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SEVENTH GENERAL CONGREGATION
INTERVENTIONS IN THE HALL (CONTINUATION)
Today, Friday, October 12 2012, at 9:00 a.m, with the chant of Hour of Tierce, the Seventh General Congregation began for continuing 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. Francisco ROBLES ORTEGA, Archbishop of Guadalajara (MEXICO).
At the opening of the Congregation, the Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops H. Exc. Msg. Nikola ETEROVIC, Titular Archbishop of Cibale (CITTÀ DEL VATICANO) expressed, in the name of the Synodal Fathers and by the other Participants of the Synodal Assembly, closeness, sympathy and participation in care of the Episcopal Conference of Nigeria, in finding a way to dialogue, to promote peace in justice, with regard to the riots which generate violence in the Country, above all in the northern part. In the words of the Secretary General prayer is offered so that religions will not be manipulated and used for the purposes of groups and parties, but will be a factor of harmony, cooperation and peace.
At this General Congregation, which ended at 12:05 am with the prayer of Angelus Domini 252 Fathers were present.
INTERVENTIONS IN THE HALL (CONTINUATION)
The following Fathers intervened.
– H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Javier ECHEVARRÍA RODRÍGUEZ, Titular Bishop of Cilibia, Prelate of the Personal Prelature of Opus Dei (SPAIN)
– H. B. Sviatoslav SCHEVCHUK, Archbishop Major of Kyiv-Halyč, Head of the Synod of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UKRAINE)
– H. Em. Rev. Card. Gianfranco RAVASI, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture (VATICAN CITY)
– H. Em. Rev. Card. Mauro PIACENZA, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy (VATICAN CITY)
– H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Joseph NGUYÊN NANG, Bishop of Phát Diêm (VIETNAM)
– H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Cornelius Fontem ESUA, Archbishop of Bamenda (CAMEROON)
– H. Exc. Rev. Mons. A. Malayappan CHINNAPPA, S.D.B., Archbishop of Madras and Mylapore [Meliapor] (INDIA)
– Rev. Pascual CHÁVEZ VILLANUEVA, S.D.B., Rector Major of the Salesian Society of St. John Bosco (Salesians), President of the Union of Superiors General (U.S.G.)
– H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Héctor Miguel CABREJOS VIDARTE, O.F.M., Archbishop of Trujillo (PERU)
– Rev. F. Mauro JÖHRI, O.F.M. Cap., Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin
– H. Em. Rev. Card. Robert SARAH, President of the Pontifical Council «Cor Unum» (VATICAN CITY)
– H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Enrico DAL COVOLO, S.D.B., Titular Bishop of Eraclea, Rector of the Pontifical Lateran University in Roma (ITALY)
– H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Pedro Mario OSSANDÓN BULJEVIC, Titular Bishop of La Imperial, Auxiliary Bishop of Santiago de Chile (CHILE)
– H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Jorge Eduardo LOZANO, Bishop of Gualeguaychú (ARGENTINA)
– H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Józef MICHALIK, Archbishop of Przemyśl of Latins, President of the Episcopal Conference (POLAND)
– Rev. F. Mario ALDEGANI, C.S.I., Superior General of the Congregation of St. Joseph
– H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Mario del Valle MORONTA RODRÍGUEZ, Bishop of San Cristóbal de Venezuela (VENEZUELA (BOLIVARIAN REP. OF)
– H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Juan José PINEDA FASQUELLE, C.M.F., Titular Bishop of Obori, Auxiliary Bishop and Vicar General of Tegucigalpa (HONDURAS)
– H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Paul DESFARGES, S.I., Bishop of Constantine (ALGERIA)
– H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Brian Joseph DUNN, Bishop of Antigonish (CANADA)
– H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Philip TARTAGLIA, Archbishop of Glasgow (SCOTLAND)
– H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Patrick Christopher PINDER, Archbishop of Nassau (Bahamas), President of the Episcopal Conference (BAHAMAS)
– H. Em. Rev. Card. Fernando FILONI, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples
The summaries of the interventions are published below:
– H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Javier ECHEVARRÍA RODRÍGUEZ, Titular Bishop of Cilibia, Prelate of the Personal Prelature of Opus Dei (SPAIN)
The People of God would like the Bishops and priests to be masters of holiness, precisely because they seek it on a daily basis, through the sacramental life and through their own ministry. They must be men who pray with faith, who passionately love the Sacrament of the Eucharist and the Sacrament of the Confession, and who live them with sincere piety, to enrich themselves with graces and to be, therefore, bearers of the Good News to other priests and to all the faithful. Using those methods instituted by Jesus Christ in order to identify oneself with Him ensures that the faithful, listening to priests, listen to the Lord; seeing them pray, they in turn are moved to prayer. Aware that they frequently turn to Confession, they too will seek sacramental forgiveness.
It is beneficial also to reflect on the example of many saints, the Curate of Ars, Saint Pius of Pietrelcina, Saint Josemaría Escrivá, and on the more recentexample of the Blessed John Paul II. As Benedict XVI reminds us, they have left a living example of love for the Sacrament of Penitence, and can reinforce the awareness of having to be Good Shepherds, who know how to give their life for their sheep. By also encouraging presbyters to regularly sit in the confessional, many souls will be cleansed of their sins, and from this ministry vocations for the seminary and for the religious life, as well as vocations for good fathers and mothers of families will bloom.
It is also interesting to pay attention to homilies from the doctrinal point of view and with the “gift of tongues”. For many faithful, the Sunday Holy Mass, with its Homily, is the only occasion where they will hear the message of Christ. With evermore renewed commitment, preaching will be very effective, above all if it is directed also at one’s own soul: if one lives what one says and preaches what one lives.
– H. B. Sviatoslav SCHEVCHUK, Archbishop Major of Kyiv-Halyč, Head of the Synod of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UKRAINE)
The parochial community not only educates to faith, but also generates in faith through the Sacrament of Baptism. Should the parochial community take on the responsibility of finding the godfather and godmother for the sacrament of Baptism and Confirmation and find the witnesses for the Sacrament of Matrimony rather then leave this task to the freedom of those preparing for these sacraments?
We must recognize the value and meaning of monastic life, even contemplative life, in the work of new evangelization. In the Christian East the encounter of the disciple with a staretz (elder), has always been very effective, seen as the encounter of eternity with modern life.
The proclamation of the Gospel through the Homily in the liturgical context is worth special attention and decisive renewal. The sermons in our churches often lose the kerygmatic characteristic, and therefore, no longer have the Force of the Gospel (Rm 1:16) and the effectiveness of the Word of God. Perhaps this topic could also become the theme for a General Assembly of the Synod.
– H. Em. Rev. Card. Gianfranco RAVASI, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture (VATICAN CITY)
In contemporary culture there are many crossroads that evangelization cannot avoid. There is, first of all, that of language. Without abandoning the complexity of religious discourse, it is necessary to know how to adopt also the new canons of telematic and digital communication, with their incisiveness and simplicity, and their use of the television narrative to present images.
There is then the horizon of secularization. This does not manage, though, to eliminate the religious question and the strength of natural ethics. In this area there is the successful work of the “Court of Gentiles”, encouraged by Benedict XVI with his evocation of God unkno
wn to but perhaps sought by many non-believers.
There is a third area of evangelization that has been decisive for centuries, that of art, which nowadays demands to be re-woven according to the new grammar and style of contemporary artistic expression without losing its link to the sacredness of Christian belief.
There is thenthe crossroads of youth cultures, with their socializing experiences which are often risky but also gifted with a fruitfulness of their own: one need consider only sporting events and practice, or the constant appeal of music.
There is, finally, the world of science and technology, now transversal in relation to every ethnic and cultural group, to which I would like to give specific consideration. The faith should not be afraid to penetrate this world, having the same outlook as Christ who contemplated the vegetable and animal kingdoms and referred even to weather predictions (Mt.16: 2-3, Lk. 11:54-55) to announce the Kingdom, in the wake of the Old Testament that intuited in all creation a tlinetranscendent voice, as suggested in Psalm 19. Nowadays we look with amazement also at the story of global evolution, from the primordial cosmic beginnings to the spiral of DNA, from Higgs-Boson to the multiverse.
The incompatibility between science and faith and the prevarications of one against the other and vice versa, as has occurred in the past and continues to occur, should be replaced by mutual recognition of the dignity of their respective epistemological statuses: science is dedicated to the “scene”, that is the phenomenon, while theology and philosophy look to the “foundation”. A distinction, but not of separateness to the point of reciprocal exclusion, since they have a single common object, that is, being and existence. It is therefore comprehensible that overlaps and tensions occur, especially in the field of bioethics. <br> Dialogue is therefore indispensable, without arrogance and without confusion linked to specific levels and approaches. As John Paul II indicated in 1988, “it is absolutely important that each discipline continues to enrich, nurture and provoke the other to be more fully what it should be and to contribute to our vision of what we are and where we are going”. The great scientist Max Planck, father of quantum theory, also confirmed this: “Every serious and reflective person realizes… there can never be any real opposition between religion and science; for the one is the complement of the other”.
– H. Em. Rev. Card. Mauro PIACENZA, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy (VATICAN CITY)
In the praiseworthy attempt to answer today’s “crisis of numbers” of the Clergy, notwithstanding a crisis of faith, which gave rise also to the scarcity of responses to the priestly vocation, one cannot yield to the temptation of reducing the essential specificity of the ordained Ministry while achieving the work of the Annunciation. That is to say, the pneumatic identity of the ordained minister must not be suffocated, which has its roots in the ontological configuration to the Christ-Head, putting in discussion the essential characteristics: super-naturality and sacramentality, the unbreakable tie with the Eucharist, placement in the ecclesial body, the sacred celibacy. Rather, it is necessary to elevate the spiritual tone of priests and of communities, first of all through personal conversion and prayer, because only an evangelized reality is also evangelizing (cf. Instrumentum laboris, no. 13).
[00152-02.02] [IN121] [Original text: Italian]– H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Joseph NGUYÊN NANG, Bishop of Phát Diêm (VIETNAM)
The Blessed John Paul II said “The future of evangelization depends in great part on the Church of the home” (FC 52).
In fact, in Vietnam, the Christian family plays an important role in communicating and nurturing the faith. Parents are the first catechists that teach prayer and doctrine to the children, especially during times of persecution. Many families, through reciting the evening prayer together, and reflecting on the Gospel, are progressively evangelized.
Many of the non-Christian individuals by being present, in solidarity, at Catholic rites of marriages or funerals, hear them speaking, for the first time, about the meaning and the characteristics of Christian marriage, the meaning of life, the resurrection and eschatological hope. In fact, many individuals return for religious teaching after having participated in liturgical celebrations.
– H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Cornelius Fontem ESUA, Archbishop of Bamenda (CAMEROON)
The Small Christian Communities are neighbourhood Churches and as such they are the smallest operative unit of the Church at the grass-roots level. Their territory is to be officially defined by carving out the territory of the parish into smaller units according to the size of the parish and the number of Christians. Such communities are better able to welcome new members and integrate them, make sure that the neophytes are properly initiated into the faith and into the Christian community. In the context of primary evangelization the organization of the parishes, which are usually very extensive and difficult to reach, into Small Christian Communities right from the beginning would help to insert the neophytes in the community of faith and emphasize the fact that as Christians they are not alone but they become part of the Body of Christ. The community provides them the necessary material, moral and spiritual support and solidarity they need in order to survive in a context and culture which is predominantly non-Christian and sometimes hostile to the Christian faith which they have just embraced. A well planned process of initiation into this community during the post-baptismal catechumenate would be helpful to instil into the neophytes a strong sense of commitment and belonging to the community.
The organization of the parish in Small Christian communities would enable the neophytes to understand that they are now members of the Church which is a family whose bond of unity and solidarity should be stronger than the bonds of the natural family. Thus the Christian community is not only similar to the extended family system but it includes, surpasses, elevates and inserts it into a new and wider community, that is, the community of the new People of God where there are no more Jews nor Greeks, no more distinctions of tribes and language. They are also necessary in the urban parishes considering the massive exodus from the rural areas and the rapid urbanization which is taking place now in Africa and elsewhere. This is necessary in order to take care of the youth who have lost the moral and social security of the traditional extended family system left behind in the villages so that they do not fall prey to the manipulations of the sects and dangerous ideologies.
The Small Christian Community pastoral approach is the new way of being Church which makes it possible for everybody to be more committed, to participate and collaborate in the work of evangelization with a new ardour, method and expression.
– H. Exc. Rev. Mons. A. Malayappan CHINNAPPA, S.D.B., Archbishop of Madras and Mylapore [Meliapor] (INDIA)
The Holy Spirit is the author of plurality and diversity. John the XXIII said the Vatican II is the new Pentecost. First of all, the method of new evangelization in different contexts will follow the pedagogy of Jesus. Jesus does not impose knowing well all persons are subjects created in God’s image. Jesus’ pedagogy of revealing himself in his encounter with the Samaritan image. Jesus progressively helps the Samaritan woman (Jn 4: 1-42) to discover for herself, the Messiah, subsequently the Samaritans to come to discover Jesus…indeed. He is the savior of the world (Jn 4: 42). In the episode of the conversation of Jesus with his apostles at Caesarea Philippi (Mt 16: 13-19), Jesus offers an o
pportunity and atmosphere in which Peter comes out to recognize Jesus “you are the Messiah”. This is called a discovery method we have to help people to discover Jesus for themselves, of course! we create the ambiance. In Indian tradition there are Mangas (ways), grana manga (knowledge), bakati manga (love of Deus), kunma manga (way of action). Individual can reach God using one of this methods.Dialogue with multi-religious contexts. In NA…There is a sign of light in every religion. But GS says a step forward: “The Holy Spirit offers everyone the possibility of sharing in the paschal mystery in a manner known to God (cf. GS 22). John Paul II The Redemptoris Missio N. 5 says the existence of the participating forms of mediation in relating to God.
The world excludes step by step the poor based on race, sex, gender, caste discrimination. Jesus message of the kingdom of God has done it hearing on the poor who are called the “the Blessed” Lk. 6: 20, 4: 18-21. Empowering the poor, the oppressed and the discriminated (the Races, the Tribals, the Dalits) has to be the prime agenda with N. evangelization.
– Rev. Pascual CHÁVEZ VILLANUEVA, S.D.B., Rector Major of the Salesian Society of St. John Bosco (Salesians), President of the Union of Superiors General (U.S.G.)
Evangelization and vocation are two inseparable elements. Rather, the criteria of authenticity of good evangelization is the ability to encourage vocations, of developing evangelical life, of fully involving the person among those evangelized, to making them disciples, witnesses and apostles.
Today we feel, stronger than ever, the challenge of making the ecclesial pastoral truly vocational, promoting a vocational culture, that is to say a way of conceiving and facing life as a gift received freely from God for a project or a mission according to his plan. To live this vocational culture requires an effort of developing particular attitudes and values: the promotion and defense of the sacred value of human life, trusting in oneself and in others, an interiority that allows the discovery in ourselves and in others the presence and action of God, the availability to feel responsible and to allow ourselves to be involved for the good of others in an attitude of service and gratuity, the courage to dream and to deeply wish, solidarity and the responsibility towards others, especially the more needy ones. Within this vocational context or culture the pastoral in general, and the youth one in particular, must propose different vocational paths to the young persons – marriage, religious or consecrated life, priestly service, social and ecclesial involvement – and accompany them in their commitment of discernment and choice.
This Synod on New Evangelization must help all pastors in being true spiritual guides for the young.
The contents of an authentic vocational culture concerns three areas: the anthropological one, the educational one and the pastoral one. The first refers to the way of conceiving and presenting the human person as vocation; the second is aimed at favoring a proposal of values proper for vocation; the third focuses on the relation between vocation and objective culture and draws conclusions for the vocational task.
– H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Héctor Miguel CABREJOS VIDARTE, O.F.M., Archbishop of Trujillo (PERU)
Why do we speak about New Evangelization? Where does this innovation come from? The reasons could be various, let’s highlight two: Jesus’s message expresses the Father’s love for every person and in particular, for the weak and the needy of this world. Thus bearing witness to the Gospel can but be an act of love, to share with others the joy of being children of God, our fraternity. And precisely, love is always new: “I give you a new commandment: love one another; you must love one another just as I have loved you. (Jn 13:34). This is not new if we merely repeat his statement; it is only new if we put it into practice day by day. If the evangelical witness is permanently young and creative it will be fruitful and faithful to the message of the kingdom of God. The roots of the proclamation of the Good News are in our communion (koinonia) with the mission of Jesus who came to communicate the love for the Father. (Jn 3:16). Love others like Jesus loved us, continue this task, this is why it is always a new commandment. Love is expressed in service; during the council years they spoke of a servant Church, Paul VI reasserted this, with strength and humility, by saying: “we are not here to conquer, but to serve” (Speech at the 2nd Council Session, no. 8). Let us find new paths of love and service in order to bear witness to hope in today’s world.
Only by being true disciples, humble emissaries of a coherent life, only if our actions correspond to our words, not having a“double soul”, as the letter of James calls it (1:8), can we announce the Good News of Jesus. The New Evangelization calls us as Church and as followers of Jesus Christ to a new goal, but also a new life, a style of life that makes our testimony credible.
– Rev. F. Mauro JÖHRI, O.F.M. Cap., Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin
In what sense can one speak of Francis as a “truly new man”? I feel I can say that he was a truly new man in that he knew how to re-propose Jesus Christ and his Gospel, convincingly and strongly. He didn’t put himself in Christ’s position: never. Francis discovered Christ, the true God and true man, as one discovers treasure hidden in the field. Once the treasure that is Christ was revealed to him, He motivated and accompanied all the decisions of Francis’ life. And to enter into full possession of this treasure, to be profoundly transformed by contact with the person of Christ, Francis left everything, broke with his family, assumed a nomadic existence, and renounced every form of protest in order to begin a lifestyle that was completely unknown at that time. He placed Christ at the center of his life and in order to achieve this he placed himself at the service of lepers, retreated to live in hermitages, and preached penitence in the village squares.
We religious are decisively called upon to place Christ in the center of our life; and this entails having the courage to bear witness to this openly. We must not be afraid of saying that for Him and for Him only that we have chosen to embrace religious life and live mutual dependence in fraternity. We are invited to say that from Him we receive our reward for all of our renunciations and the best part has yet to come.
– H. Em. Rev. Card. Robert SARAH, President of the Pontifical Council «Cor Unum» (VATICAN CITY)
The Motu proprio Porta fidei (no. 14) as well as the Instrumentum laboris of this Synod (no. 123) reminds that faith and charity call upon each other. The intrinsical relation between evangelization and diakonia is demonstrated by the fact that, as recalled in the Encyclical Deus Caritas est, with the liturgy they are the fundamental and proper dimensions in which the Church realizes herself. The Church offers an enviable witness of charity to the world, which gives birth to many conversions. The Synodal works must be able to increase the value of these testimonials of charity as a great contribution in view of the New Evangelization. In fact, in her missionary activity, the Church has always joined the annunciation of the Gospel with works of charity. The great mission of charity of the Church demonstrates the overwhelming force and the vigorous vitality of Christ’s message to the world. Our pastoral of charity is a great instrument of evangelization, for those who give as well as those who receive this service. It is clear that the Church should not be diminished to being a social service agency, however our challenge is to lead once again, through works of charity, to God who is
charity. In fact, what calls to faith are unity and charity. A supporting element of the Encyclical Deus Caritas est has most likely been neglected. The key that opens and closes the door of man to the proclamation of the Gospel is the experience of God that loves. Without this simple truth, modern man may never truly know Christ. The charitable activity of the Church, therefore, can offer a huge opportunity to make the light of God penetrate the world for us.
– H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Enrico DAL COVOLO, S.D.B., Titular Bishop of Eraclea, Rector of the Pontifical Lateran University in Roma (ITALY)
The current situation of progressive de- Christianization of old Europe depends, inter alia, on two undeniable and interconnected processes. These are: the nationalization of the law; and the nationalization of schools.
In fact, Schools and Universities (even the Catholic ones) are evermore submitted to the direct control of States. The so called Trial of Bologna does not escape this logic.
The contents of teaching is imposed by the State, not only through the so called programs but also by means of textbooks.
In this procedure, the cultural vision open to the Christian faith is systematically weakened to the advantage of so called inter religious or inter-cultural perspectives. In fact in this way a cultural vision distant from Christian faith or even explicitly contrary to it, is insinuated in the minds of the young.
The Trojan horse through which States appropriates the intelligence of students is the formation of professors. In many countries professors are trained solely in the State Universities and in any case those who wish to teach must have the State qualification conferred in accordance with the training course established by the States and by State examination.
The Progressive de-Christianization of the West has occurred in this way through the de-Christianization of schools and universities. Now a New Evangelization may take place only in the recognition of persons, of their conscience and their rights.
If the States, as often they have done and continue to do, appropriate the personal project of learning, they remove from the persons the freedom to fulfill themselves depriving them of a basic and constitutive right.
As a consequence an ecclesial community committed to a New Evangelization will have to face, as a matter of urgency and priority ,the good functioning of schools and universities in general, and the Catholic ones in particular.
In close synergy with families and other educational agencies throughout the territory (parish, oratory, youth centers, institutions…) They must make themselves able to effectively face the current educational emergency: because the Church’s response to the educational emergency is the formation, and above all the formation of formators, which occurs in a specific way in Schools and Universities.
For this same reason, the characterizing feature of Catholic Schools and Universities should be the dialogue between faith and culture in teaching. The specific nature of Catholic Schools and Universities should be the untiring dialogue between the science of God and the sciences of man, marked by an existentially assimilated theology, and coherently witnessed by the formators.
A project of New Evangelization that puts in second place – or worse that neglects – the irreplaceable role of Catholic Schools and Universities, would risk failure.
– H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Pedro Mario OSSANDÓN BULJEVIC, Titular Bishop of La Imperial, Auxiliary Bishop of Santiago de Chile (CHILE)
In the same way that the Synod on the Word of God offered the novelty of the Biblical Animation of the Pastoral, we can ask whether it is the proposal of a pastoral animation of life in the Spirit at both a personal and community level.
How can we propose this animation of life in the Spirit?
Understanding the Particular Church as a synodal Church. To organize the evangelizing mission of the diocese from discernment in the Spirit and with a real pastoral role of the faithful.
Cultivating the inner life of the individual believer, in each specific vocation as a spiritual itinerary joining the processes of mystical personal growth with pastoral organization in the service of evangelization.
Discerning permanently the signs of times, according to the Holy Spirit in the service of the Kingdom of God. This involves incorporating a discipline that teaches us to dialogue in truth and charity with the culture of Holy Scripture and in accordance with the teaching of the Church.
Integrate the tasks of praying, living, serving, celebrating and proclaiming Christ as a comprehensive way of faith (cf. Catechism). It discovers in this way the harmonious order of the path of God in man and of man in God (cf. H.H. John Paul II in Redemptor Hominis)
It is not about spiritualizing or falling into the intimate and alienating harmful false faith. No. It is a matter of doing God’s work: “You must believe in the one he has sent.” (Jn. 6,29).
Favoring the encounter with Christ, from the Trinitarian spirituality of communion, in the discernment in the Spirit. (Cf. Aparecida Document: method of seeing-judging-acting) and in evangelizing service and solidarity. It is also pastoral renewal.
To be prayerful and contemplative gives us freedom of Spirit that leads us to overcome moralizing and doctrinal fundamentalism which have done so much damage. Mysticism that teaches and integrates faith and life, faith and reason, and above all, faith and love
– H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Jorge Eduardo LOZANO, Bishop of Gualeguaychú (ARGENTINA)
The Latin America Church lives and evangelizes in the most unequal region of the planet. Pope Benedict XVI encouraged us to confirm with renewed enthusiasm the option for the poor. The gap between the richest and the poorest is huge and cannot be overcome, evoking the parable of poor Lazarus who was eating crumbs from the ground. There are countries where half of the poor are children. In our continent and in the world poverty is not merely an economical or sociological problem but an evangelical, religious and moral one. A small part of the world population takes the material goods of creation for themselves. Wasteful and preying consumerism is exhausting the XXX of the poor and those excluded are the suffering faces of Christ. In a culture that wishes to hide them, make them invisible or to naturalize poverty, faith encourages us to place it at the center of our pastoral attention. One cannot think about a New Evangelization without a proclamation of the integral freedom from all that oppresses man, sin and its consequences. There can be no authentic option for the poor without a firm commitment to justice and a change of the structures of sin. Our closeness with the poor is necessary not only to render our preaching credible but also to render it Christian and not “a gong booming or a cymbal clashing” (1 Cor 13:1). Any neglect or scorning of the little and the humble ones makes the message turn from being the Good News to becoming empty and melancholic words, lacking vitality and hope. It is necessary to look towards the poor, and become like them to serve the Lord, who we love.
[00104-02.04] [IN076] [Original text: Spanish]– H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Józef MICHALIK, Archbishop of Przemyśl of Latins, President of the Episcopal Conference (POLAND)
The current crisis in Christian civilization in Europe is not a crisis of Christianity nor a crisis of faith, as contemporary man is in the continual search for answers to the questions that go beyond the dimension of temporal and biological existence.
A profound crisis has touched also today’s culture, which has abandoned the established criteria of beauty and in its search for success and originality has lost its creativity, very often stopping at the promotion of negation and nihilism.<
br> Nowadays we live in a situation of permanent attacks upon the natural law, Christian values, the Church and the faith. To complain about this situation would be useless. A vision of ourselves and of conversion is necessary. And this is the first task of, and fundamental condition for evangelization. Recognizing sin leads us directly to the conclusion that only God may forgive our sins, God who wishes to forgive as He is the merciful Father.<br> If the faith of today becomes ever weaker, we must not only blame others, but rather ourselves. If the message of faith is not interesting or attractive – this is perhaps the case because that same message is no longer interesting or attractive to us, because it does not excite us, because we do not preach Christ to our families or on the streets of our cities.
Our brothers belonging to other Christian Churches are also strongly interested in the promotion of the living faith and in the defense of the right to the presence of God in public life. The Church in Poland watches with great hope the recent joint Catholic-Orthodox appeal to the peoples of Russia and Poland, signed by Cyril, the Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, and by the Catholic bishops of Poland, in the hope that this common voice in the defense of the identity of the faith and the proclamation of the Gospel will have great possibilities in touching us more deeply, especially our hearts.
– Rev. F. Mario ALDEGANI, C.S.I., Superior General of the Congregation of St. Joseph
The practice of evangelization is located within a practice of human relations.
The quality and the substance of relationships are often undervalued in evangelization, or regarded from a purely instrumental perspective, for the purposes of welcoming the Good News.
To live in truth a human relationship means allowing oneself to be reached by the call, that is both a promise and a gift, inscribed in life itself; an appeal to sharing, to walking together, to welcoming, to making oneself responsible, to feel that what one possesses also belongs to the other and is a gift for all. The human quality of the relationship is kept alive, in the believer, by the consciousness that the heart and flesh of every man bears the image of God, the trace of the salvation in Christ.
It may be asked whether the practices of evangelization are always those of true relationships, and if they are therefore situated on the path of the current work of God.
While it is true that there is a confidence crisis in life throughout many areas of contemporary life and the educational crisis itself, it is also true, perhaps, that this same confidence crisis also enters into ecclesial environments and the very practices of evangelization.Evangelization, in reality, needs a climate of trust, in a network of relationships distinguished by hope. An evangelizing practice marked by trust and hope must be supported by anthropological reflection, deeply inspired by Revelation.
Rather than combining the anthropological with the theological, this involves thinking of the human in the light of and with the inspiration of Revelation and of the Easter of Christ. It involves, more radically, locating the human fully and truthfully on the path of revelation and redemption that he carries within himself.
Nowadays there cannot be evangelization without prophecy on the meaning and truth of the human.
Communication, and evangelization itself as a relational and communicative practice, are possible as they inhabit the same terrain, which can only be the terrain of true humanity.
But to truly inhabit this “terrain” (the earth, all that which is human) means to inhabit the path of Revelation and Redemption, and to intercept the current Word of God.
On this terrain the evangelizer may truly make the Word that saves resound, and the listener may be truly aware of it as an interpellating and liberating word, demanding, but a bearer of joy.
– H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Mario del Valle MORONTA RODRÍGUEZ, Bishop of San Cristóbal de Venezuela (VENEZUELA (BOLIVARIAN REP. OF)
To make the articulation easier for both the theme of the NEW EVANGELIZATION and its pastoral procedure it is important to have a common thread in the form of a pastoral-theological framework. To deal with the proclamation of the Gospel of salvation the New Evangelization continuously follows the mission of the Church and is related to Communion (Trinitarian, revealed by Jesus), which is lived in the Church (fraternal communion) and whose aim is the living encounter with Jesus. This communion, sometimes is manifested in the TESTIMONY, which finds a model in Jesus (as he is the FAITHFUL WITNESS through which God’s design {softlinefor salvation is made known to us) and which makes up the style of life proper to the Disciples of Jesus. Both realities find concrete expression in SERVICE: for the service, Jesus is the greatest example of love to save humanity and his Disciples are called upon to imitate him in this. Therefore, I propose that the theological-pastoral framework for the reflection may be put into practice by the NEW EVANGELIZATION built with this hinge of COMMUNION-TESTIMONY-SERVICE. In Acts 2:42-47 we can find biblical support for this proposal.
[00107-02.03] [IN079] [Original text: Spanish]– H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Juan José PINEDA FASQUELLE, C.M.F., Titular Bishop of Obori, Auxiliary Bishop and Vicar General of Tegucigalpa (HONDURAS)
The parish is an entity aimed at “the transmission of the Christian faith”. It is the place where the New Evangelization can be carried forward. We are working to give life to the parishes, to create places of Christian life, support the faith of its members and illuminate with testimony. The pastoral renewal of our parishes involves “the permanent state of mission”; in this way they avoid becoming seats of bureaucracy. We believe in the “pastoral co-responsibility of the baptized”, who place their faith, time, talent and riches at the service of the community. Thus the pastoral parish and Christian initiation programs are enriched with the collaboration of all for a more communitarian Church: the consistent baptized for a co-responsible parish, “home and school of communion”. The effort for New Evangelization has as its original finality the mission and parishes that are less inclined to their internal life and more involved in announcing the faith. The parish community represents the door for the transmission of faith and the ecclesial experience, the center of irradiation and testimony of Christian life, a space to seek after truth, the reinforcing of faith, the communication of the message, the place in which we live the happiness of the Spirit, as well as being the seat of the mission. The lay people working in the parish community represent a great wealth. This lay vocation is one of the most precious fruits of Vatican Council II. They provide a strong impulse to the new evangelization and the transmission of faith. Aparecida underlines parochial renewal, pastoral conversion and the permanent state of mission. In this way of being the Church is able to avoid sectarianism. The parish is the “domestic Church” present in daily life, announcing the life-giving message of the Gospel. New Evangelization means rebuilding the Christian fabric of human society, helping the Church to continue living in the midst of her sons and daughters (cf. John Paul II in Christifideles laici). We are born as the Church inserted into the missionary animation of the community. The integration of the Movements takes place, but there is also ecclesiological reading and its “imperfect” integration, on the margin or outside parochial pastoral program.
[00108-02.02] [IN080] [Original text: Spanish]– H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Paul DESFARGES, S.I., Bishop of Constantine (ALGERIA)
In the Maghreb, we consider the Scene of the Visitation as the paradigm of the mission. Where Mary went, she was prec
eded by the Spirit who is always the master of the work of encounter. Our Churches become the servants of the Kingdom of God. The Church is the witness and the servant of what God does in humanity. The Spirit gives him the ability to marvel at the faith of others and the fruits this produces in his life, as we were reminded by the conversion of the Blessed Charles de Foucauld.
For us, there can be no interreligious dialogue without a dialogue of life, and the dialogue of life joins the dialogue of God with humanity. This dialogue of life bears witness to salvation at work; it is mediation, or sacrament, of the salvation of God. Just as God enters in dialogue to offer Himself to the encounter with His creature, so the Church offers herself to encounter. Because the Church does not only bear witness to the Good News about God, but also a Good News for man. Daily encounters are the first evangelization, because they state the Good News of universal fraternity. Thus we live interreligious dialogue as an encounter of humanity in the first place.
We cannot be silent while the Islamic- Christian dialogue is facing great trials today. This is happening because of the fundamentalist currents. This is also happening because of a new situation, made of joy and suffering. In some of our countries, we have been graced with a number of faithful coming from Muslim families. Generally, they had been questioning internally for a long time. These new disciples are sometimes rejected by their own family or must be very discrete. In time, however, they discover that their spiritual history with God began before their conversion and the Spirit had guided them through this or another Muslim person from their background who incarnated the spiritual and human values. These disciples remind us that the dialogue of life is at the heart of the witness of the Gospel.
– H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Brian Joseph DUNN, Bishop of Antigonish (CANADA)
How do we evangelize those who have been deeply hurt by clergy who have been involved in sexual abuse? Jesus dealt with those who were disillusioned by listening attentively to the stories of the disciples and leading them to a new awareness of his presence. This example of Jesus shows that the new evangelization, which must happen in the midst of the sexual abuse crisis, occurs in at least four different ways.
Provide real opportunities of listening and discerning together to appreciate the depth of hurt, anger and disillusionment associated with this scandal. This listening ministry could become a part of every diocese in the form of an office of mediation where people could bring their hurts and seek appropriate reconciliation.
Consider the reasons why this crisis has happened. Put into place measures which will create safe environments for children and all who are vulnerable in the faith community.
A spirituality of communion must permeate all relationships and structures within our parishes and local churches, through a consultation that brings people together, acknowledges the presence of God’s Spirit working in the members of the community and assists in responding to those who feel that their voice is never heard in the Church.
Support co-responsibility by bringing change in certain structures of the Church and in the mentality, attitude and heart in the ways of working closely with lay persons. These changes could include the appointment of pastoral teams consisting of clergy and laity, an official reflection on and recognition of lay ecclesial ministers, a deliberate and systematic involvement and leadership of women at all levels of Church life, e.g., permitting women to be instituted as lectors and acolytes and the institution of the ministry of catechist.
When this happens, the Gospel will be heard anew, our faith will be passed on more effectively, we will be renewed in our faith and our witness will become more authentic in our contemporary world.
– H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Philip TARTAGLIA, Archbishop of Glasgow (SCOTLAND)
The Bishops Conference of Scotland welcomes the call for a new evangelisation. The new evangelisation is already operating as a general impulse towards the renewal of faith in Scotland. ftlineWe hope that this Year of Faith will raise the profile of the new evangelisation.
The InstrumentumLaboris makes reference to the new evangelisation as witness to Christ, to his Gospel and to the faith of the Church which has a new frankness, a new courage and a new hope. From recent experience of defending and promoting marriage as uniquely the union of a man and a woman, the Scottish bishops can tell you that the vast majority of the Catholic people, many other Christians, and indeed people of other faiths respond positively and rejoice to hear religious and moral truth expounded clearly and simply and openly. Even in these highly secularised times, the thirst for authentic religion still asserts itself, as we saw so clearly when his Holiness Pope Benedict XVI visited the United Kingdom two years ago in 2010.
Based on this experience, which also passes by the way of the cross, we must not be afraid to preach the truth of the Catholic and apostolic faith with courage and openness and frankness, but also with love and compassion, and with persuasiveness and humility, starting always from Jesus Christ. People today, especially young people, need both truth and love if they are to live authentic human lives. Evangelisation and the new evangelisation propose anew to the men and women of our time Jesus Christ the Incarnate Son of God. He is the Truth. He is the Incarnate Love of God.
– H. Exc. Rev. Mons. Patrick Christopher PINDER, Archbishop of Nassau (Bahamas), President of the Episcopal Conference (BAHAMAS)
We gather for this XIII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops to address a most appropriate and timely subject. Our consideration of the “New Evangelization for the Transmission of Christian Faith” coincides with the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, the 20th anniversary of the publication of Catechism of the Catholic Church and the start of the Year of Faith.
The expectation is that this gathering be a time and a place of encouragement shared experiences, and practical approaches to enliven and to renew the life of the Church in the fullest sense. The present circumstances, which make our reflection on evangelization with new energy and new methods so necessary, have been well explained in the working document of this Synod. It reminds us that significant cultural forces inhibit the ability of our cultures and peoples to hold fast to the faith and to live the Gospel values. This reality is present almost everywhere as indicated by the pre-synodal responses of the bishop’s conferences from around the world.
In addressing these secularizing and globalizing challenges, the bishops of the Antilles Episcopal Conference have noted that some of our people are confused, drifting from the faith, and unable to articulate or defend the faith.
Most have remained faithful to the Church, but are uncomfortable with the faith vulnerability they experience. They are looking to the Catholic Church to deepen their knowledge of the faith, their spirituality and their ability to defend the faith and to live it joyfully.
One practical recommendation before us is that of the greater recognition, training and involvement of the ministry of Catechist in the Church. This ministry can certainly serve as a valuable resource in the transmission of the faith at this moment of the new evangelization.
– H. Em. Rev. Card. ain Fernando FILONI, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples
The Instrumentum Laboris, in Nos. 76-79, deals with the Missio ad Gentes, pastoral care and the new evangelization. These are aspects requiring a more adequate structure. The cor
relation between them was recalled by the Holy Father in his Homily for the opening of the Synod last October 7th.
In fact, the Church, as the Body of Christ, takes Her path in history and among peoples for the mandate of Her Lord: go, baptize, bring salvation. It is a living body which, in order to cross places and time, needs, so to speak, two strong limbs that enable Her to proceed expeditiously: the first, ad Gentes, and the new evangelization.
The Synod we are celebrating constitutes, therefore, an excellent moment enabling us to reflect on the correlation and on the value of missionary commitment, and at the same time to reconsider what are the most meaningful routes to take in order to courageously re-propose the Gospel.
We are well aware that the Vatican Council II was decisive in the development of the so-called indigenous Churches, indicated not only as “places” in which missionary service may be exercised, but above all, as genuine agents of the mission (Message of the Holy Father Benedict XVI for the World Missionary Day, 2012). Fifty years after the Council we can also see, for example, how the indigenous Churches, with their clergy and men and women religious, are rooted in the life of ancient Christianity, although the first evangelization ad Gentes is still to be developed strongly.
The Synod should, therefore, allow us to perceive the need for coordination in the work of evangelization, understood as a first and new proclamation, because it is now a full global missio, also considering the phenomenon of the migration of peoples which ensures that the traditional subjects of the missio ad Gentes encounter each other everywhere, creating ever more pluralistic societies. Furthermore, a not insignificant number of the faithful come from the so-called mission territories, which dwell within western societies, and which bring to our parishes and communities the vivacity and spiritual richness they possess. In these people one perceives the freshness of their faith, so different from those forms of “faith fatigue … the oft-encountered sense of having had enough of Christianity” (Benedict XVI, Address on the Occasion of Christmas Greetings to the Roman Curia, 22 December 2011) so evident among the ancient secularized forms of Christianity.
It must also not be forgotten that these young Churches bear true witness to the Gospel, understood as the Word that sustains us in all circumstances, even in serious and dramatic situations of discrimination and persecution (I am thinking of numerous situations in Asia, Africa and America). The missionary Agency Fides has published that in 2011 18 priests and 4 women religious were killed, but who can say what is the real number of faithful killed? The evangelizing mission of these indigenous Churches therefore becomes an interior need for the gift received from above.
The mandate of Christ the Redeemer, entrusted to the Church, said Blessed John Paul II, is still at its beginnings and we must commit with all our strength to its service (John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Missio on the permanent validity of the missionary mandate, December 7 1990, 1), not only for the percentage of those who do not know Christ and who are constantly increasing in numbers, but also for the percentage of the baptized for whom the abandonment of the faith constitutes an important factor. For this it is necessary to experience a kairos, a strong moment of grace, in order to provoke the Church to reinforce her true identity as the community wished for by Jesus Christ, as a sign and tool of salvation for all the peoples of the earth (Lumen Gentium).
