]
- Rev. Julián CARRÓN, President of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation (ITALY)
We can no longer think of the faith as a self-evident presupposition for life in society. In fact, not only can this presupposition no longer be taken for granted, but it is often openly denied (Porta Fidei, 2).
While reading the Instrumentum laboris (142), I was shocked by this observation: a concern on the scarcity of initial proclamation taking place everyday. All the efforts made until today are having trouble generating e newness of life that will arouse curiosity on how the baptized live. How can the fracture between faith and life be overcome, a fracture that makes it harder for faith to be found in a reasonable way, and therefore, attractive? Without rediscovering and welcoming the precious gift that is faith, new evangelization risks being diminished to being a question for experts.
To incite this interest, we have an ally in the heart of man from any culture and condition. We know that the heart of man is made for the infinite. Awaiting its achievement remains in him. Because there is no false infinite that can satisfy him. What, then, will anyone gain by winning the whole world and forfeiting his life? (Mt 16:26).
A doctrine, a group of rules, an organization cannot answer this expectation, only an event. As Fr. Giussani said during the 1987 Synod, What is lacking is not as much the verbal or cultural repetition of the proclamation. Todays man perhaps awaits subconsciously the experience of the encounter with persons for whom the fact of Christ is such a present reality that it has changed their lives. A place where everyone is invited to verify what the first verified on the banks of the river Jordan: Come and see, because a faith that cannot be evidentiated and found in present experience, confirmed by it, that is not useful in answering its needs, will not be a faith capable of resisting in a world where everything, absolutely everything, says the opposite.
[00136-02.03] [IN105] [Original text: Italian]
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Leo Laba LADJAR, O.F.M., Bishop of Jayapura (INDONESIA)
Instrumentum Laboris (IL) begins with the personal character of Christianity, that is the faith, which must enlighten our perception of evangelization, that: (l) Evangelization is not only a reaction to social reality and its secular culture but it is the very essence of the Church; (2) Jesus Christ is the center of Christianity and may not be placed on a par with other religious founders; (3) Christianity is not a textbook religion, and salvation is not an achievement in practicing the doctrines written in the book, but it is the work of God's love. Only in yje encounter with the Lord, what is written in the Scripture becomes His "word", His "voice".
In Jesus Christ God reveals Himself as love. He offers Himself to mankind without forcing to be accepted, but taking the risk of being refused. The marvelous mystery of the divine love is that He does not impose Himself to mankind. The love of God, as manifested in Jesus Christ, is an appeal to the freedom of man, who is free to accept or to refuse. This immense and marvelous love of God should be presented in evangelization in dealing with the "cultural c1imate"(IL 48) of secular society, which tends to idolize the freedom and autonomy of man and refuse any transcendent element in religion as violation of human freedom.
This image of God as an appeal of love to mankind could be more touching to secular mentality than the image of God as powerful King. Therefore, I suggest in some texts, like that in IL 24, when dealing with "conversion experience", in place of the terminology "kingdom of God", which in itself has a feudalistic connotation, to use "God's power of love". In fact, more than the power of a king, the divine love is "more delicious than wine" and "as powerful as death"(Song of Songs,l:2;8:6). The divine love appeals to man and expects the response. Love wants to be loved. Conversion is the love response of man to the love appeal of the Lord. service and sacrifice for others is a powerful witness in evangelization. The love of God is manifested in Jesus Christ as a sacrifice; so a genuine witness for that divine love must be as well a sacrificial love.
[00137-02.03] [IN106] [Original text: English]
- H. B. Baselios Cleemis THOTTUNKAL, Archbishop Major of Trivandrum of Syro-Malankars, Head of the Synod of the Syro-Malankar Church (INDIA)
It is estimated that the sixty percent of the population of the world lives in Asia. Asia is the land which gave birth to many world religions including Christianity. I come from the continent of Asia, more precisely from the subcontinent of India where people have seen forceful spreading of the religious messages. Though Christianity has a different story to share with the present society of Asia where believers of other religions form a predominant majority, it does not seem to appreciate and acknowledge terms such as proclamation, evangelization etc. These terms have inculcated in them a different thinking, subsequently a different attitude. Here I would like to underline the very words of Jesus himself "you shall be my witnesses .... "(Acts 1:8). Our dear blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta brought to the world especially to India a very practical means of evangelization, a witnessing model. I must say that she became the most effective missionary in a land where Christians are only less than three percent of the population. Mother Teresa witnessed Jesus everywhere. In the history of India she remains a model and symbol of Christianity. Witnessing model starts with you and me.
Modern people think that he/she makes everything; everything exists because of his/her capacity. This attitude brings a disfigured image of supernatural reality even to the essence of human life. Those who are responsible for evangelization, especially those who are in the ministerial priesthood, people endowed with "gift and mystery" (Blessed John Paul II) have to take more genuine steps in the liturgical celebrations to make the sacraments a more tangible means of the 'Emmanuel experience' during those hours of grace. Socialization with one another has found a place everywhere but conversation with the Lord has been cornered everywhere.
Jesus said, "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly" (Jn 10: 10). Fullness of life, a life of abundance is fully realized only when human beings enter in the life Eternal. To lead the way to abundant life is the work of the Church. If the Church, the continuation of Jesus in the world, distances herself from any process of enhancing the fullness of life, any means to ensure human dignity, be sure that the experiencing and witnessing of Emmanuel will be weak in that part of the world. Any attempt of the Church to promote human dignity, to bring justice to the underprivileged is a genuine mark of obedience to the will of Jesus. Enhancing human dignity, speaking for the voiceless, being a symbol of justice, promotion of democratic values, etc, are to be seen seriously as marks of promoting human life which eventually lead people to life in abundance.
[00138-02.03] [IN107] [Original text: English]
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Berislav GRGIĆ, Bishop Prelate of Tromsø (NORWAY)
The Catholic Church in the Northern Lands - Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden - is a very small minority and therefore has neither the advantages nor the disadvantages that the Catholic Church often comes across in traditional and prevalently Catholic regions. Despite its limited relevance, numeric as well as social, our Church is nonetheless a growing Church. New churches are built or bought, new parishes are instituted, non-Latin rites are added, there is a relatively high number of adult conversions and baptisms, there are vocations to priesthood and to religious life, the number of baptisms is much higher than the number of deaths and number of those who abandon the Church, and attendance at Sunday Mass is relatively high.
In certain sectors of society there is great interest for the faith and spirituality, by non-believers who are searching for the truth as well as by Christians committed to other religions who wish to deepen and enrich religious life. It is also interesting to see that during the past years a relatively high number of contemplative orders have opened their own convents.
The transmission of the faith, often however, is made difficult because of the vast distances. Our priests must travel far - sometimes up to 2,000 km per month - to visit our faithful who live in distant places and celebrate Mass. This is very tiring during the winter months.
[00139-02.03] [IN108] [Original text: German]
AUDITIO DELEGATORUM FRATERNORUM (III)
The following Fraternal Delegate intervened:
- Rev. Dr. Geoffrey TUNNICLIFFE, General Secretary of the World Evangelical Alliance (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)
The summary of the intervention is published below:
- Rev. Dr. Geoffrey TUNNICLIFFE, General Secretary of the World Evangelical Alliance (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)
Evangelism is the proclamation in word, deed and Christian character of the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross and through the resurrection. Evangelism lies at the core of the identity of being evangelical. We affirm that it is not possible to be truly evangelical without a radical commitment to world evangelisation; indeed, such a commitment is inherent to Christian identity itself. The WEA calls on all evangelicals and Christians worldwide to renew their commitment to holistic evangelism.
As with all Christian traditions, there have been times when mistakes have been made and evangelicals have struggled to link the proclamation of the gospel with acts of justice and peace. Yet in our history there have been many strong voices and lives that exemplify the holistic nature of evangelism.
The biblical narratives in Mark 5 offer us a lens through which we can overcome the unhelpful dichotomy between proclamation and action, and a way to call us all back to holistic evangelism and to the word of God. Two themes emerge from this chapter: (1) the authority and the power of Jesus and (2) the breadth of the Gospel. First we see that Jesus has power over evil; he has power over disease and illness, and he has power over death itself, hinting towards his own forthcoming resurrection. Secondly, the text shows that the Gospel extends to all of creation.
The question for evangelicals - and all who claim the name of Christ - is: what will you do, personally and corporately, to further the cause of worldwide holistic evangelism? A church that is not evangelistic is failing in its response to Jesus.
We evangelicals are learning how to do evangelism in the way of Jesus - how to proclaim that salvation comes from our God and the implications of this proclamation for the transformation of society.
We are also learning that truly biblical evangelism demands that the divisions amongst Christians be overcome. The joint document of the Roman Catholic Church, the World Evangelical Alliance and the World Council of Churches, Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World: Recommendations for Conduct, is a wonderful reminder of the importance and the mandate for evangelism
As believers we are enabled by the Father and the Son, through the Spirit, to carry out God's mission, such that a core characteristic of evangelicals is - and must always be - to let the whole earth hear the whole Gospel in word, deed and character.
[00160-02.03] [DF006] [Original text: English]
COMPOSITION OF THE COMMISSION FOR INFORMATION
President
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Claudio Maria CELLI, Titular Archbishop of Civitanova, President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications (VATICAN CITY)
Vice President
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Ján BABJAK, S.I., Metropolitan Archbishop of Preov of the Catholics of Byzantine Rite, President of the Council of the Slovak Church (SLOVAKIA)
Members
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. John Olorunfemi ONAIYEKAN, Archbishop of Abuja (NIGERIA)
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Tadeusz KONDRUSIEWICZ, Archbishop of Minsk-Mohilev (BELARUS)
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Manuel José MACÁRIO DO NASCIMENTO CLEMENTE, Bishop of Porto (PORTUGAL)
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. José Horacio GÓMEZ, Archbishop of Los Angeles (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Francis Xavier Kriengsak KOVITHAVANIJ, Archbishop of Bangkok (THAILAND)
Members ex - officio
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Pierre-Marie CARRÉ, Archbishop of Montpellier (FRANCE), Special Secretary
- H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Nikola ETEROVIĆ, Titular Archbishop of Cibale, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops (VATICAN CITY)
Secretary ex - officio
- Rev. F. Federico LOMBARDI, S.I., Director of Holy See Press Office (VATICAN CITY)
ERRATA CORRIGE The corrections published in the Errata Corrige in Bulletin No.14 can be found in the specific Bulletins published in these Internet pages.
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