HOLY FATHER TO VISIT EMILIA ROMAGNA REGION FOLLOWING EARTHQUAKE

Vatican City, 19 June 2012 (VIS) - The Holy See Press Office today announced that on Tuesday 26 June Benedict XVI will visit areas in the Italian region of Emilia Romagna recently affected by an earthquake. The Holy Father is scheduled to arrive by helicopter at the sports ground of San Marino di Carpi at around 10 a.m. where he will be welcomed by the head of the Italian Civil Protection Department. He will then travel to Rovereto di Novi, crossing the "red zone" and visiting the church of St. Catherine of Alexandria which was seriously damaged by the earth tremor. Following a greeting from the president of the region of Emilia Romagna, the Pope will make an address to the local people. He is due to return to the Vatican at around  1.15 p.m.

INSTRUMENTUM LABORIS OF SYNOD ON NEW EVANGELISATION

Vatican City, 19 June 2012 (VIS) - A press conference was held this morning in the Holy See Press Office to present the "Instumentum laboris" of the thirteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which is due to be held in the Vatican from 7 to 28 October on the theme: "The New Evangelisation for the Transmission of the Christian Faith". The document was presented by Archbishop Nikola Eterovic and Bishop Fortunato Frezza, respectively secretary general and under secretary of the Synod of Bishops.

The Synod Fathers, Archbishop Eterovic said, "will reflect upon the transmission of Christian faith, one of the great challenges facing the Church which will be examined in the context of new evangelisation. ... The work of the Synod will be enriched by its association with the Year of Faith", which begins on 11 October.

The secretary general of the Synod explained that the "Instumentum laboris" includes a preface, an introduction, four chapters and a conclusion. The Introduction brings together the views of episcopal conferences, which concur "on the need for new tools and new forms of expression to make the Word of God more understandable in the life of modern man. The Synod will hopefully be an opportunity to discuss and compare points of view and practical experiences, to be shared in order to provide encouragement to pastors and particular Churches".

The first of the four chapters, entitled "Jesus Christ the Good News of God to Humanity", reiterates "the central nucleus of Christian faith, of which many people are unaware, and presents the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the Good News for modern man. ... New evangelisation is an expression of the internal dynamism of Christianity, which wishes to make men and women of good will know the 'depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge' of the mystery of God revealed in Jesus Christ; it is not a weary response to the crisis of faith and the challenges facing the Church in the modern world".

Chapter two is entitled: "Time for a New Evangelisation". It focuses chiefly on "identifying the challenges evangelisation currently faces", and on "describing the new evangelisation. ... The new challenges to evangelisation in the contemporary world are described in various different scenarios. The Church is called to discern those scenarios, so 'that they might be turned into places for proclaiming the Gospel and experiencing the Church'. ...The work of new evangelisation aims at a renewal of the ordinary pastoral activity of particular Churches while, at the same time, seeking to arouse a new sensibility towards people who have left the Church. This requires a measure of evangelical creativity and boldness". The archbishop pointed out that almost all the responses received when preparing the document "highlighted the lack of vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life. This requires, among other things, strong pastoral care of vocations", he said.

Turning then to consider Chapter three, "Transmitting the Faith", Archbishop Eterovic noted that "the purpose of new evangelisation is the transmission of faith. The Church transmits the faith from which she herself lives, and all Christians are called to make their contribution. ... The obstacles to the faith can be within the Church (faith lived passively or privately, refusal to be educated in one's faith, separation between life and faith) or outside Christian life altogether (secularisation, nihilism consumerism, hedonism). ... The Year of Faith is a pressing appeal to conversion so that, transformed by grace, each individual Christian and each community may produce abundant fruits. This may include ecumenical commitment, the search for truth, inter-religious dialogue, and the courage to denounce infidelity and scandals within the Christian community".

The last chapter of the "Instrumentum laboris" is entitled "Revivifying Pastoral Activity" and focuses on "the transmission of faith ... by again emphasising the instruments developed through Tradition - in particular the first proclamation, Christian initiation and education - while seeking to adapt them to current cultural and social circumstances. ... From a theological point of view, we must better understand the sequence of the Sacraments of Christian initiation, which culminates in the Eucharist, and reflect on models to be translated into deeply meaningful pastoral practices".

The Conclusion of the document reaffirms that "new evangelisation means giving the reason for our faith, communicating the Logos of hope to a world which seeks salvation".

PAPAL MESSAGE CLOSES FIFTIETH INTERNATIONAL EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS IN DUBLIN

Vatican City, 18 June 2012 (VIS) - A video message from Benedict XVI, transmitted at the end of a Mass attended by thousands of people in Dublin yesterday evening, brought to a close the fiftieth International Eucharistic Congress. The Congress - which was held in the Irish capital over the course of last week on the theme: "The Eucharist. Communion with Christ and with One Another" - coincided with the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of Vatican Council II, and the choice of theme was associated with that anniversary, as the Holy Father explained in his message, extracts of which are given below.

"From the earliest times the notion of 'koinonia' or 'communio' has been at the core of the Church’s understanding of herself, her relationship to Christ her founder, and the Sacraments she celebrates, above all the Eucharist. Through our Baptism, we are incorporated into Christ’s death, reborn into the great family of the brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ; through Confirmation we receive the seal of the Holy Spirit; and by our sharing in the Eucharist, we come into communion with Christ and each other visibly here on earth. We also receive the pledge of eternal life to come.

"The Congress also occurs at a time when the Church throughout the world is preparing to celebrate the Year of Faith to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the start of the Vatican Council II, an event which launched the most extensive renewal of the Roman Rite ever known. Based upon a deepening appreciation of the sources of the liturgy, the Council promoted the full and active participation of the faithful in the Eucharistic sacrifice. At our distance today from the Council Fathers’ expressed desires regarding liturgical renewal, and in the light of the universal Church’s experience in the intervening period, it is clear that a great deal has been achieved; but it is equally clear that there have been many misunderstandings and irregularities. The renewal of external forms, desired by the Council Fathers, was intended to make it easier to enter into the inner depth of the mystery. Its true purpose was to lead people to a personal encounter with the Lord, present in the Eucharist, and thus with the living God, so that through this contact with Christ’s love, the love of His brothers and sisters for one another might also grow. Yet not infrequently, the revision of liturgical forms has remained at an external level, and “active participation” has been confused with external activity. Hence much still remains to be done on the path of real liturgical renewal. In a changed world, increasingly fixated on material things, we must learn to recognise anew the mysterious presence of the Risen Lord, which alone can give breadth and depth to our life.

"The Eucharist is the worship of the whole Church, but it also requires the full engagement of each individual Christian in the Church’s mission; it contains a call to be the holy people of God, but also one to individual holiness; it is to be celebrated with great joy and simplicity, but also as worthily and reverently as possible; it invites us to repent of our sins, but also to forgive our brothers and sisters; it binds us together in the Spirit, but it also commands us in the same Spirit to bring the good news of salvation to others.

"Moreover, the Eucharist is the memorial of Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross, His body and blood given in the new and eternal covenant for the forgiveness of sins and the transformation of the world. Ireland has been shaped by the Mass at the deepest level for centuries, and by its power and grace generations of monks, martyrs and missionaries have heroically lived the faith at home and spread the Good News of God’s love and forgiveness well beyond your shores. You are the heirs to a Church that has been a mighty force for good in the world, and which has given a profound and enduring love of Christ and His blessed Mother to many, many others. Your forebears in the Church in Ireland knew how to strive for holiness and constancy in their personal lives, how to preach the joy that comes from the Gospel, how to promote the importance of belonging to the universal Church in communion with the See of Peter, and how to pass on a love of the faith and Christian virtue to other generations. Our Catholic faith, imbued with a radical sense of God’s presence, caught up in the beauty of His creation all around us, and purified through personal penance and awareness of God’s forgiveness, is a legacy that is surely perfected and nourished when regularly placed on the Lord’s altar at the sacrifice of the Mass.

"Thankfulness and joy at such a great history of faith and love have recently been shaken in an appalling way by the revelation of sins committed by priests and consecrated persons against people entrusted to their care. Instead of showing them the path towards Christ, towards God, instead of bearing witness to His goodness, they abused people and undermined the credibility of the Church’s message. How are we to explain the fact that people who regularly received the Lord’s body and confessed their sins in the Sacrament of Penance have offended in this way? It remains a mystery. Yet evidently, their Christianity was no longer nourished by joyful encounter with Jesus Christ: it had become merely a matter of habit. The work of the Council was really meant to overcome this form of Christianity and to rediscover the faith as a deep personal friendship with the goodness of Jesus Christ. The Eucharistic Congress has a similar aim. Here we wish to encounter the Risen Lord. We ask Him to touch us deeply. May He who breathed on the Apostles at Easter, communicating his Spirit to them, likewise bestow upon us His breath, the power of the Holy Spirit, and so help us to become true witnesses to His love, witnesses to the truth. His truth is love. Christ’s love is truth.

"My dear brothers and sisters, I pray that the Congress will be for each of you a spiritually fruitful experience of communion with Christ and his Church. At the same time, I would like to invite you to join me in praying for God’s blessing upon the next International Eucharistic Congress, which will take place in 2016 in the city of Cebu! To the people of the Philippines I send warm greetings and an assurance of my closeness in prayer during the period of preparation for this great ecclesial gathering".

THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS A GIFT, BUT IT REQUIRES OUR COLLABORATION

Vatican City, 17 June 2012 (VIS) - At midday today Benedict XVI appeared at the window of his study to pray the Angelus with faithful gathered below in St. Peter's Square. The Pope commented on the two brief parables in today's Gospel reading: that of the seed which grows while the farmer sleeps, and that of the mustard seed. "Through these images taken from the world of agriculture", he explained, "the Lord presents the mystery of the Word and the Kingdom of God, and indicates the reasons for our hope and our commitment.

"In the first parable, the focus is on the dynamism of the seed which, scattered on the ground, sprouts and grows by itself, whether the farmer sleeps or is awake. ... What supports the farmer in his daily efforts is his trust in the power of the seed and in the goodness of the earth. This parable recalls the mystery ... of God's fruitful work in history. He is Lord of the Kingdom, and man is His humble collaborator who contemplates and is gladdened by the divine creative act, and patiently awaits its fruits. ... Now is the time to sow, and the growth of the seed is guaranteed by the Lord. All Christians, then, know that they must do everything they can, but that the final result depends upon God: this knowledge sustains them in their daily trials, especially in moments of difficulty".

The Holy Father went on to note that the second parable mentions a specific plant, "the mustard seed, which is considered to be the smallest of all seeds". Nonetheless, "despite its diminutive size it is full of life and, when it splits, a shoot is born which is capable of breaking the earth ... and growing until it 'becomes the greatest of all shrubs'. ... Such is the Kingdom of God: small in human terms, ... being made up of those who do not trust in their own strength but in that of God's love, of those who are unimportant in the eyes of the world, yet through them the power of Christ breaks forth and transforms that which is apparently insignificant.

"The image of the seed was particularly dear to Jesus", the Pope added in conclusion, "because it well express the mystery of the Kingdom of God. In today's two parables it represents 'growth' and 'contrast': the growth that comes about thanks to the dynamism intrinsic to the seed itself, and the contrast that exists between the smallness of the seed and the greatness it produces. The message is clear: the Kingdom of God, though it requires our collaboration, is above all a gift of God, a grace which precedes man and his works. Our weak strength, apparently impotent before the problems of the world, if united to that of God fears no obstacles, because the victory of the Lord is certain".

POPE CALLS FOR REFUGEES' RIGHTS TO BE RESPECTED

Vatican City, 17 June 2012 (VIS) - After praying the Angelus today, the Pope made some remarks about World Refugee Day, an initiative promoted by the United Nations which is celebrated on 20 June. "It seeks to draw the attention of the international community to the situation of so many people, especially families, who are forced to flee their own lands because threatened by armed conflict and serious forms of violence", the Holy Father said. "I assure these severely tried brothers and sisters of the Holy See's prayers and constant solicitude, at the same time expressing the hope that their rights may always be respected and that they may soon be able to be reunited with their loved ones".

The Pope went on: "Today in Ireland marks the closing celebration of the International Eucharistic Congress which, over the last week, has made Dublin the city of the Eucharist, as many people gathered in prayer in the presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. Jesus chose to remain among us in the mystery of the Eucharist, to bring us into communion with Him and with one another", he said.

Finally the Holy Father mentioned Cecilia Eusepi, who will be beatified this afternoon in the Italian town of Nepi. "She wanted to become a missionary, but was forced to abandon her convent due to illness" and died at the age of eighteen. "Her faith was unshakeable, and she showed a great capacity to sacrifice herself for the salvation of souls".