Friday, October 10, 2008

SEVENTH GENERAL CONGREGATION

VATICAN CITY, 9 OCT 2008 (VIS) - The Seventh General Congregation of the Twelfth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops took place this afternoon in the presence of the Holy Father. The president delegate on duty was Cardinal William Joseph Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

  Extracts from some of the speeches are given below:

CARDINAL ENNIO ANTONELLI, PRESIDENT OF THE PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR THE FAMILY. "To recommend and promote, with appropriate support, community listening to the Word of God within the family and the sharing of lived experiences. To be able more easily to connect the written words with Jesus Christ, the living Word. To follow the liturgical year by means of the daily Gospel, or at least the Sunday Gospel, highlighting a phrase to remember or to live during the day or throughout the week. It does not take much time: just a few minutes are sufficient for praying and listening together, for making a shared commitment to enact in daily activities and relationships and to recall at the right moment in spontaneous family dialogue. If one hears the Word only once a week, it may be for a longer period and may constitute a preparation or a continuation and application of the Sunday parish Mass".

BISHOP LOUIS PELATRE, A.A., APOSTOLIC VICAR OF ISTANBUL, TURKEY. "Throughout the world there are excellent commissions for translations of the Bible in the different international languages, but what about translations in the local languages that are only spoken by a small number of persons? This is a real problem in Turkey. ... I appeal to all missionary institutes that they make it one of their priorities to select people who are experts both in the biblical languages and the local languages, in order to prepare texts worthy of the Word of God we wish to proclaim. Unfortunately, we can easily find the money to print beautiful books, but not enough to ensure the quality of content; this means we must find volunteers willing to undertake this obscure and time-consuming task which is the first step in the evangelising action of the Church".

CARDINAL PAUL JOSEF CORDES, PRESIDENT OF THE PONTIFICAL COUNCIL "COR UNUM". "In the civilised world, care for one's neighbour in need is, at the same time, a cultural matter. The majority of world religions   such as Islam, Hinduism or Buddhism   have learnt from Christianity and made it their own to foster love of neighbour. Hence, for number 39 of the 'Instrumentum laboris' to demand love of neighbour for the Church's members, does not seem to be the most urgent task today. ... The pastors of the Church will thus be careful not simply to abandon ecclesial aid institutions to the general climate of philanthropy. ... When, for those who are questioning and seeking, the service of the Church's aid agencies and the individual Christian does not show God clearly, we forsake a function of the Church that is decisive for these times of ours. For the man of today needs this connection to God more than anything else".

ARCHBISHOP HECTOR MIGUEL CABREJOS VIDARTE O.F.M. OF TRUJILLO, AND PRESIDENT OF THE EPISCOPAL CONFERENCE OF PERU. "In this era we often mention, and with good reason, the importance of the communications media in bringing the Word of God to our contemporaries. Nevertheless, each week we have the opportunity to proclaim the Gospel in the privileged moment of the Eucharistic celebration, a proclamation that is often lacking. ... Sometimes the roots of this situation are to be found in the lack of serious and systematic biblical education. A good knowledge of the Sacred Scriptures is a guarantee of good preaching. ... A knowledge of the text renders the presentation of the Gospel more efficient. We have to exhort the ministers of the Word to prepare their homilies carefully, bearing in mind the congregation they are addressing. ... It should be borne in mind that the homily is the communication of the living Word of God, a communication that, as the word itself implies, is aimed at producing communion with the God of our faith, the foundation of the communion of believers. Communication, communion and community form a single unit. And although the homily has to have a solid biblical foundation and be attentive to the reality and changes of the world where its listeners live, the personal testimony of the preacher, the coherence of the Gospel with his life, should confirm what he proclaims".

ARCHBISHOP FRANCESCO COCCOPALMERIO, PRESIDENT OF THE PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR LEGISLATIVE TEXTS. "As president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts and so responsible for ensuring that Church legislation is always up to date, I ask myself if such an important meeting and on such an important theme for the life of the Holy Church cannot and should not make a significant contribution to the Law of the Church itself, in particular to the Code of Canon Law. ... Canon 276 on the spiritual life of the clergy states: '[The clergy] are to nourish their spiritual life at the twofold table of the Sacred Scripture and the Eucharist'. The text is significant, but it refers only to the celebration of the Eucharist. When it then goes on to speak of personal prayer, it affirms merely: 'they are exhorted to engage regularly in mental prayer'. The expression 'mental prayer' is very clear, but dated. Perhaps this should be the place in which to 'exhort the clergy to practice daily the lectio divina'. I would suggest that - with the Holy Father's consent - the conclusions of the Synod become a matter for reflection within the dicasteries of the Curia, with the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts providing stimulation and co-ordination. This will serve to propose to the Supreme Legislator the changes that need to be made to Church norms as regards the particular field of the Word of God".

REV. GUNNAR STALSETT, LUTHERAN BISHOP EMERITUS OF OSLO, NORWAY. "All the three religions of the Book   Judaism, Christianity and Islam - are today in a squeeze between secularism and fundamentalism. Freedom of religion and freedom of expression are basic human rights. This implies that there must be room in society for fundamentalist expressions of faith, even when this leads to sectarianism and divisions. Terrorism in the name of God is an affront to all faiths as it is violence against God. The antidote to fundamentalism can only be a more genuine interpretation of Holy Scriptures. ...Globalisation of anxiety and despair calls for globalisation of salvation and hope. Religious leaders are called to a ministry of peace and reconciliation".
SE/SEVENTH CONGREGATION/...                VIS 20081010 (1110)


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