MEETING OF THE SECRETARIAT GENERAL OF THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS

Vatican City,  (VIS) - The twenty-third Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the theme of "The New Evangelisation for the Transmission of the Christian Faith" was held from 7 to 28 October. Continuing the theme of the Synod, the topic of new evangelisation for the transmission of Christian faith inspired the work of the second meeting of the twenty-third Ordinary Council of the Secretariat General of the Synod of Bishops, which took place on 26 November 2012.

At the beginning of the session, the general secretary of the Synod of Bishops, Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, spoke about Jesus' missionary mandate: "Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Gospel to all creation". This, he said, was "the origin of the proclamation of the Gospel, and retains its validity for the evangelising work of the Church in all times".

"Following the day's agenda, the general secretary gave a full and detailed analysis of the themes which emerged from the Propositions of the recent twenty-third Synodal Assembly. This analysis was followed by a discussion which gave rise to suggestions to present to the Pope in view of the Post-Synodal Exhortation".

"The missionary mandate which the Lord entrusted to the Apostles is now that of the Church in the new evangelisation, which she addresses to the entire human race, involved in a constant process of transformation which takes place in a context of globalisation and a cultural and moral climate of secularisation and agnosticism. This situation presents both a challenge and an opportunity for the proclamation of the Gospel.

"The Church carries out this work of proclaiming anew the Gospel through priests and lay faithful. And the Gospel she proclaims involves all humankind and is destined for every person: the baptised, believers who have drifted away from the faith of the Church, non-believers, the indifferent, believers of other Christian confessions, and believers of other religions, in accordance with the mandate of the Risen Lord".

The next meeting will take place on 23 and 24 January 2013.