NINTH GENERAL CONGREGATION

VATICAN CITY, OCT 7, 1999 (VIS) - The ninth congregation of the Second Special Assembly for Europe of the Synod of Bishops was convened at 9 this morning under the presidency of Cardinal Paul Poupard. Pope John Paul II attended this session, as he has all the previous ones. There were 166 synod fathers present. The session closed at 12:30.

Following are excerpts from six of the talks given this morning:

BISHOP FRANC KRAMBERGER OF MARIBOR, SLOVENIA. "The Catholic Church has always morally sustained the unification of the European peoples and nations, since she supports the values on which the European democratic countries are founded: justice, mutual respect, solidarity, collaboration, the equality of all men and their fundamental freedom and respect for the human person from conception until natural death and also beyond death. This Europe, whose source of hope will be Christ, living in His Church, will constitute the spiritual and pastoral commitment of all future generations of faithful, priests and bishops. The achievement of this lies in commitment to holiness."

BISHOP ALBERTO ABLONDI OF LIVORNO, ITALY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE ITALIAN EPISCOPAL CONFERENCE. "After decades of conflicts and confrontations, dialogue and encounters, it would be appropriate for the Synod to make clear ecumenical proposals. ... First of all, one must clearly say that Christians are not merely 'separated brothers.' Their condition is more serious! In fact, through baptism in Christ, Christians are 'one single body.' ... There is a need for every community, opening to ecumenism, to ask itself if it truly loves the brothers of other faiths. In fact, through indifference, resentment and memories not yet overcome, all ecumenical action could lose meaning and incisiveness. ... The faithful of one religion must deal with the brothers of another by applying the principle of 'the hierarchy of truths'; drawing from them the charisms that the Holy Spirit continuously gives; confronting difficult and urgent problems such as eucharistic hospitality; appreciating what is already shared; and anticipating the joy of a unity not yet realized in ecumenical celebrations."

ARCHBISHOP FRANCOIS XAVIER NGUYEN VAN THUAN, PRESIDENT OF THE PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE. "A privileged instrument of dialogue with the new society is the Church's social doctrine. It is a means of evangelization because it encounters persons in their real situations in search of the meaning of justice and truth. In answer to a general hope, the Holy Father has decided to publish, during the year of the Great Jubilee, an authorized synthesis of the Church's social doctrine, similar to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. He has authorized the Council for Justice and Peace to prepare this document."

ARCHBISHOP FERNANDO SEBASTIAN AGUILAR OF PAMPLONA, SPAIN. "We all agree on the need and urgency of evangelizing action. But I do not know if we have yet discovered the requirements and characteristics this much-needed evangelization must have. I offer some suggestions concerning the evangelizing action that I believe Europe needs today: Who must evangelize? The whole Church. But which Church? A Church which has itself been previously evangelized and truly converted to the Living God, a Church free from the power of ideologies and formed by people who truly live as disciples of Jesus, a Church capable of offering the world an alternative vision of life, on the personal, family, social and even political level. Only such a Church can attract the attention of our fellow-citizens and convince them that they should again adore the God of Jesus Christ, and again believe in the God of Truth. How should we evangelize? With the testimony of good works; ... By preaching centered on the proclamation of the God of Jesus Christ, the God of Grace, the death and resurrection of Christ, the gift of the Holy Spirit, the hope of eternal life and all its moral consequences; By accepting our smallness and placing our trust in the grace of God; ... In order to walk in this direction I think it is of prime importance to devote our pastoral attention to the initiation of new Christians to a fully Christian life, focusing mainly on what could be a catechumenal process of conversion."

BISHOP ANDRZEJ WOJCIECH SUSKI OF TORUN, POLAND. "Is there a privileged place for the Church to closely reach man with the message and the witness of radical hope, the hope in Christ? The bishops must look towards the pastors of local Churches, towards the Church present in man's home, that is, towards the parish. ... Priests in local Churches know full well that ecclesial communion, while having a universal dimension, finds its immediate and visible expression in the parish. This is the ultimate local manifestation of the Church, in a certain way it is the Church herself living in the homes of her sons and daughters. Being a Eucharistic community, the parish is also an organic community, in other words, it is composed of ordained ministers and other Christians, where the parish priest - who represents the diocesan bishop - is the hierarchical link with the whole local Church."

ARCHBISHOP JAIME PEDRO GONCALVES OF BEIRA, MOZAMBIQUE. "The Church in Europe and the Church in Africa, invigorated by the orientations given by their respective Special Assemblies of the Synod of Bishops, will walk together hand in hand towards the third millennium and will share the gifts received from God. A challenge to be faced is the presence of Africans: their insertion into the Church and into pastoral care, as well as their acceptance and insertion into European society. In general, many problems of justice and peace in Africa require a synergy between the Churches in Africa and in Europe. Europe must not close in on itself."

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