TENTH GENERAL CONGREGATION

VATICAN CITY, OCT 8, 2005 (VIS) - In the Vatican's Synod Hall this morning, the Tenth General Congregation was held of the Eleventh Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. The Holy Father was present at the meeting which was also attended by 238 Synod Fathers. The president delegate on duty was Cardinal Telesphore Placidus Toppo.

  Following are excerpts from some of the speeches delivered this morning:

ARCHBISHOP SEAN BAPTIST BRADY OF ARMAGH, IRELAND. "The Word of God is alive and active, with the ability to change minds and hearts. It can address the needs of the individual and the community gathered to hear the Word of Life. It is an important source of the Holy Spirit's transforming activity in the Liturgy. ... Experience has shown in my own country the transforming power of the liturgy of the Word and of the homily. ... It is gratifying to note how scriptural words like justice, peace, forgiveness have become the lingua franca of the peace process. In recent days, a historic moment in that political process has been achieved with the decommissioning of weapons by the largest paramilitary organisation. Two clergymen who have worked for many years to promote dialogue and reconciliation, a former president of the Methodist Church and a Redemptorist priest, were asked to witness the act of decommissioning. This was perhaps, among other things, an acknowledgement of the role played by ministers of the Word of God in creating the conditions for reconciliation and peace. It attests to the power of the Word, under the action of the Holy Spirit, to make all things new."

ARCHBISHOP BERHANEYESUS DEMEREW SOURAPHIEL, C.M., OF ADDIS ABEBA, ETHIOPIA. "The celebration of the 'Sunday Eucharist' presumes that there is a 'Sunday'   the Day of the Lord   set apart, and that the Eucharist can be celebrated freely on Sundays. In some parts of the world, this is not possible: for example, in Saudi Arabia or in some other Muslim countries. Sunday is a working day and the Eucharist is not celebrated because there are no Churches and no priests, or there is simply no religious freedom. From Eritrea and Ethiopia, there are many Christians who are working and living in Muslim countries. ... Before they go to the Muslim countries, they are forced to change their Christian names into Muslim ones, and especially the women have to dress in Muslim attire. Once they reach their destinations, their passports are taken from them and they suffer all kinds of abuses and exploitation. Many are forced by the situation to become Muslims. They are forced to go to these Muslim countries because of the poverty of their own countries, and because the doors of other Christian countries are closed to them. We know that many African Christians die crossing parts of the Sahara desert or drown in the Mediterranean Sea attempting to go to Christian countries in Europe and America. ... I request the Synod Fathers, especially those working in Muslim countries where poor Christians go in search of employment, to extend their pastoral care to these Christians and to ask the Muslim governments to respect the religious freedom of Christians.

BISHOP FELIX LAZARO MARTINEZ Sch. P., OF PONCE, PUERTO RICO. "Many Catholics are still far from being able to explain or defend their faith. As St. Peter says in his first letter: 'Always be prepared to make a defence to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you.' Yet it is difficult to love what one does not know. And if one has no knowledge of the Church, the Eucharist or the Christian faith, then with difficulty one can love the Church, the Eucharist or even the Christian faith itself. What is needed is catechesis. In my view we are suffering from a lack of catechesis. ... The absence of catechesis and religious formation can, perhaps, also explain why some of our faithful so easily go to other religious confessions or sects, attracted by the blinding light of pseudo religious science because we were unable to illuminate them in time with good and appropriate catechesis."

BISHOP AMEDEE GRAB O.S.B., OF CHUR, SWITZERLAND. "My remarks refer to ecclesial communities that celebrate the memorial of the Lord in the Holy Supper. In ecumenical dialogue with these communities, one can often see an increasing convergence on very important themes: real presence, sacrificial characteristic of the memorial, need for ordination. What has proved more difficult is finding a formulation on the nature of the Church, and an agreement that the Holy Eucharist - source and summit of her vocation and her mission - was entrusted to Her. 'It makes no sense not to belong to a Church community and, at the same time, to want to receive the Eucharist,' and we cannot accept inter-celebration, inter-communion, and general hospitality offered to all baptized (or even to all those present). However, participation in Holy Communion by individual non-Catholic baptized, in exceptional cases and under certain conditions, is specifically provided for in paragraph 129 of the 1993 Ecumenical Directory, which not only mentions admittance but also invitation, following verification of the aforementioned conditions, among which belonging to the Catholic Church is not mentioned. This possibility should not be forgotten and must be taken into account in pastors' dealings with those who, without belonging to the Catholic Church, share the impassioned prayer of Jesus for unity. This should remain a recognized way to achieve unity, when and how the Lord, 'the living bread descending from heaven for the life of the world,' wishes."

BISHOP GABRIEL PIROIRD OF CONSTANTINE, ALGERIA. "We are very much a minority of local churches, living in a world where Islam has strongly marked culture. ... Because of the needs of the mission, many live far away from any priestly presence. Due to this they cannot participate in the Eucharist, except on rare occasions. Such a situation leads us to look into the bond between the Eucharist and mission. Our thanksgiving to God joins that of our Muslim friends who also praise God for His works of creation and mercy. We could spiritually incorporate their prayers in our Eucharistic celebrations. We are sometimes amazed to see our Muslim friends 'linked with the Paschal Mystery.' When we come to inscribe our life in the offering of Christ, we also, in some way, do so with the lives of our friends. ... In an imperceptible way, our Eucharistic celebrations bring together a people who are yet absent, a people searching for God in the righteousness of their hearts. For a particular Church, the way of living the Eucharist cannot be separated from her concrete history with the people to whom the Lord gave her."

CARDINAL GEORGES COTTIER O.P., THEOLOGIAN OF THE PONTIFICAL HOUSEHOLD. "If the Church has pronounced directives concerning the admission to the Eucharist of non-Catholic Christians and if she rejects inter-communion, this is because Eucharistic communion is not a starting point, rather it expresses and perfects a communion to be considered in its entirety: communion in the doctrine of the Apostles, in the Sacraments and in communion with the apostolic college of which Peter is head. This position seems unjustly hard to our Protestant brothers, because it is not understood. In fact, it is a fraternal duty for the Church to make it clear that she cannot dispose at her will of a gift received from her Lord. Her attitude is one of adoration, of praise and of obedience."
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