SUMMARY OF SYNOD OF BISHOPS: 14TH GENERAL CONGREGATION
Kath.net, Germany
Oct 12 2005
VATICAN (kath.net/VIS)
During the Fourteenth General Congregation of the Eleventh Ordinary
General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, held this afternoon in
the Vatican’s Synod Hall, apart from speeches by the Synod Fathers,
the fraternal delegates were given an opportunity to address the
gathering. The president delegate on duty was Cardinal Juan Sandoval
Iniguez.
At the start of this afternoon’s session, Archbishop Nikola Eterovic,
secretary general of the Synod of Bishops, recalled that today is the
43rd anniversary of the opening of Vatican Council II and the feast
of Blessed John XXIII.
Following are excerpts of some of the speeches delivered by fraternal
delegates and Synod Fathers:
METROPOLITAN JOHANNIS ZIZIOULAS OF PERGAMO, GREECE. “It is a great
honor for me to be given the opportunity to address this venerable
episcopal Synod and bring to it the fraternal greetings and best
wishes of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and the Church of
Constantinople. The invitation to our Church to send a fraternal
delegate to this Synod is a gesture of great ecumenical significance.
We respond to it with gratitude and love. We Orthodox are deeply
gratified by the fact that your Synod also regards the Eucharist
as the source and summit of the life and mission of the Church. It
is extremely important that Roman Catholics and Orthodox can say
this with one voice. There may still be things that separate our
two Churches but we both believe that the Eucharist is the heart of
the Church. It is on this basis that we can continue the official
theological dialogue of our two Churches, which is now entering a
new phase. Eucharistic ecclesiology can guide us in our efforts to
overcome a thousand years of separation. For it is a pity to hold
the same conviction of the importance of the Eucharist but not be
able to share it at the same table.”
REV. FILIPPO VAYLTSEV OF THE PATRIARCHATE OF MOSCOW, RUSSIA. “The
Eucharist is the central and most important point of the life of the
Church and of every Christian. Hence, the weakening of Eucharistic
awareness leads to a destruction of ecclesiastic awareness, … and to
errors in the understanding of Christian values. … We would be very
pleased if our experience of Eucharistic life, both past and present,
proves useful and helpful to the Roman Catholic Church. …
It must not be forgotten that preparation for communion in the Russian
Orthodox Church also includes, apart from inner preparation, ‘The Rule’
(strict fasting for three days, visits to Church during these three
days, prayers for communion, and special Eucharistic fasting after
midnight), and Confession is also compulsory. However, these strict
rules are seen by the Church not as an obligation, but as a measure
that was formed historically in accordance with tradition, and that
people apply to themselves.”
MOR SEVERIUS MALKE MOURAD OF THE SYRO-ORTHODOX PATRIARCHATE, SYRIA.
“In our Syrian Orthodox Church, we celebrate the divine liturgy
in Syriac-Aramaic, the language of our Lord Jesus; and during the
divine liturgy the very same words which Jesus said in the Upper
Room are recited. And the priest who celebrates this Sacrament, has
to celebrate it alone. I feel proud that I live in the Monastery of St.
Mark in the Old City of Jerusalem, where Jesus had His Last Supper.
.. The presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist is not only His.
bodily presence, but all His fullness in humanity and divinity. So
Lord Jesus is present in all parts of the two elements. … St. Paul
the Apostle exhorts the believer to spiritually prepare himself before
he comes to receive holy communion with faith, reverence and a pure
conscience, and should cleanse his body and observe the pre-communion
fast at 12 midnight. We used to give the sacraments of holy communion
to the children immediately after they receive the sacraments of
Baptism and Confirmation.”
BISHOP NAREG (MANOUG) ALEMEZIAN, ECUMENICAL OFFICIAL OF THE GREAT
HOUSE OF CILICIA, ARMENIA. “The Armenian word used to designate the
Holy Eucharist is ‘Surp Patarag,’ which means holy sacrifice. In the
liturgical life of the Church we are at God’s service (liturgy) and
offer sacrifice of thanksgiving (Eucharist) for gifts received from
Him. Holy Eucharist is centered on the sacrificial giving of our Savior
and generating a communion of love with God and our fellow beings by
the power of the Holy Spirit. … In assessing the constructive role
of bilateral and multilateral ecumenical dialogues in discussing the
theme of ‘Church as Communion,’ I encourage all of us to engage in
the study of Eucharistic ecclesiology, which situates the unity of
the Church in the local celebration of the Holy Eucharist presided
over by the bishop in communion with his brother bishops. In this
respect, the distinctive role of the bishop is underlined as the one
who takes care of the flock entrusted to him by the Good Shepherd,
tending it with a love that is most fully revealed in the Eucharistic
partaking of the one bread for a spiritual and universal communion
in the mystical Body of Christ.”
BISHOP JOHN HIND OF CHICHESTER, ENGLAND. “I bring greetings from the
Archbishop of Canterbury and request for prayers for Anglicans at a
difficult time. … When is it appropriate to share holy communion?
How should we interpret the public giving of communion to the
Protestant Frere Roger Schutz? The Eucharist is not primarily a matter
or rite or ceremonial but a living of the new life in Christ.
If it is to be truly Christian, there must be criteria for mutual
recognition. No less important is the extent to which we suffer
with each other. … In the Eucharist it is not our fellowship that
is being celebrated, but our reconciliation with God which creates
our fellowship. … If the Eucharist is itself ‘Mysterium fidei’
then it must follow that our fellowship or communion in the Church
is also a ‘mysterion,’ in other words, speaking something we cannot
understand by reason alone. Finally, being united with Christ in His
self‑offering orients us not only towards God but also towards
every single one of our human brothers and sisters, for whom in their
amazing diversity the Son of God gave His life.”
CARDINAL GERALDO MAJELLA AGNELO, ARCHBISHOP OF SAO SALVADOR DA BAHIA,
BRAZIL. “We know how, from the first centuries of Christianity,
special attention was paid to faithful who could not participate in the
celebration of Eucharistic sacrifice, which was why the conservation
of the Eucharist was instituted, to meet the various requirements
of such situations. … I would like to underline the situation
of the sick, prisoners and elderly people who have difficulty in
moving independently. I would also mention here the need to train lay
faithful to promote visits by a priest for sacramental reconciliation,
and then to continue their pastoral care by bringing Eucharistic
communion. Today, many persons feel alone because they lack close
relatives, or because they have been placed in permanent nursing
homes, or due to the difficulties in walking that force them to remain
confined to their beds with no possibility of receiving visits from
relatives and friends, or even rejected because they are no longer
productive. In a world with so many means of communication, people,
even healthy people, often live in isolation and silence. However,
in moments of suffering people become sensitive and needful of an
expression of God’s goodness and mercy.
Thus God needs our efforts and our testimony to fulfill the experience
of His love.”
FIFTEENTH GENERAL CONGREGATION
This morning in the Synod Hall, the Fifteenth general Congregation of
the Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops was held. The
president delegate on duty was Cardinal Telesphore Placidus Toppo,
and 239 Synod Fathers were present.
Given below are excerpts from some of the speeches delivered this
morning by Synod Fathers and auditors:
ARCHBISHOP OSWALD THOMAS COLMAN GOMES OF COLOMBO, SRI LANKA. “We have
to promote a visible demonstration of our faith in the Eucharistic
Lord. And this has to be done more in deed than in word. Reference
has already been made here to many abuses and aberrations in the
celebration of the Eucharist and gross lack of reverence for the Most
Blessed Sacrament. … Particular reference has been made to secularism
and relativism. It is unfortunate that these are even creeping into
Asia. While respecting common liturgical norms we need to make a deep
study of the cultural patterns of the various worshippers and have them
integrated to our liturgy. The cultural patterns of people differ from
continent to continent, and often from country to country. Therefore
liturgists in these respective areas will have to make a study of
these patterns and integrate the highest forms of adoration into the
adoration of the Eucharist. … Finally, today we have the serious
problem of Christian fundamentalism which affects our belief in the
Eucharist. This Synod has to address its mind to this danger. Else
it would be like an effort to plant a beautiful tree – our faith in
the Eucharist – when there is a dangerous virus attacking it.”
BISHOP ANGEL FLORO MARTINEZ I.E.M.E., OF GOKWE, ZIMBABWE. “Let me
inform you of the main challenges our faithful are facing, not of a
theological but of a pastoral nature. The first challenge concerns
the availability or accessibility of the Eucharist to many of our
Catholics. The shortage of priests and the scattering of our faithful
in our vast rural areas means that priests are available to them for
the Eucharist only once a month, every two months or even longer.
This challenges the centrality of the Eucharist in the lives of our
Catholics. Could our rural Christian communities that rely mostly on
the celebration of the Word be called Eucharistic communities? This
is an interesting question that could be discussed in our working
groups. The second challenge concerns the Eucharist and Marriage. The
Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference (ZCBC) published a second
pastoral letter on the Eucharist this year under this heading,
exhorting the faithful to appreciate the greatness of the Eucharist and
its deep relationship with the dignity of the Sacrament of Marriage,
and to regularize their situation. Many Catholics who used to receive
the Eucharist in their youth no longer do so in their adult lives
because of irregular marriages.”
CARDINAL GEORGE PELL, ARCHBISHOP OF SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA. “Many Synod
Fathers have spoken of the difficulties experienced by the Church
throughout the world. Some of these are caused by our own mistakes.
Vatican Council II brought great blessings and substantial gains,
for example, continuing missionary expansion and the new movements
and communities. But it was also followed by confusion, some decline,
especially in the West, and pockets of collapse. Good intentions are
not enough. … My recommendations to the Synod on how to deal with
these ‘shadows’ presuppose the maintenance in the Latin Church of
the ancient tradition and life‑giving discipline of mandatory
celibacy for the diocesan clergy as well as the religious orders. To
loosen this tradition now would be a serious error, which would
provoke confusion in the mission areas and would not strengthen
spiritual vitality in the First World. It would be a departure
from the practice of the Lord Himself, bring significant practical
disadvantages to the work of the Church, e.g. financial, and weaken
the sign value of the priesthood; it would weaken, too, the witness
to loving sacrifice, and to the reality of the Last Things, and the
rewards of Heaven. … Communion services or liturgies of the Word
should not be substituted for Mass, when priests are available. Such
unnecessary substitutions are often not motivated by a hunger for the
Bread of Life, but by ignorance and confusion or even by hostility
to the ministerial priesthood and the Sacraments.”
BISHOP LUIGI PADOVESE O.F.M. Cap., APOSTOLIC VICAR OF ANATOLIA,
TURKEY. “I speak as bishop of the Church of Anatolia, an area that saw
the first great expansion of Jesus’ message and in which Christians are
now reduced to just a few thousand. The only Christians in the city
of Tarsus, homeland of the Apostle Paul, are three nuns who welcome
pilgrims; pilgrims who must get a permit in order to celebrate the
Eucharist in the only remaining church-museum.
The same is true for the church-museum of St. Peter in Antioch. In
that city was born John Chrysostom, the 16th centenary of whose death
in exile falls in 2007. With his homilies, Chrysostom reminds us that
the Eucharist was and is the privileged place for announcing Christ.
His memory, as well as the more recent recollection of bishops such as
Clemens von Galen and Oscar Romero, is a living testimony of the bond
between the memorial of Jesus’ sacrifice and the people who found
therein the motivation and strength for a proclamation undertaken
with intelligence and courage and frankness.”
BR. ALVARO RODRIGUEZ ECHEVERRIA F.S.C., PRESIDENT OF THE UNION
OF SUPERIORS GENERAL, COSTA RICA. “The ‘Instrumentum laboris’ of
the Synod underlines the Church’s hope in its young people. Young
people today, living in globalized cultures marked by the incessant
change of perspectives, and in a society ruined by so much economic
insecurity and by the glorification of violence, find it difficult
to articulate the story of their lives in a way that gives meaning,
direction and purpose to their youthful dreams. Today more than
yesterday, then, we need to satisfy the thirst and hunger felt by
young people as they search for a mystical experience of union with
Jesus. There is not doubt that He is a force attracting young people
today. … Drinking from the source that is the Eucharist, … they
also find the strength to discover in this world their own crucified
brothers and sisters, those who suffer under the oppression of wars,
of violence, of hunger. Those without a future. From this source
and summit, they come away burning with a new passion, and with the
strength of grace to participate in the Church’s mission in society and
in the world. … The Eucharist is also the summit whence all (young
people’s) actions flow. In this way, the Eucharist is not unconnected
to the social and political concern felt by Christ’s disciples among
the men and women of the world, especially among the poor.”
MOYSES LAURO DE AZEVEDO FILHO, FOUNDER AND MODERATOR GENERAL OF THE
SHALOM CATHOLIC COMMUNITY, BRAZIL. “One of the most important fruits
of the Eucharist which we must cultivate is ‘parresia.’ Parresia
is a Greek word which in the New Testament takes on the meaning of
audacity in proclaiming Christ. In the period of carnival, in Brazil,
when youngsters are exposed to serious dangers, the Catholic Shalom
Community promoted … a moment of adoration before the Most Holy
Sacrament. It was impressive to see what many consider impossible:
one hundred thousand young people in deep adoring silence before
the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. This was a prelude to
Cologne. Even more impressive were the fruits of this and of other
actions of this type: many conversions, a large number of confessions,
commitment to the Church with a return to participation in Mass, an
awakening of priestly vocations, and love and service to the poor. We
discovered that the best reply to the challenge of secularization is
to present Christ with audacity!”