Vatican
City, 19 September 2013 (VIS) – Yesterday morning a press
conference was held in the Holy See Press Office during which
Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for
the Promoting New Evangelisation, presented the “Day for
Catechists” which will take place on 28 and 29 September, preceded
by the International Congress for Catechists, an initiative forming
part of the Year of Faith. Also participating in the press conference
were Archbishop Jose Octavio Ruiz Arenas and Msgr. Graham Bell,
respectively secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New
Evangelisation, and under-secretary of the same dicastery.
“Among
the competencies of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New
Evangelisation, since its inception charged with the promotion of the
Catechism of the Catholic Church, jurisdiction over all the
catechesis has recently been added”, said Archbishop Fisichella.
“This is a considerable task, especially if we consider the strong
bond, from the time of the Council, between catechesis and
evangelisation, the former serving as a kind of qualificatory stage
of the latter”.
He
announced the launch, in the coming weeks, of a free application for
tablets and smartphones, “Catechism of the Catholic Church”,
which “will allow users to have to hand both the Catechism of the
Catholic Church and the Compendium, and will enable easy consultation
of the texts and biblical references, and a search facility for the
terms in question and reference texts, with the possibility of
sharing them via Facebook, Twitter, and other sites”.
“The
first part of this event will be dedicated to the International
Council for Catechesis, which will take place on 25 September. The
task of this Council will be the study of the most important
questions of catechesis to favour a unitary service for the Episcopal
Conferences and to enable an exchange of experiences. The Council,
instituted by Paul VI in 1973, was renewed on 1 October 2012 and its
first task will be to study the state of catechesis in the world
during this last decade, and to plan new commitments deriving from
its new link to evangelisation”.
This
will be followed by the International Congress for Catechesis which
will take place in the Paul VI Hall from 26 to 28 September and will
focus above all on the first part of the Catechism of the Catholic
Church, on the theme of faith. During these days, which will see the
participation of a total of 1,600 people, made up of 104 delegations
from 50 countries, there will be presentations by speakers from
various academic centres. The culminating moment will be Pope Francis
catechesis at 5 p.m. on Friday, 27 September.
The
third stage in the event, from 28 to 29 September, will be dedicated
to pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Peter, and catechesis united to the
moment of the celebration of the Sacrament of Penance and
Reconciliation and Eucharistic Adoration. “Fourteen bishops will
offer the catechesis in various languages”, explained Archbishop
Fisichella. “Owing to the large number of participants, and to
reduce difficulties in the city, we have organised the catechesis in
the churches around St. Peter's, divided into linguistic groups; the
foreign language catecheses will take place in the morning, whereas
the Italian groups will be held in the afternoon. Many parishes and
centres are arranging to come to Rome autonomously in those days. …
The Pope will celebrate the Holy Eucharist on Sunday at 10.30 p.m.,
which will be followed by the Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square”.
“The
event in its entirety will take as its theme, 'The catechist, witness
of faith'. Many, indeed, are called to take on the great
responsibility in this phase of the transmission of the faith, and
know that the witness of life is the most meaningful element in the
credibility of their mission”.
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