TWENTIETH GENERAL CONGREGATION

VATICAN CITY, 21 OCT 2008 (VIS) - During the Twentieth General Congregation of the Twelfth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, the unified list of propositions was presented. The list will be given to the Holy Father to consider as he is preparing the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation. The president delegate on duty was Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer, archbishop of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

  The Synod Fathers also participated in the second vote to elect members to the Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod.

  At the end of each ordinary general synodal assembly, the Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat is formed. The Council is comprised of 15 Members; 12 of whom are elected from the Synod, taking into account the representation of bishops throughout the world, and three designated by the Roman Pontiff.

  The Bishops elected to the Council of the General Secretariat retain their office until the beginning of a new Ordinary General Assembly.

  This afternoon the Synod Fathers will meet in language groups to prepare the collective amendments to the propositions.
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 21 OCT 2008 (VIS) - The Holy Father accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the archdiocese of Lviv of the Latins, Ukraine, presented by Cardinal Marian Jaworski, upon having reached the age limit. He is succeeded by Coadjutor Archbishop Mieczyslaw Mokrzycki.
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EIGHTEENTH GENERAL CONGREGATION

VATICAN CITY, 18 OCT 2008 (VIS) - During yesterday morning's Eighteenth General Congregation of the Twelfth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, the various language groups presented their reports. Yesterday the Vatican Information Service published extracts from the only two reports then available.

  Extracts from five other reports presented during yesterday's session are given below:

GERMAN LANGUAGE GROUP: BISHOP FRIEDHELM HOFMANN OF WURZBURG, GERMANY. "In some of the interventions presented in the Synod Hall, there seemed to be a certain fear of historical-critical methods. This threatens to diminish the merits and fruits of scientific exegesis. Spiritual exegesis, founded on 'lectio divina' in the context of the liturgy of the Church community, itself requires the premise of scientific exegesis. Furthermore, it is essential to separate the fundamentalist reading of the Bible from modernist trends which run the risk of ideological demystification. Both these attitudes contradict the 'sensum ecclesiae'. ... As for spread of Pentecostalism and other sects, we must ask what is the reason behind their success. This is a challenge for the Church's pastoral ministry towards so-called 'baptised catechumens'. ... The laity must be formed in a suitable and authoritative way for their important task of proclaiming the Word. The role of the family is very important for initiation into the reading of Scripture and at the same time into its reading in communion. ... We further asked ourselves if, in a secularised world where people are nostalgic for the truth, the Church should not be more decisive in her approach to agnostics. ... When it is impossible to celebrate the Eucharist, and in its place the Word of God is celebrated, this should not be considered as a lesser replacement, rather it needs to be considered in its intrinsic worth as the encounter with the Lord, manifested in His Word. ... Holy Scripture represents not only the starting point for ecumenism, but also an important place for encounter with other Christian confessions".

SPANISH LANGUAGE GROUP A: FR. JULIAN CARRON, PRESIDENT OF THE COMMUNION AND LIBERATION ASSOCIATION. "We note a limited familiarity with the Old Testament among Catholics, even a certain degree of embarrassment and resistance in the face of difficult passages, the most controversial questions being divine and human violence, the amorality of certain biblical figures and insufficient theology concerning the afterworld. Therefore, adequate biblical formation should be offered to the faithful, not only to help them understand the Old Testament texts in their historical and literary context but, above all, to facilitate their Christian reading as the main hermeneutic key, because these texts acquire and reveal their full meaning in the New Testament. ... The task of announcing Christ is the responsibility of each baptised person. In addition to the homily, which is the form of preaching specific to liturgical celebrations, it is necessary to recall the value of the preaching by all Christians in the light of Baptism and Confirmation. ... We are deeply concerned about the influence sects and new religious groups have on the Catholic faithful, an influence that sometimes even brings them to abandon the Church. ... Greater studies on sects and new examples of this phenomenon would be of great help to face up to it properly. ... In relations with Islam and in dialogue with its representatives, its concept of socio-political and judicial order (not always duly differentiated from religious order) should be kept in mind, as should its concept of marriage and the family, in which the role and rights of women are not treated as envisaged in the doctrine of the fundamental rights of mankind and of the family, or as defined by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights".

ITALIAN LANGUAGE GROUP A: ARCHBISHOP SALVATORE FISICHELLA, PRESIDENT OF THE PONTIFICAL ACADEMY FOR LIFE. "The Synod shows that the Word of God cannot only be identified with the Bible. The Word of God is Christ, the Word of the Father. ... The announcement of the Word of God is the first duty of the Church. An explicit announcement, always and everywhere, accompanied by a coherent testimony of life that renders evident the content and reinforces it. ... It was felt necessary to observe that, in a generalised context of secularisation reaching far beyond Western countries, particular attention be paid, above all, to creating forms of listening, so that whoever approaches Sacred Scripture knows they are before God Who speaks. ... We underlined the importance of permanent education, especially of catechists, so as to overcome the major obstacle of a lack of knowledge of the basic contents of faith. ... It is necessary to bridge the gap between Bible and liturgy, Word and Sacrament. This is achieved in the extent to which we reinforce the idea that the Word of God is Christ Himself in His differentiated presence in the life of His Church; above all in the real presence of the Eucharistic sacrifice, and when the Sacraments are celebrated. ... What has to grow, therefore, is awareness of a profound unity that reaches its peak in the Eucharist".

ENGLISH LANGUAGE GROUP B: BISHOP GERALD FREDERICK KICANAS OF TUCSON, VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS. "The group suggested that the tone of the exhortation should be hope-filled, needs to energise the Church around the Word of God and should be pastoral and missionary. The group identified critical areas about which propositions should be developed. A wide range of areas surfaced. First the need to give greater recognition to lay catechists, Catholic school teachers, youth ministers, and lay biblical animators.. ... Second the need to understand what is attracting people to the sects and learn from them. Third how preaching might be improved and made more vibrant. Fourth the need to emphasise and highlight the contemplative dimension. Fifth, finding structures to bring together exegetes, liturgists, theologians, and bishops. Sixth, the need to give greater emphasis to consecrated life, pneumatology, healing and the Sacrament of Penance, and the use of media. ... The dialogic nature of the Word of God needs greater emphasis. ... There is a need to better form people in the Word. ... There was a mixed reaction to a compendium on preaching, ... suggestion was made for a compendium on helping people read the Word of God. There was not a strong feeling that there needs to be a revision of the lectionary. ... Finally, the group explored relations with other Christians and with Jews. Concern was raised that Jews sometimes feel that Catholics downplay their positions for dialogue. ... Bringing the experience of the Synod to other Christian churches might foster communion".

FRENCH LANGUAGE GROUP B: BISHOP JOSEPH LUC ANDRE BOUCHARD, OF SAINT PAUL IN ALBERTA, CANADA. "A word on the 'Relatio': If we can express a hope in the post-synodal exhortation: may it have as its common trait a text from the Holy Scriptures. ... We must renew the relevance of 'Dei Verbum' but in today's context, evoking some problems that have yet to be resolved (for example, the debate on the 'Book', fundamentalism, personal interpretation, interpretation 'cum Ecclesia'). ... As pertains to the institutional propositions: ... One should not think about a congress specifically for the Word of God, but insist on the value of the scriptural aspect in already existing congresses. ... Could we think about a renewal in the ministry of the lectorate, or a mandate for readers that is adapted to the extraordinary ministers of communion? ... On the homily: ... The community one addresses should be known , knowing full well that the homily is a call to conversion, for the preacher, and for the assembly. Catechesis: We would like to underline the work of the catechists - and the majority of catechists are women who play an important role in the transmission of the Word of God. ... As to the formation of priests: First of all, all formation in the seminary must be based on the Word of God. ... The pedagogical method should be reviewed".
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NINETEENTH GENERAL CONGREGATION

VATICAN CITY, 18 OCT 2008 (VIS) - This morning, during the Nineteenth General Congregation of the Twelfth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, a first vote was held to elect members to the post-synodal council, and the draft of the final Message was presented and discussed. The president delegate on duty was Cardinal George Pell, archbishop of Sydney, Australia.

  This afternoon the Holy Father and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople will preside at a celebration of the Word in the Sistine Chapel, after which each of them will deliver an address on the theme of the Word of God.

  No General Congregations are scheduled for Sunday or Monday. The relator general, the special secretary and the relators of the language groups will meet to unify the proposals presented by the Synod Fathers.
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PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE ADDRESSES SYNOD OF BISHOPS

VATICAN CITY, 18 OCT 2008 (VIS) - In the Sistine Chapel at 5 p.m. today, the Holy Father presided at the celebration of first Vespers of the 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time, marking the participation of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople in the work of the current Twelfth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.

  The ceremony, which was attended by more than 400 cardinals, bishops, priests, religious and lay people, began with a few brief words of introduction by Benedict XVI.

  In his English-language talk, Bartholomew I highlighted how this "is the first time in history that an Ecumenical Patriarch is offered the opportunity to address a Synod of Bishops of the Roman Catholic Church, and thus be 'part of the life' of this sister Church at such a high level. We regard this as a manifestation of the work of the Holy Spirit leading our Churches to a closer and deeper relationship with each other, an important step towards the restoration of our full communion".

  "It is well known that the Orthodox Church attaches to the synod system fundamental ecclesiological importance. Together with primacy, synodality constitutes the backbone of the Church's government and organization. ... Therefore, in having today the privilege to address your Synod our hopes are raised that the day will come when our two Churches will fully converge on the role of primacy and synodality in the Church's life, to which our joint theological commission is devoting its study at the present time".

  "We have explored", he concluded, "the patristic teaching of the spiritual senses, discerning the power of hearing and speaking God's Word in Scripture, of seeing God's Word in icons and nature, as well as of touching and sharing God's Word in the saints and sacraments. Yet, in order to remain true to the life and mission of the Church, we must personally be changed by this Word. The Church must resemble the mother, who is both sustained by and nourishes through the food she eats. Anything that does not feed and nourish everyone cannot sustain us either. When the world does not share the joy of Christ's Resurrection, this is an indictment of our own integrity and commitment to the living Word of God".

  Following the Patriarch's talk, the Pope thanked him for his words assuring him they would be studied and examined by the Synod. "This too was a joyful experience", he said, "an experience of unity, perhaps not perfect but real and profound. I thought to myself: your Fathers, whom you quoted widely, are also our Fathers and ours are also yours. And if we have shared Fathers how can we not be brothers?"
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