WORD OF GOD CALLS FOR SPECIAL VENERATION AND OBEDIENCE

VATICAN CITY, JAN 25, 2007 (VIS) - At midday today, the Holy Father received members of the ordinary council of the Synod of Bishops. The council is currently preparing the Twelfth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod, due to be held in October 2008 on the theme: "The Word of God in the Life and the Mission of the Church."

  In his talk, the Pope referred to the importance of the theme, "because," he said, "the spiritual activity which expresses and nourishes the life and mission of the Church is necessarily based on the Word of God." That Word, moreover, "being destined for all the Lord's disciples - as the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity reminded us - calls for special veneration and obedience, in order for it to be recognized also as an urgent call to full union between all believers in Christ."

  Benedict XVI indicated that the members of the ordinary council are about to complete the preparation of the "Lineamenta" (draft guidelines) and pointed out how these "will serve as a valuable tool enabling the entire Church to study the theme of the forthcoming assembly."

  The Holy Father concluded with the hope that synodal assembly "may help to rediscover the importance of the Word of God in the lives of all Christians, and of all ecclesial and civil communities."
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