FIFTEENTH GENERAL CONGREGATION

VATICAN CITY, OCT 12, 2005 (VIS) - This morning in the Synod Hall, the Fifteenth general Congregation of the Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops was held. The president delegate on duty was Cardinal Telesphore Placidus Toppo, and 239 Synod Fathers were present.

  Given below are excerpts from some of the speeches delivered this morning by Synod Fathers and auditors:

ARCHBISHOP OSWALD THOMAS COLMAN GOMES OF COLOMBO, SRI LANKA. "We have to promote a visible demonstration of our faith in the Eucharistic Lord. And this has to be done more in deed than in word. Reference has already been made here to many abuses and aberrations in the celebration of the Eucharist and gross lack of reverence for the Most Blessed Sacrament. ... Particular reference has been made to secularism and relativism. It is unfortunate that these are even creeping into Asia. While respecting common liturgical norms we need to make a deep study of the cultural patterns of the various worshippers and have them integrated to our liturgy. The cultural patterns of people differ from continent to continent, and often from country to country. Therefore liturgists in these respective areas will have to make a study of these patterns and integrate the highest forms of adoration into the adoration of the Eucharist. ... Finally, today we have the serious problem of Christian fundamentalism which affects our belief in the Eucharist. This Synod has to address its mind to this danger. Else it would be like an effort to plant a beautiful tree - our faith in the Eucharist - when there is a dangerous virus attacking it."

BISHOP ANGEL FLORO MARTINEZ I.E.M.E., OF GOKWE, ZIMBABWE. "Let me inform you of the main challenges our faithful are facing, not of a theological but of a pastoral nature. The first challenge concerns the availability or accessibility of the Eucharist to many of our Catholics. The shortage of priests and the scattering of our faithful in our vast rural areas means that priests are available to them for the Eucharist only once a month, every two months or even longer. This challenges the centrality of the Eucharist in the lives of our Catholics. Could our rural Christian communities that rely mostly on the celebration of the Word be called Eucharistic communities? This is an interesting question that could be discussed in our working groups. The second challenge concerns the Eucharist and Marriage. The Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference (ZCBC) published a second pastoral letter on the Eucharist this year under this heading, exhorting the faithful to appreciate the greatness of the Eucharist and its deep relationship with the dignity of the Sacrament of Marriage, and to regularize their situation. Many Catholics who used to receive the Eucharist in their youth no longer do so in their adult lives because of irregular marriages."

CARDINAL GEORGE PELL, ARCHBISHOP OF SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA. "Many Synod Fathers have spoken of the difficulties experienced by the Church throughout the world. Some of these are caused by our own mistakes. Vatican Council II brought great blessings and substantial gains, for example, continuing missionary expansion and the new movements and communities. But it was also followed by confusion, some decline, especially in the West, and pockets of collapse. Good intentions are not enough. ... My recommendations to the Synod on how to deal with these 'shadows' presuppose the maintenance in the Latin Church of the ancient tradition and life giving discipline of mandatory celibacy for the diocesan clergy as well as the religious orders. To loosen this tradition now would be a serious error, which would provoke confusion in the mission areas and would not strengthen spiritual vitality in the First World. It would be a departure from the practice of the Lord Himself, bring significant practical disadvantages to the work of the Church, e.g. financial, and weaken the sign value of the priesthood; it would weaken, too, the witness to loving sacrifice, and to the reality of the Last Things, and the rewards of Heaven. ... Communion services or liturgies of the Word should not be substituted for Mass, when priests are available. Such unnecessary substitutions are often not motivated by a hunger for the Bread of Life, but by ignorance and confusion or even by hostility to the ministerial priesthood and the Sacraments."

BISHOP LUIGI PADOVESE O.F.M. Cap., APOSTOLIC VICAR OF ANATOLIA, TURKEY. "I speak as bishop of the Church of Anatolia, an area that saw the first great expansion of Jesus' message and in which Christians are now reduced to just a few thousand. The only Christians in the city of Tarsus, homeland of the Apostle Paul, are three nuns who welcome pilgrims; pilgrims who must get a permit in order to celebrate the Eucharist in the only remaining church-museum. The same is true for the church-museum of St. Peter in Antioch. In that city was born John Chrysostom, the 16th centenary of whose death in exile falls in 2007. With his homilies, Chrysostom reminds us that the Eucharist was and is the privileged place for announcing Christ. His memory, as well as the more recent recollection of bishops such as Clemens von Galen and Oscar Romero, is a living testimony of the bond between the memorial of Jesus' sacrifice and the people who found therein the motivation and strength for a proclamation undertaken with intelligence and courage and frankness."

BR. ALVARO RODRIGUEZ ECHEVERRIA F.S.C., PRESIDENT OF THE UNION OF SUPERIORS GENERAL, COSTA RICA. "The 'Instrumentum laboris' of the Synod underlines the Church's hope in its young people. Young people today, living in globalized cultures marked by the incessant change of perspectives, and in a society ruined by so much economic insecurity and by the glorification of violence, find it difficult to articulate the story of their lives in a way that gives meaning, direction and purpose to their youthful dreams. Today more than yesterday, then, we need to satisfy the thirst and hunger felt by young people as they search for a mystical experience of union with Jesus. There is not doubt that He is a force attracting young people today. ... Drinking from the source that is the Eucharist, ... they also find the strength to discover in this world their own crucified brothers and sisters, those who suffer under the oppression of wars, of violence, of hunger. Those without a future. From this source and summit, they come away burning with a new passion, and with the strength of grace to participate in the Church's mission in society and in the world. ... The Eucharist is also the summit whence all (young people's) actions flow. In this way, the Eucharist is not unconnected to the social and political concern felt by Christ's disciples among the men and women of the world, especially among the poor."

MOYSES LAURO DE AZEVEDO FILHO, FOUNDER AND MODERATOR GENERAL OF THE SHALOM CATHOLIC COMMUNITY, BRAZIL. "One of the most important fruits of the Eucharist which we must cultivate is 'parresia.' Parresia is a Greek word which in the New Testament takes on the meaning of audacity in proclaiming Christ. In the period of carnival, in Brazil, when youngsters are exposed to serious dangers, the Catholic Shalom Community promoted ... a moment of adoration before the Most Holy Sacrament. It was impressive to see what many consider impossible: one hundred thousand young people in deep adoring silence before the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. This was a prelude to Cologne. Even more impressive were the fruits of this and of other actions of this type: many conversions, a large number of confessions, commitment to the Church with a return to participation in Mass, an awakening of priestly vocations, and love and service to the poor. We discovered that the best reply to the challenge of secularization is to present Christ with audacity!"
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