VATICAN CITY, 7 OCT 2008 (VIS) - The Third General Congregation of the Twelfth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops began this morning in the presence of the Holy Father. The session, which marked the beginning of the general discussions, was attended by 242 Synod Fathers, and the president delegate on duty was Cardinal George Pell, archbishop of Sydney, Australia.
Following are excerpts from the speeches given:
CARDINAL FRANC RODE C.M., PREFECT OF THE CONGREGATION FOR INSTITUTES OF CONSECRATED LIFE AND SOCIETIES OF APOSTOLIC LIFE. "Consecrated life is 'profoundly rooted in the example and teachings of Christ the Lord'. It has continued 'to find inspiration [in the Gospel] over the centuries, and to the Gospel it is constantly called to return to remain fresh and fertile, bringing fruits for the salvation of souls. ... A religious family' as Benedict XVI said, 'by its very existence becomes a living exegesis of the Word of God'".
"The renewal to which consecrated people are constantly called is most appropriately enacted by returning to the evangelical roots of a charism, there to find new inspiration. If each charism constitutes an 'evangelical word' of the One Word, a specific aspect of the totality of the Gospel, then by living the Gospel to the full consecrated people will find a light with which to understand the particular evangelical dimension upon which their own institute is founded. This is a path that consecrated people will have to follow in communion with all the other vocations of the Church".
ARCHBISHOP MARK COLERIDGE OF CANBERRA AND GOULBURN, AUSTRALIA. "The Second Vatican Council called for a renewal of preaching which involved a shift from the sermon understood primarily as an exposition of Catholic doctrine, devotion and discipline to the homily understood primarily as an exposition and application of Scripture. Such a shift has been accomplished only in part. One reason for this is that preaching too often takes the 'kerygma' for granted, and this at a moment in Western cultures when the 'kerygma' cannot be taken for granted. If it is, there is the risk of a moralistic reduction of preaching which may evoke interest or admiration but not the faith that saves".
"A new evangelisation requires a new formulation and proclamation of the 'kerygma' in the interests of a more powerful missionary preaching. To promote such a preaching a General Homiletic Directory could be prepared along the lines of the General Catechetical Directory and the General Instruction of the Roman Missal. Such a Directory would draw upon the experience of the universal Church in providing a framework without stifling the genius of particular Churches or individual preachers".
CARDINAL FRANCIS EUGENE GEORGE O.M.I., ARCHBISHOP OF CHICAGO, U.S.A. "To speak of the Word of God in the Church is to speak of the Word of God in the lives of believers. Pastors should attend to conversion of the imagination, the intellect and the will of those to whom they proclaim the Word of God and for whom they interpret Scripture. Too often, the contemporary imagination has lost the image of God as actor in history. The contemporary intellect finds little consistency in the books of the Bible and is not informed by the 'regula fidei'. The contemporary heart has not been shaped by worship and the submission to God's word in the liturgical year. If the power of God's word in Holy Scripture is to be felt in the life and mission of the Church, pastors must attend to personal context as well as to inspired text".
CARDINAL ANDRE VINGT-TROIS, ARCHBISHOP OF PARIS AND PRESIDENT OF THE CONFERENCE OF BISHOPS OF FRANCE. "In seeking the meaning of a biblical text, the interpreter must pay attention, as Vatican Council II says, to the literary genre and to the historical circumstances in which it was written. In other words, the Bible is human literature. The Council adds that the faithful interpreter must also remain attentive to the harmony between the Scriptures of the Old Alliance and those of the New, to the unity of Scripture and Tradition, and to the analogy of the faith. ... The exegete and the theologian, when not one and the same person, are called to examine the text together. The meaning of Scripture is theological and theology is a search for the meaning of Scripture".
CARDINAL PETER ERDO, ARCHBISHOP OF BUDAPEST, HUNGARY, AND PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPEAN EPISCOPAL CONFERENCES. "The vital necessity of the Church's correct interpretation becomes apparent from the first moment of encounter with the Word of God. The risks of arbitrary interpretation are particularly great in a cultural environment such as our own where the elemental categories for researching historical truth seem to fail. Various publications - more sensational than scientific - create considerable confusion even in the minds of the faithful, and sometimes even of priests. The greatest risk is not that some people will not know how much reliance they can place on an apocryphal text (such as for example the Gospel of Judas), but that many have no idea how to distinguish credible sources on the history of Jesus Christ from untrustworthy ones. Indeed, it seems that no small number of people do not believe it important to discover what the true history is, because they reason subjectively even about historical matters".
SE/THIRD CONGREGATION/... VIS 20081007 (890)
Following are excerpts from the speeches given:
CARDINAL FRANC RODE C.M., PREFECT OF THE CONGREGATION FOR INSTITUTES OF CONSECRATED LIFE AND SOCIETIES OF APOSTOLIC LIFE. "Consecrated life is 'profoundly rooted in the example and teachings of Christ the Lord'. It has continued 'to find inspiration [in the Gospel] over the centuries, and to the Gospel it is constantly called to return to remain fresh and fertile, bringing fruits for the salvation of souls. ... A religious family' as Benedict XVI said, 'by its very existence becomes a living exegesis of the Word of God'".
"The renewal to which consecrated people are constantly called is most appropriately enacted by returning to the evangelical roots of a charism, there to find new inspiration. If each charism constitutes an 'evangelical word' of the One Word, a specific aspect of the totality of the Gospel, then by living the Gospel to the full consecrated people will find a light with which to understand the particular evangelical dimension upon which their own institute is founded. This is a path that consecrated people will have to follow in communion with all the other vocations of the Church".
ARCHBISHOP MARK COLERIDGE OF CANBERRA AND GOULBURN, AUSTRALIA. "The Second Vatican Council called for a renewal of preaching which involved a shift from the sermon understood primarily as an exposition of Catholic doctrine, devotion and discipline to the homily understood primarily as an exposition and application of Scripture. Such a shift has been accomplished only in part. One reason for this is that preaching too often takes the 'kerygma' for granted, and this at a moment in Western cultures when the 'kerygma' cannot be taken for granted. If it is, there is the risk of a moralistic reduction of preaching which may evoke interest or admiration but not the faith that saves".
"A new evangelisation requires a new formulation and proclamation of the 'kerygma' in the interests of a more powerful missionary preaching. To promote such a preaching a General Homiletic Directory could be prepared along the lines of the General Catechetical Directory and the General Instruction of the Roman Missal. Such a Directory would draw upon the experience of the universal Church in providing a framework without stifling the genius of particular Churches or individual preachers".
CARDINAL FRANCIS EUGENE GEORGE O.M.I., ARCHBISHOP OF CHICAGO, U.S.A. "To speak of the Word of God in the Church is to speak of the Word of God in the lives of believers. Pastors should attend to conversion of the imagination, the intellect and the will of those to whom they proclaim the Word of God and for whom they interpret Scripture. Too often, the contemporary imagination has lost the image of God as actor in history. The contemporary intellect finds little consistency in the books of the Bible and is not informed by the 'regula fidei'. The contemporary heart has not been shaped by worship and the submission to God's word in the liturgical year. If the power of God's word in Holy Scripture is to be felt in the life and mission of the Church, pastors must attend to personal context as well as to inspired text".
CARDINAL ANDRE VINGT-TROIS, ARCHBISHOP OF PARIS AND PRESIDENT OF THE CONFERENCE OF BISHOPS OF FRANCE. "In seeking the meaning of a biblical text, the interpreter must pay attention, as Vatican Council II says, to the literary genre and to the historical circumstances in which it was written. In other words, the Bible is human literature. The Council adds that the faithful interpreter must also remain attentive to the harmony between the Scriptures of the Old Alliance and those of the New, to the unity of Scripture and Tradition, and to the analogy of the faith. ... The exegete and the theologian, when not one and the same person, are called to examine the text together. The meaning of Scripture is theological and theology is a search for the meaning of Scripture".
CARDINAL PETER ERDO, ARCHBISHOP OF BUDAPEST, HUNGARY, AND PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPEAN EPISCOPAL CONFERENCES. "The vital necessity of the Church's correct interpretation becomes apparent from the first moment of encounter with the Word of God. The risks of arbitrary interpretation are particularly great in a cultural environment such as our own where the elemental categories for researching historical truth seem to fail. Various publications - more sensational than scientific - create considerable confusion even in the minds of the faithful, and sometimes even of priests. The greatest risk is not that some people will not know how much reliance they can place on an apocryphal text (such as for example the Gospel of Judas), but that many have no idea how to distinguish credible sources on the history of Jesus Christ from untrustworthy ones. Indeed, it seems that no small number of people do not believe it important to discover what the true history is, because they reason subjectively even about historical matters".
SE/THIRD CONGREGATION/... VIS 20081007 (890)
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