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Monday, October 20, 2008

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".
SE/EIGHTEENTH CONGREGATION/...                VIS 20081020 (1340)


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