Benedict XVI's revolution
Translated from
February 27, 2012
Rarely in the mass media is there any mention of the 'revolutionary' import of this Pontificate.
But in the bimillennial history of the Church, this Pontificate will be remembered as that of the return to the roots of the Faith - to the Ten Commandments and to the Gospel.
In short, simple words, dense with significance, that find a profound echo in the hearts of men, in any time.
Bo not steal. Do not kill. Precepts that everyone can accept and make his own regardless of his cultural and social affiliations.
Joseph Ratzinger, besides being the 265th Pope, will pass into history as one of the most important theologians of the 20th century. As an academic and writer, the theologian-pastor-Pope has dedicated all his life to theology and preaching.
It is therefore highly significant that Benedict XVI has decreed a Year of Faith.
Today, the Holy See issued a clear-sounding note from the Secretariat of the Bishops' Synod on the most recent Synodal Council meeting preparatory to the Synodal Assembly at the Vatican next October.
Its contents have a pure Ratzingerian ring and constitute almost a 'mea culpa' from the universal Church for having focused its evangelizing mission on a premise that has been too intellectual and ever less
evangelically understandable to the faithful.
And that is why the mission should start from the basics: the Ten Commandments and the Gospel. An appeal that is also an invitation to conversion, at a time when the Roman Curia appears beset by conflicts among rival groups and perceived financial scandals.
The Synod document today denounces "the unproductiveness of current evangelization, especially in the presence of influences from the current dominant culture which make transmission of the faith particularly difficult and also represent at a challenge to Christians and the Church".
In short, the crisis of the faith which so concerns the Catholic Church is also "a crisis in the transmission of the faith itself".
In this regard, the Year of Faith will be "a propitious occasion to examine more deeply the gift of faith received from the Lord,to be lived and transmitted to others".
And "the first place for the transmission of the faith should be the family, where the faith is communicated to the children who, within the family, should learn both the contents of the Christian faith as well as its practice".
Galeazzi joins a handful of Italian commentators who have, at one time or other, pointed out the quiet revolution that Benedict XVI is carrying out - among them, Sandro Magister, Mssimo Introvigne. Andrea Tornielli, Luigi Accattoli and Giuliano Ferrara. Those attentive to the constant, consistent and cumulative effect of the daily words and actions - spontaneous but also consciously (and perhaps subconsciously) directed at fulfilling Joseph Ratzinger's lifelong ministry as a priest, now magnified unimaginably by his Petrine ministry: to bring God to all men, and all men to God...
And if few have recognized, much less acknowledged, what he has done and sought to do in the past seven years, perhaps it is because his ways are simple, unspectacular, non-theatrical, low-key - everything that is bound to be easily overlooked and grossly undervalued in an age of show-and-tell, of image above substance, of abracadabra and smoke-and-mirrors, of relentless self-promotion...
Since he is Joseph Ratzinger, everything we have come to know about him says he does not care that the messenger is overlooked and undervalued - he does not need to be validated by others, only by his Lord - as long as his message hits home. God bless the Church, the Pope, his bishops and all his priests that they may work tirelessly, joyously and effectively to bring God and his message of love and salvation to the world today...
Here is the communique today from the Bishops' Synod:
Communique on the seventh meeting
of the XII Ordinary Council of the Bishops' Synod
Translated from
February 27, 2012
The theme of the XIII Ordinary General Assembly of the Bishops' Synod, which will take place on October 7-26, 2012, at the Vatican, is "The new evangelization for the transmission of the Christian faith".
It is a theme that, in a certain sense, has its precedent in the Ordinary General Assembly In September37-October 26, 1984 on the evangelization of the modern world.
This was recalled by the Secretary-General of the Synod, Mons. Nikola Eterović, in his opening remarks at the seventh meeting of the XIII Ordinary Council of the Secretariat. It is not just a chronological and thematic coincidence, but rather a sign of continuity in the Church's concern to preach the Gospel.
For this reason, the Cburch will find valuable suggestions for her mission in the world today from the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii nunziandi after that 1974 Assembly.
Those who took part in the Council meeting were: Cardinal Francis Arinze, emeritus Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship (Vatican City); Cardinal Francis Eugene George, O.M.I., Archbishop of Chicago; Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace (Vatican City); Cardinal Marc Ouellet, P.S.S., Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops (Vatican City); Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, S.D.B., emeritus Bishop of Hong Kong (China(; Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer, Archbishop of Sao Paolo (Brazil); Cardinal Walter Kasper, emeritus President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity; Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture; Mons. Thomas Menamparampil, S.D.B., emeritus Archbishop of Gujahati (India); Mons. Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin (Ireland); Mons. Mark Benedict Coleridge, Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn (Australia); and Mons. Luis Antonio G. Tagle, Archbishop of Manila (Philippines).
Unable to participate due to prior commitments in their respective home dioceses were Cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, S.D.B., Archbishop of Tegucigalpa (Honduras) and president of the Honduran bishops; conference;; Mons. Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, Archbishop of Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo); and Mons. Florentin Crihălmeanu, Bishop of Cluj-Gherla, Claudiopoli-Armenopoli of the Romanians (Romania).
Also attending were the General Moderatpr and Secretary General, respectively, of the XIII Synodal Assembly, Cardinal Donald William Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, D.C.. and Mons. Pierre-Marie Carré, Archbishop of Montpellier (France); along with Mons. Salvatore Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization (Vatican City).
The primary item on the agenda was examining the draft of the Instrumentum laboris for the coming General Assembly, a text that had been sent to the Council members previously for review. This allowed the Council to finish its work on February 16, and for its cardinal members to take part in the pre-consistory assembly of the College of Cardinals with Pope Benedict XVI the following day, February 17.
There was a discussion first among all the Council members and then among members of the Italian and English working groups. Their conclusions were then presented to the final plenary session of the Council.
The parts of the draft that drew the most attention were those regarding the general literary structure of the text, and the addition of themes like the identity of those to whom the new evangelization is addressed, as well as the identity of the Christian in his relation to the Gospel and with Jesus Christ who is the Gospel himself.
Especially productive was the discussion about the primacy of faith in the present historical moment marked by a crisis of faith, which is also a crisis in the transmission of the faith.
They spoke about the "unproductiveness of present evangelization" in the face of influences from the dominant culture which make the transmission of the faith particularly difficult and represent a challenge for Christians and for the Church.
In this regard, the convocation of a Year of Faith will be a propitious occasion to study more deeply the gift of faith received from the Lord to be lived and transmitted to others.
The first place for the transmission of the faith is the family, where faith is communicated to children, who learn in their family experience both the content as well as the practice of Christian faith.
The irreplaceable work of the family is extended by catecheses received from ecclesial institutions, especially through liturgy, the sacraments and homilies; or through parochial missions, popular piety, ecclesial movements, and local Church communities.
The Secretary-General thanked the Council members, who had been elected during the XII General Synodal Assembly, for their work that demonstrated episcopal collegiality and for their indispensable collaboration with the Synod's Secretariat. in the context of their service to the ministry of the Holy Father Benedict XVI.
Recital of the Angelus ended the session, with an invocation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, Star of Evangelization, so that teh work of the coming Synod may be productive in fitting observance of the Second Vatican Council and in faithfulness to the Gospel in transmitting the faith.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 29/02/2012 06:06]