Pope to US bishops:
Catholic schools are essential
to the new evangelization
May 5, 2012
Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday spoke about the importance of Catholic education when addressing a group of United States bishops in Rome on their ad limina visit.
Calling Catholic schools “an essential resource for the new evangelization,” the Holy Father urged that a Catholic education be within the reach of all families, whatever their financial status.
Turning his attention to higher education, Pope Benedict said colleges and universities “need to reaffirm their distinctive identity in fidelity to their founding ideals and the Church’s mission in service of the Gospel.”
He said this includes the obligation for theological faculties to receive the mandate from the local bishop laid down in the Code of Canon Law.
“The question of Catholic identity, not least at the university level, entails much more than the teaching of religion or the mere presence of a chaplaincy on campus,” Pope Benedict told the bishops.
“All too often, it seems, Catholic schools and colleges have failed to challenge students to reappropriate their faith as part of the exciting intellectual discoveries which mark the experience of higher education,” he continued.
“The fact that so many new students find themselves dissociated from the family, school and community support systems that previously facilitated the transmission of the faith should continually spur Catholic institutions of learning to create new and effective networks of support.”
Here is the full text of Pope Benedict XVI’s discourse to the US bishops:
Dear Brother Bishops,
I greet all of you with affection in the Lord and I offer you my prayerful good wishes for a grace-filled pilgrimage ad limina Apostolorum.
In the course of our meetings I have been reflecting with you and your Brother Bishops on the intellectual and cultural challenges of the new evangelization in the context of contemporary American society. In the present talk, I wish to address the question of religious education and the faith formation of the next generation of Catholics in your country.
Before all else, I would acknowledge the great progress that has been made in recent years in improving catechesis, reviewing texts and bringing them into conformity with the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Important efforts are also being made to preserve the great patrimony of America’s Catholic elementary and high schools, which have been deeply affected by changing demographics and increased costs, while at the same time ensuring that the education they provide remains within the reach of all families, whatever their financial status.
As has often been mentioned in our meetings, these schools remain an essential resource for the new evangelization, and the significant contribution that they make to American society as a whole ought to be better appreciated and more generously supported.
On the level of higher education, many of you have pointed to a growing recognition on the part of Catholic colleges and universities of the need to reaffirm their distinctive identity in fidelity to their founding ideals and the Church’s mission in service of the Gospel.
Yet much remains to be done, especially in such basic areas as compliance with the mandate laid down in Canon 812 for those who teach theological disciplines.
The importance of this canonical norm as a tangible expression of ecclesial communion and solidarity in the Church’s educational apostolate becomes all the more evident when we consider the confusion created by instances of apparent dissidence between some representatives of Catholic institutions and the Church’s pastoral leadership: such discord harms the Church’s witness and, as experience has shown, can easily be exploited to compromise her authority and her freedom.
It is no exaggeration to say that providing young people with a sound education in the faith represents the most urgent internal challenge facing the Catholic community in your country.
The deposit of faith is a priceless treasure which each generation must pass on to the next by winning hearts to Jesus Christ and shaping minds in the knowledge, understanding and love of his Church.
It is gratifying to realize that, in our day too, the Christian vision, presented in its breadth and integrity, proves immensely appealing to the imagination, idealism and aspirations of the young, who have a right to encounter the faith in all its beauty, its intellectual richness and its radical demands.
Here I would simply propose several points which I trust will prove helpful for your discernment in meeting this challenge.
First, as we know, the essential task of authentic education at every level is not simply that of passing on knowledge, essential as this is, but also of shaping hearts.
There is a constant need to balance intellectual rigor in communicating effectively, attractively and integrally, the richness of the Church’s faith with forming the young in the love of God, the praxis of the Christian moral and sacramental life and, not least, the cultivation of personal and liturgical prayer.
It follows that the question of Catholic identity, not least at the university level, entails much more than the teaching of religion or the mere presence of a chaplaincy on campus.
All too often, it seems, Catholic schools and colleges have failed to challenge students to re-appropriate their faith as part of the exciting intellectual discoveries which mark the experience of higher education.
The fact that so many new students find themselves dissociated from the family, school and community support systems that previously facilitated the transmission of the faith should continually spur Catholic institutions of learning to create new and effective networks of support.
In every aspect of their education, students need to be encouraged to articulate a vision of the harmony of faith and reason capable of guiding a life-long pursuit of knowledge and virtue.
As ever, an essential role in this process is played by teachers who inspire others by their evident love of Christ, their witness of sound devotion and their commitment to that sapientia Christiana (Christian wisdom) which integrates faith and life, intellectual passion and reverence for the splendor of truth both human and divine.
In effect, faith by its very nature demands a constant and all-embracing conversion to the fullness of truth revealed in Christ. He is the creative Logos, in whom all things were made and in whom all reality “holds together” (Col 1:17); he is the new Adam who reveals the ultimate truth about man and the world in which we live.
In a period of great cultural change and societal displacement not unlike our own, Augustine pointed to this intrinsic connection between faith and the human intellectual enterprise by appealing to Plato, who held, he says, that “to love wisdom is to love God”
(cf. De Civitate Dei, VIII, 8).
The Christian commitment to learning, which gave birth to the medieval universities, was based upon this conviction that the one God, as the source of all truth and goodness, is likewise the source of the intellect’s passionate desire to know and the will’s yearning for fulfilment in love.
Only in this light can we appreciate the distinctive contribution of Catholic education, which engages in a “diakonia of truth” inspired by an intellectual charity which knows that leading others to the truth is ultimately an act of love (cf. Address to Catholic Educators, Washington, 17 April 2008).
Faith’s recognition of the essential unity of all knowledge provides a bulwark against the alienation and fragmentation which occurs when the use of reason is detached from the pursuit of truth and virtue; in this sense, Catholic institutions have a specific role to play in helping to overcome the crisis of universities today.
Firmly grounded in this vision of the intrinsic interplay of faith, reason and the pursuit of human excellence, every Christian intellectual and all the Church's educational institutions must be convinced, and desirous of convincing others, that no aspect of reality remains alien to, or untouched by, the mystery of the redemption and the Risen Lord’s dominion over all creation.
During my Pastoral Visit to the United States, I spoke of the need for the Church in America to cultivate “a mindset, an intellectual culture which is genuinely Catholic” (cf. Homily at Nationals Stadium, Washington, 17 April 2008).
Taking up this task certainly involves a renewal of apologetics and an emphasis on Catholic distinctiveness; ultimately however it must be aimed at proclaiming the liberating truth of Christ and stimulating greater dialogue and cooperation in building a society ever more solidly grounded in an authentic humanism inspired by the Gospel and faithful to the highest values of America=s civic and cultural heritage.
At the present moment of your nation’s history, this is the challenge and opportunity awaiting the entire Catholic community, and it is one which the Church’s educational institutions should be the first to acknowledge and embrace.
In concluding these brief reflections, I wish to express once more my gratitude, and that of the whole Church, for the generous commitment, often accompanied by personal sacrifice, shown by so many teachers and administrators who work in the vast network of Catholic schools in your country.
To you, dear Brothers, and to all the faithful entrusted to your pastoral care, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of wisdom, joy and peace in the Risen Lord.
Pope to US bishops:
Catholic schools are essential
to the new evangelization
May 5, 2012
Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday spoke about the importance of Catholic education when addressing a group of United States bishops in Rome on their ad limina visit.
Calling Catholic schools “an essential resource for the new evangelization,” the Holy Father urged that a Catholic education be within the reach of all families, whatever their financial status.
Turning his attention to higher education, Pope Benedict said colleges and universities “need to reaffirm their distinctive identity in fidelity to their founding ideals and the Church’s mission in service of the Gospel.”
He said this includes the obligation for theological faculties to receive the mandate from the local bishop laid down in the Code of Canon Law.
“The question of Catholic identity, not least at the university level, entails much more than the teaching of religion or the mere presence of a chaplaincy on campus,” Pope Benedict told the bishops.
“All too often, it seems, Catholic schools and colleges have failed to challenge students to reappropriate their faith as part of the exciting intellectual discoveries which mark the experience of higher education,” he continued.
“The fact that so many new students find themselves dissociated from the family, school and community support systems that previously facilitated the transmission of the faith should continually spur Catholic institutions of learning to create new and effective networks of support.”
Here is the full text of Pope Benedict XVI’s discourse to the US bishops:
Dear Brother Bishops,
I greet all of you with affection in the Lord and I offer you my prayerful good wishes for a grace-filled pilgrimage ad limina Apostolorum.
In the course of our meetings I have been reflecting with you and your Brother Bishops on the intellectual and cultural challenges of the new evangelization in the context of contemporary American society. In the present talk, I wish to address the question of religious education and the faith formation of the next generation of Catholics in your country.
Before all else, I would acknowledge the great progress that has been made in recent years in improving catechesis, reviewing texts and bringing them into conformity with the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Important efforts are also being made to preserve the great patrimony of America’s Catholic elementary and high schools, which have been deeply affected by changing demographics and increased costs, while at the same time ensuring that the education they provide remains within the reach of all families, whatever their financial status.
As has often been mentioned in our meetings, these schools remain an essential resource for the new evangelization, and the significant contribution that they make to American society as a whole ought to be better appreciated and more generously supported.
On the level of higher education, many of you have pointed to a growing recognition on the part of Catholic colleges and universities of the need to reaffirm their distinctive identity in fidelity to their founding ideals and the Church’s mission in service of the Gospel.
Yet much remains to be done, especially in such basic areas as compliance with the mandate laid down in Canon 812 for those who teach theological disciplines.
The importance of this canonical norm as a tangible expression of ecclesial communion and solidarity in the Church’s educational apostolate becomes all the more evident when we consider the confusion created by instances of apparent dissidence between some representatives of Catholic institutions and the Church’s pastoral leadership: such discord harms the Church’s witness and, as experience has shown, can easily be exploited to compromise her authority and her freedom.
It is no exaggeration to say that providing young people with a sound education in the faith represents the most urgent internal challenge facing the Catholic community in your country.
The deposit of faith is a priceless treasure which each generation must pass on to the next by winning hearts to Jesus Christ and shaping minds in the knowledge, understanding and love of his Church.
It is gratifying to realize that, in our day too, the Christian vision, presented in its breadth and integrity, proves immensely appealing to the imagination, idealism and aspirations of the young, who have a right to encounter the faith in all its beauty, its intellectual richness and its radical demands.
Here I would simply propose several points which I trust will prove helpful for your discernment in meeting this challenge.
First, as we know, the essential task of authentic education at every level is not simply that of passing on knowledge, essential as this is, but also of shaping hearts.
There is a constant need to balance intellectual rigor in communicating effectively, attractively and integrally, the richness of the Church’s faith with forming the young in the love of God, the praxis of the Christian moral and sacramental life and, not least, the cultivation of personal and liturgical prayer.
It follows that the question of Catholic identity, not least at the university level, entails much more than the teaching of religion or the mere presence of a chaplaincy on campus.
All too often, it seems, Catholic schools and colleges have failed to challenge students to re-appropriate their faith as part of the exciting intellectual discoveries which mark the experience of higher education.
The fact that so many new students find themselves dissociated from the family, school and community support systems that previously facilitated the transmission of the faith should continually spur Catholic institutions of learning to create new and effective networks of support.
In every aspect of their education, students need to be encouraged to articulate a vision of the harmony of faith and reason capable of guiding a life-long pursuit of knowledge and virtue.
As ever, an essential role in this process is played by teachers who inspire others by their evident love of Christ, their witness of sound devotion and their commitment to that sapientia Christiana (Christian wisdom) which integrates faith and life, intellectual passion and reverence for the splendor of truth both human and divine.
In effect, faith by its very nature demands a constant and all-embracing conversion to the fullness of truth revealed in Christ. He is the creative Logos, in whom all things were made and in whom all reality “holds together” (Col 1:17); he is the new Adam who reveals the ultimate truth about man and the world in which we live.
In a period of great cultural change and societal displacement not unlike our own, Augustine pointed to this intrinsic connection between faith and the human intellectual enterprise by appealing to Plato, who held, he says, that “to love wisdom is to love God”
(cf. De Civitate Dei, VIII, 8).
The Christian commitment to learning, which gave birth to the medieval universities, was based upon this conviction that the one God, as the source of all truth and goodness, is likewise the source of the intellect’s passionate desire to know and the will’s yearning for fulfilment in love.
Only in this light can we appreciate the distinctive contribution of Catholic education, which engages in a “diakonia of truth” inspired by an intellectual charity which knows that leading others to the truth is ultimately an act of love (cf. Address to Catholic Educators, Washington, 17 April 2008).
Faith’s recognition of the essential unity of all knowledge provides a bulwark against the alienation and fragmentation which occurs when the use of reason is detached from the pursuit of truth and virtue; in this sense, Catholic institutions have a specific role to play in helping to overcome the crisis of universities today.
Firmly grounded in this vision of the intrinsic interplay of faith, reason and the pursuit of human excellence, every Christian intellectual and all the Church's educational institutions must be convinced, and desirous of convincing others, that no aspect of reality remains alien to, or untouched by, the mystery of the redemption and the Risen Lord’s dominion over all creation.
During my Pastoral Visit to the United States, I spoke of the need for the Church in America to cultivate “a mindset, an intellectual culture which is genuinely Catholic” (cf. Homily at Nationals Stadium, Washington, 17 April 2008).
Taking up this task certainly involves a renewal of apologetics and an emphasis on Catholic distinctiveness; ultimately however it must be aimed at proclaiming the liberating truth of Christ and stimulating greater dialogue and cooperation in building a society ever more solidly grounded in an authentic humanism inspired by the Gospel and faithful to the highest values of America=s civic and cultural heritage.
At the present moment of your nation’s history, this is the challenge and opportunity awaiting the entire Catholic community, and it is one which the Church’s educational institutions should be the first to acknowledge and embrace.
In concluding these brief reflections, I wish to express once more my gratitude, and that of the whole Church, for the generous commitment, often accompanied by personal sacrifice, shown by so many teachers and administrators who work in the vast network of Catholic schools in your country.
To you, dear Brothers, and to all the faithful entrusted to your pastoral care, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of wisdom, joy and peace in the Risen Lord.
As usual, both CNS and CNA are taking their weekend off - it's hard to understand this highly unprofessional practice, since news is a 365/24/7 proposition, and every respectable news agency can certainly afford to rotate their personnel so that at least someone is on duty on weekends to report Church events. (For instance, though the Vatican newspaper religiously observes every Sunday and religious holiday by not publishing anything on that particular day, Vatican Radio does not take Sundays or religious holidays off! If only because Saturday is always a working day for the Pope, and Sunday, besides the Pope's Angelus, never ought to be taken for granted, because one never knows what could be happening elsewhere that impacts the Church and the Pope!
And so, we have the strange situation of the USCCB's own news agency, CNS, not reporting on their meeting with the Pope today. CNS will probably file one on Monday and backdate it to Saturday as they often do... Anyway, CNS did have a story about the visiting US bishops from yesterday...
US bishops reflect on their role
in the new evangelization
By Cindy Wooden
ROME, May 4 (CNS) -- Celebrating Mass in Pope Benedict XVI's cathedral, Rome's Basilica of St. John Lateran, a group of U.S. bishops prayed for the Pope and reflected on what they need to do to respond to his call for a new evangelization.
Bishop Michael J. Sheridan of Colorado Springs was the homilist and principal celebrant of an evening Mass May 3 during the "ad limina" visit of bishops from Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Wyoming.
On the eve of the bishops' meeting with Pope Benedict, Bishop Sheridan led his fellow bishops in a reflection on the Pope's insistence that strengthening the faith of Catholics, reviving the faith of those who have fallen away and sharing the Gospel with others means they must preach that Jesus is the son of God and continues to live in the Church and the Eucharist.
The bishop said Pope Benedict has noted how "Jesus is often reduced to the status of a wise man and his divinity is diminished, if not denied outright." That type of attitude ignores the radical novelty of Christianity and its message that God entered human history to save humanity, he said.
The Pope "warned us of preaching a Jesus who was not alive in our midst, from entering into some sort of nostalgia in which we lift up Jesus the wise man who lived long ago, but doesn't seem to have any reality now, and it's only his memory that we exalt," the bishop said.
"Our proclamation must be the proclamation of the living Jesus; the one who died -- yes -- for our sins, but who was raised, who lives now never to die again, who is in our midst," he said.
"Let's pray today that the Lord will fire us up with his Holy Spirit so that we may join in this new evangelization in the most effective way," Bishop Sheridan said.
The bishops' visits are formally described as "ad limina apostolorum," which means "to the thresholds of the apostles" Peter and Paul, who were martyred in Rome. As well as concelebrating Masses at Rome's four major basilicas, the bishops meet with Pope Benedict to report on the state of their dioceses, and with Vatican officials to discuss issues of common concern.
Here's how AFP reported the Pope's address. Note the tendentious headline - in which a secular news agency calls the Christian message and Catholic identity 'the Vatican script' rather than basic Catholic doctrine.
Pope asks US bishops
to keep to the Vatican script
ROME, May 5, 2012 (AFP)- Pope Benedict XVI asked bishops Saturday to ensure that religious teachings are authorised by the Catholic Church, in a bid to keep US Catholics
in line with the Vatican
.
[Not in line with 'the Vatican' but in line with what the Church has always taught!]
The appeal comes after the Vatican last month upbraided a US association of Catholic clergy women for
its feminist and liberal stances on contraception, homosexuality and female priests.
[Which are all in open contradiction of what the Church teaches!]
"Such discord harms the Church's witness and, as experience has shown, can easily be exploited to compromise her authority and her freedom," the Pope said in a speech.
He referred to an article of Catholic rules that specifies clergy must receive approval from the Vatican for the contents of their teachings.
"The importance of this canonical norm ... becomes all the more evident when we consider the confusion created by instances of apparent dissidence between some representatives of Catholic institutions and the Church's pastoral leadership," the Pope said.
Catholic leaders in the US are split between
an ultra-conservative wing [Not in this case - when not just the 'u;ltra-conservative wing' but majority if not all the US bishops, as well as leaders of other religions in the United States, are behind the official objections of the USCCB], which has slammed President Barack Obama's reforms that include contraceptive requirements in health care coverage, and other Church leaders who have taken
more liberal stances on homosexuality and other issues.
[The point that secular media like the AFP insist on ignoring when reporting about the Catholic Church is that no single Catholic - not even the Pope for that matter - should profess any 'stance' that directly contradicts official Church teaching! It is not a question of being 'more liberal' - it's a question of outright defiance of Church teaching. How would the media report it if dissident Tibetan Buddhists - if there are any - chose to openly say that they will not be limited to strictly non-violent means to advocate their beliefs? Religious doctrine, if it is authentic, is meant to be immutable - as are the teachings of Christ and his Church - unlike political and government policies that are subject to every public whim and opinion, not to mention the verdict of free and democratic polls. The Catholic faith is not something that will ever be put to a vote!]
For the Pope, who has been receiving groups of US bishops for regular work sessions, the rejection of abortion and euthanasia are "non-negotiables" that the Church must defend.
As usual, both CNS and CNA are taking their weekend off - it's hard to understand this highly unprofessional practice, since news is a 365/24/7 proposition, and every respectable news agency can certainly afford to rotate their personnel so that at least someone is on duty on weekends to report Church events. (For instance, though the Vatican newspaper religiously observes every Sunday and religious holiday by not publishing anything on that particular day, Vatican Radio does not take Sundays or religious holidays off! If only because Saturday is always a working day for the Pope, and Sunday, besides the Pope's Angelus, never ought to be taken for granted, because one never knows what could be happening elsewhere that impacts the Church and the Pope!
And so, we have the strange situation of the USCCB's own news agency, CNS, not reporting on their meeting with the Pope today. CNS will probably file one on Monday and backdate it to Saturday as they often do... Anyway, CNS did have a story about the visiting US bishops from yesterday...
US bishops reflect on their role
in the new evangelization
By Cindy Wooden
ROME, May 4 (CNS) -- Celebrating Mass in Pope Benedict XVI's cathedral, Rome's Basilica of St. John Lateran, a group of U.S. bishops prayed for the Pope and reflected on what they need to do to respond to his call for a new evangelization.
Bishop Michael J. Sheridan of Colorado Springs was the homilist and principal celebrant of an evening Mass May 3 during the "ad limina" visit of bishops from Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Wyoming.
On the eve of the bishops' meeting with Pope Benedict, Bishop Sheridan led his fellow bishops in a reflection on the Pope's insistence that strengthening the faith of Catholics, reviving the faith of those who have fallen away and sharing the Gospel with others means they must preach that Jesus is the son of God and continues to live in the Church and the Eucharist.
The bishop said Pope Benedict has noted how "Jesus is often reduced to the status of a wise man and his divinity is diminished, if not denied outright." That type of attitude ignores the radical novelty of Christianity and its message that God entered human history to save humanity, he said.
The Pope "warned us of preaching a Jesus who was not alive in our midst, from entering into some sort of nostalgia in which we lift up Jesus the wise man who lived long ago, but doesn't seem to have any reality now, and it's only his memory that we exalt," the bishop said.
"Our proclamation must be the proclamation of the living Jesus; the one who died -- yes -- for our sins, but who was raised, who lives now never to die again, who is in our midst," he said.
"Let's pray today that the Lord will fire us up with his Holy Spirit so that we may join in this new evangelization in the most effective way," Bishop Sheridan said.
The bishops' visits are formally described as "ad limina apostolorum," which means "to the thresholds of the apostles" Peter and Paul, who were martyred in Rome. As well as concelebrating Masses at Rome's four major basilicas, the bishops meet with Pope Benedict to report on the state of their dioceses, and with Vatican officials to discuss issues of common concern.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 06/05/2012 19:14]