SYNOD INTERVENTIONS OF 11TH GENERAL CONGREGATION
Zenit News Agency
h
2008-10-13
Italy
VATICAN CITY, OCT. 13, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here are summaries of
the interventions given Saturday afternoon at the 11th general
congregation of the world Synod of Bishops, which is under way in
the Vatican through Oct. 26. The theme of the assembly is on "The
Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church."
* * *
— H.E. Most. Rev. Louis PORTELLA MBUYU, Bishop of Kinkala, President
of the Episcopal Conference (CONGO)
In Congo-Brazzaville, a country that has been scarred by a series
of internal conflicts, we are noticing an abundance of religious
movements that can be classified in two categories: on the one hand,
the movements that practice a reading that is liberating even as
it recalls elements of traditional religion. These put themselves
forward as a counter-reaction to a Christianity that is considered
a negation of the African identity. On the other hand, movements,
branches of the Pentecostal movement of American origin, characterized
by a fundamentalist or even magical reading of the Bible, whose aim
is to mobilize people’s consciences about the concrete problems of
life in society.
There also are movements that tend towards the esoteric or gnostic,
that are characterized by a symbolic and ideological reading of
the Bible.
All of this has to be placed in a context of underdevelopment with its
baggage of poverty and resignation. Faced with this complex situation,
what emerges is the urgent need to help and stimulate the faith ful
of Christ in the Congo to read the Word of God, to meditate on it, to
pray it inasmuch as it can "recreate" African man who still carries
within the consequences of the past. This requires easier access
to the Biblical text by means of translations. This is one of the
pastoral emergencies of our Church.
On the other hand, this reading of the Word of God has to inspire in
the African reader a realization of his responsibilities as regards
a society that is waiting to be transformed in all its structures
according to the Gospel values.
[Original text: French]
— H.E. Most. Rev. Gregor Maria HANKE, O.S.B., Bishop of Eichstätt
(GERMANY)
Instrumentum laboris Chapter 5, no. 34 leads us to reflection on
the relationship between the Word of God and the Eucharist. In this
context, I go back to the question on how the presence of Christ in the
Word of God and in the Sacrament of the Eucharist are in relationship
with each other. The different ways the Lord’s presence is in the
liturgical celebration cannot be compared or equal as if they were
side by side in a static way as to their value. The consequence of
this way of thinking would be would be a modalistic understanding
of the presence of the Lord, which allows substituting one type of
presence for another, for example, the Eucharistic celebration with
the liturgy of the Word.
The key should be the correct understanding of what Word of God
means. The Word of God does not end with the published Bible nor with
the announcement of the Word. In fact, the written Word does not have
the same depth as the Word-Logos revealed in the Incarnation. The force
of the written and proclaimed Word nourishes itself on the continuous
presence in world history of this greater Word-Action. This context
makes the letters that make up the Holy Scripture the Word of God that
travels with today’s man and opens in him the dialogue of God with man.
However, the Eucharist is the place where the Word of action is made
present, with all its history of salvation and eschatology. The Word
of God of the Scripture seen as the presence of the Lord, therefore,
points all back to the Eucharist The presence of the Lord in the Word
requires His presence in the Eucharist. We must reflect on this for
our Biblical pastoral ministry.
[Original text: German]
– H. B. Nerses Bedros XIX TARMOUNI, Patriarch of Cilicia of the
Armenians, Head of the Synod of the Armenian Catholic Church (LEBANON)
In beginning my intervention, I would like to underline the fact that
the origin of the Armenian Church, evangelized by Saint Gregory the
Illuminator, can be traced to the adoption of Christianity as the state
religion in Armenia in the year 301, according to tradition. At that
time, the Armenian alphabet did not exist and Bible readings were
proclaimed in Greek or Syriac. The reader then would translate it
into Armenian. This did not help in understanding the Word of God by
the Armenian neophytes. This led to the idea of inventing an alphabet
to translate the Bible in the language of the people.
This was realized thanks to a monk by the name of Mesrob who,
encouraged and supported by the supreme Chiefs of the Church and the
State, the Catholicos Sahag and the King Vramchapouh, was entrusted
with this and invented the Armenian alphabet in 406. The Bible was
the first book to be translated, beginning with the Septuagint.
We can assert that ever since the translation of the Bible into
Armenian, the Holy Book acquired greater importance in the lives of
the Armenian people. Its beneficial effects were felt by bringing
a new mentality and a new spirit to the faithful, the intellectuals
and society in general.
We can conclude without hesitation that the invention of the
Armenian alphabet in the year 406 had no other goal but that of
evangelization. This evangelization helped maintain the Christian
faith which was often endangered, as in 451 – the Bible had just
been translated – and during the centuries to follow. The Word of
God is supported by the Church and by the Armenian people during its
painful history. It impregnated and animated all of Armenian culture
throughout the centuries. The lives of the Armenians were continually
penetrated and guided by the Word of God.
May this precious richness, represented by Sacred Scriptures as well
as the exemplary lives of our ancestors, stimulate the new generation
to turn back to Word of life evermore. This will be the fruit of the
conclusions of this Synod.
[Original text: French]
— H.E. Most. Rev. György-Miklós JAKUBÃ~MNYI, Archbishop of Alba
Iulia, Apostolic Administrator "ad nutum Sanctae Sedit" for Catholics
of Armenian Rite residing in Romania (ROMANIA)
Following the changes of 1989, democratic freedoms reappeared. Eighteen
"cults" were recognized, including the Roman Catholic and Greek
Orthodox Churches as two separate cults. In Romania at the moment
(AP statistics 2008) there are 1,115,000 Roman Catholics in six
dioceses: Bucharest along with the suffragans of IaÅ~_i, Oradea of
the Latins, Satu Mare,TimiÅ~_oara and Alba Iulia, archbishopric sui
iuris. 771,000 Greek Orthodox in five dioceses/eparchies; the Major
Archbishopric of FÄ~CgaraÅ~_ and Alba Iulia (with its seat at Blaj)
with the suffragans of Cluj-Gherla, Lugoj, Maramures (with its seat
at Baia Mare) and Oradea of the Romanians. 806 Armenian Catholics in a
bishopric. All have a diocesan bishop, some also have auxiliaries. The
religious orders have reopened their novitiates. Catholic publishers
and publications have appeared. In this way, the Bible is becoming
available to everyone again.
With the help of the Holy See, the Greek Catholics re-edited the only
Romanian Greek-Orthodox Bible compline of Blaj (1796). The Romanian
Roman Catholics – the professors of the Theological Institute of IaÅ~_i
made a new translation of the New Testament in 2002. Hungarian and
German speakers are allowed to import Bibles from Hungary and Germany.
Many parishes have formed circles for the young and for adults for
shared Lectio Divina. Future priests are already educated in seminary
in the apostolate of the Bible.
Four Transylvanian dioceses with a Hungarian majority formed the
AsociaÅ£ia BiblicÄ~C MaghiarÄ~C din România which is part of the
Catholic Bible Association (FBC = Federazione Biblica Cattolica,
AMB = Arbeitsgemeinschaft Mitteleuropäischer Bibelwerke). This group
organizes the Biblical apostolate with sessions, camps, multipliers
for Biblical circles, etc.
I think that these are encouraging signs of a Biblical renewal in
the life of the local Church in Romania.
I’d propose that all dioceses found Biblical Associations, even
National Federations, with the scope of promoting the Catholic
Biblical Apostolate.
[Original text: Italian]
— H.E. Most. Rev. Juan Abelardo MATA GUEVARA, S.D.B., Bishop of
Estelà (NICARAGUA)
The core of the brief story of Jeremiah’s vocation (Jr 1:10-17 et
seg) is centered on the Word of Yahweh, whose importance permeates
the whole narration, and on God Himself from who the Word comes. In
the words that Yahweh pronounces during the encounter and that are
aimed directly at the ultimate reality of things, to the ordinating
will of God (cf. Gn), Jeremiah is immediately put in his place as
a creature. In fact, the expression "before I modeled you" (yazar)
formulates the relationship of man’s complete dependence on his
Creator. It is God who models not only substance but also existence,
being as well as becoming. This appearance expresses itself through a
clearly Hebrew verse, to know (yada) which implies an intense volitive
connotation. The word means nothing else and could apply to all men.
With respect to this magnificent telocentric of man and his affairs
in this world, an evermore anthropocentric vision has developed,
interested in the immediate, individual and concrete reality:
it speaks of a practical atheism which postulates that man has no
need of recourse to God to explain his being in the world, even less
that He tells him what he can and cannot do. This "secular" way of
conceiving of man, characterized by the absence of a metaphysical
reflection on reality and objective ethical norms which emanate from
this being, manifests itself in man’s skeptical attitude in both
his confrontation with the existence of God and in the possibility
of knowing absolute truth. This fact implies two consequences: the
first is that a strong interest in phenomenology and that which can
be empirically proved is arising, intended as an hermeneutic key for
understanding reality. The second is that a mentality is developing
in which that which is ethically correct resolves itself in accepting
that which collectivism requires.
This requires of us a great intellectual effort, which presents itself
as a challenge, according to the words of John Paul II, when he says
to us: "We face a great challenge at the end of this millennium to
move from phenomenon to foundation, a step as necessary as it is
urgent. We cannot stop short at experience alone;"(Faith and Reason,
83). The ethical questions are ever stronger, to use the words of John
Paul II, on the shifting sands of widespread scepticism and the lack of
confidence in being able to grasp the truth (cf. Faith and Reason ,5)
[Original text: Spanish]
— H.E. Most. Rev. Ignatius SUHARYO HARDJOATMODJO, Archbishop of
Semarang (INDONESIA)
Asia is a continent of many religions and cultures marked by degrading
poverty and underdevelopment. This is the context for the Church
in Asia to reflect on the Word of God in the life and mission of
the Church. FABC has been promoting evangelization always in triple
dialogue with the poor,· religions and cultures. Nostra Aetate and
other post-conciliar documents, have confirmed the way of dialogue
as the characteristic mode of the Church (Ecclesia in Asia, 3).
Lineamenta and Instrumentum Laboris of the Synod mostly refer to
Dei Verbum but they need to be complemented by Gaudium et Spes with
its call for dialogue with the world. In Asia, proclamation of the
Word demands dialogue and inculturation as requirements of the Word
Incarnate. The Word of God has to become the Word of life for the
poor of Asia.
We have to respond to the structural causes of poverty and
marginalization for integral liberation in the light of the Word of
God. The beatitudes of the Kingdom, especially concerning the poor in
the Gospels of Matthew and Luke have to be proclaimed both for the
rich challenging their self-sufficiency and for the poor as source
of hope for liberation and life.
Biblical revelation stresses God’s love for the poor, namely the widow,
the orphan and the stranger. God always works vindication and justice
for the poor (Ps 103:6). Jesus our Lord embodied the divine compassion
for the poor in his proclamation of God’s reign. God’s preferential
option for the poor is the Word of life for the ignored, humiliated
and the deprived. The Church must share the Word of God as the Word
of hope and life for the poor of Asia.
[Original text: English]
— H.E. Most. Rev. Ricardo Ernesto CENTELLAS GUZMÃ~AN, Titular Bishop
of Torri of Ammenia Auxiliary Bishop of PotosÃ, Auxiliary Bishop of
Potosà (BOLIVIA)
Bring ""the power of the Gospel into the very heart of culture and
cultures" (IL 57)
This calling has always been the life and the mission of the Church;
however, the fruits that came from this are not enough so that the
world can progress according to the criteria of the Kingdom. Today’s
reality shows us that the Word of God and ancient and modern
cultures are separate and parallel worlds. Two realities that are
united intrinsically and progress following two completely different
orientations, when they are two arms of the same body, because God
speaks with the written Word in the life of persons and events today.
The great pastoral challenge comes from this: to launch, once again,
an authentic incarnation of the Word of God with its own face, in a
concrete situation that means and involves a project for society in
answer to the historical, social and cultural needs of our communities,
so that we can better our lives in accordance with the life of Jesus
of Nazareth. We cannot continue reading and meditating on the Word
without the necessary relationship with cultures and without the
consequence of social commitment.
Contextual reading of the Word is a priority, capable of transforming
peoples and structures. An interpretation that can promote reading
by the poorest and those marginalized, which promotes the birth of
communion and community, which allows for the unveiling by cultures
of the mysterious presence of God in their history, so that every
faithful becomes the enlivened subject of his history and a witness
of the experience of God.
Especially in my country, and in other nations of Latin America,
reading is necessary, starting from the emerging indigenous
cultures that, for centuries, have walked parallel to the process of
evangelization. As we pointed out during the Aparecida conference:
there are many baptized but few evangelized persons.
Every action, project, group and movement, institution and structure
of our Church must renew their true motivations and start once again
according to Biblical inspiration. It is urgent to show the world a
new way of being Church.
[Original text: Spanish]
— H.E. Most. Rev. Arturo M. BASTES, S.V.D., Bishop of Sorsogon
(PHILIPPINES)
1) Biblical courses in the seminary are too intellectual, using
the western method of historico-critical exegesis, which bores most
seminarians. This academic approach should be complemented with methods
that take into account the culture and life situation of the hearers.
2) The members of the Catholic Biblical Federation (found in 129
countries today) have developed techniques in doing biblical pastoral
ministry which prove to be effective in transmitting God’s message
to contemporary men and women. These creative methodologies must
be inc1uded in the official curriculum of the formation programs in
theological faculties and houses of formation. An example of such a
method appealing to people of today is the "Bibliodrama."
3) The urgency of developing an Asian way of reading the Bible is felt
because of the tremendous challenge the Church is facing in this huge
continent where millions of people feel hungry for God’s Word. There
are now successful attempts to develop a biblical hermeneutics that
take into account the rich culture and history of Asian peoples. There
is a pIan to produce an Asian Biblical Commentary that will make
use of the historico-critical method of the West and a comparative
cultural hermeneutics to render the profound spiritual sense of the
biblical text accessible to the Asian souI. The Asian members of the
CBF have also decided to establish an Asian Bible Institute, which
will hopefully give the desired holistic biblical formation program.
4) This is one way of contributing to the "missio ad extra" in Asia,
the majority of whose people have not yet heard of Christ. Through
a graduaI process of evangelization presenting Jesus of the Gospels
as Teacher, Story Teller, Healer, Miracle Worker, Friend, Consoler –
images that are pleasing to Asians – people of Asia may eventually
be led by the Spirit to believe in Christ as the Son of God.
[Original text: English]
— H.E. Most. Rev. Javier Augusto DEL RÃ~MO ALBA, Archbishop of
Arequipa (PERU)
The Mission of the New Evangelization, which Christ has entrusted to
us as a Church, in this third millennium, requires that we retrieve
and distribute the conscience with some elements that sometimes during
certain periods of Christianity we take for granted and, in some cases,
we may have forgotten. Allow me to state briefly some of them:
1. The Church is a depositary of the Revealed Truth. Gospel is not
an additional offer, among many that can be found in the post-modern.
2. The Word of God is efficient and has in itself "dynamism", the power
to regenerate the human being and make out of it a "new creation"(1
P 1:2; Jm 1:18; Jn 1:12-13)
3. The Kerygma is, first of all, a "word of salvation" able to break,
for those who receive it, the chains of servitude of the idols and
bring the desire of participating in the Life that God offers.4. The
Christina Incarnation, whether it is pre- or post-baptism, is a
suitable tool for preparing the divine life in believer.
5. The permanent formation inside a small community has the advantage
of facilitating the Christian faithful’s vision of the "incarnated"
Word of God in its Mystical Body that is the Church.
6. Centrality of the Sacred Scriptures in life and the Ministry of
the Bishops and priests, so that we can be "men of the Word".
I think that these elements and others that can be added, are being
recuperated by the new movements and small communities, made by the
Holy Spirit round the Second Vatican Council. With this feeling I may
I propose that this Holy Synod must take up the invitation that our
dear Holy Father made to the pastors several months ago, by telling
us to receive these new ecclesiastical realities with love.
Finally, I also think that it is necessary to review, in the light
of Pastores dabo vobis, the formation that it is being given in our
seminaries, so that greater importance may be given to silence of
prayer and the lectio divina, and that there be a still larger unity
between the academic dimension and the spiritual in the preparation
of our future pastors.
[Original text: Spanish]
— H.E. Most. Rev. Joseph Prathan SRIDARUNSIL, S.D.B., Bishop of
Surat Thani (THAILAND)
The Catholic Church in Thailand lives its life. in Christ, through
the Eucharist and Scripture.
And so the Church has a life-giving mission to be a shining light
of Faith and Hope in Thai society. The Thai Church as a small group
amidst other faiths and religions is deeply aware of our role of
being leaven in the dough in Thai society.
We realize that the Word of God has to affect our lives through
study, meditation, prayer, and we have to put the Word of God into
practice. The Thai Church has decided to promote the Word of God in
its life and mission in the following ways:
1. The disposition of listening to the Word is extremely
important. Basic Ecclesial Communities in Thai Church use the Word
of God as the core of their existence which includes lectio divina.
2. The Church in Thailand stresses the importance of Biblical studies
in our seminaries, houses of religious formation, and in the formation
of the laity, and helps them to know and love the Word of God, and
live it and thus to share their experiences of the Word with others.
3. The Church in Thailand fully desires the Word of God to be at the
heart of all catechetics and thus to lay a solid foundation of faith
and Christian maturity of Christians for their mission of witness in
Thai society.
4. The Thai Church using modern technology in its efforts to fulfill
the three goals mentioned above will try to communicate the Word of God
as the way, the truth and the life for all the faithful and people of
other faiths, with emphasis on the Word as the Good News to the poor
(Lk 4: 18).
[Original text: English]
– H.E. Most. Rev. Friedhelm HOFMANN, Bishop of Wurzburg (GERMANY)
So many important things have already been said about the exegesis
of the Word of God and on preaching in the liturgy. However, how can
we reach those persons who do not come to Church?
A few possibilities have been mentioned. Starting from Chapter
Seven of the Instrumentum laboris, "the Word of God in serving and
forming the People of God", I would like to introduce another aspect,
Christian culture.
God’s revelation is not limited to the Word of God in the Bible. It
can also be found in nature and in culture. Of course, the highest
and most intense revelation by God is the Incarnation of the Word of
God in Jesus Christ. This is what needs to be explained.
Jesus Himself often transmits His message by means of parables. In
these parables, the central affirmation is, so to speak, personified,
or rather, placed in a complex context that, through imagery, calls
upon man in his entirety.
The Word of God has been incultured in the most diverse cultures. It
has an impact on art. In Europe, we are looking at an impressive
cultural Christian history, almost 2000 years. Extraordinary
architecture, works of figurative art, music and literature, all
have been born of faith and embraced the witness of faith. Now,
we must make this renewed faith speak.
During the Middle Ages, the Biblia pauperum was known, it explained
parts of the history of salvation visually to those who could
not read. Today, Christian culture must be explained because many
persons no longer understand this language and no longer dedicate
themselves directly to the Holy Scripture. Through a contemporary
illustration of our Christian culture where we can explain within
our evangelization, we can once again incite curiosity towards the
Word of God by modern man.
Even in today’s culture, however, one must search for the traces of
faith and bring them back to their use as bridge. If it is true that
artists are the sismographers of their time, then it would be good
to take advantage of this and involve them in the proclamation of
the Word of God.
[Original text: German]
— H.E. Most. Rev. Guido PLANTE, P.M.E., Bishop of Choluteca (HONDURAS)
The Second Vatican Council invited us to promote the celebrations of
the Word of God on Sundays and feast days "They are particularly to
be commended in places where no priest is available; when this is so,
a deacon or some other person authorized by the bishop should preside
over the celebration" (Sacrosanctum Concilium 35/4). In March 1966,
few months after the proclamation of the Constitution on Liturgy ,
Mons. Marcelo Gérin, Bishop of Choluteca, Honduras, prepared and sent
17 peasants to celebrate Holy Week in isolated communities without a
priest. The inhabitants enthusiasm was so great that they requested
celebrations each Sunday. This gave rise to the Delegates of the Word
of God.
Today, we have more than 10.000 Delegates in Honduras and in nearby
countries.
These Delegates are more than a mere Sunday celebrants and they
are more than mere readers: they are real promoters of Christian
communities. In addition, they work for free. The word of God has shown
itself to be, from the beginning, as an embryo of authentic ecclesial
community. A communion and participating Church was strengthened which
permitted the flowering of many pastoral initiatives: youth groups,
catechists, housewives’ clubs, etc. The Word of God was considered
as the best yeast for a social Christian development and for an
integral liberation. The community members while deepening the Word
feel encouraged to promote human rights and to help the victims of
poverty, corruption and violence. I think that the affirmations of
No. 30 of the working document on "the Word of God in charity service"
could be more incisive.
In addition, in Honduras, the Sunday celebrations of the Word did
not draw away the faithful from Eucharist, they rather guided them
to live it better. With time, the Word of God engendered hunger for
the Eucharistic bread. In some rural communities where the Word is
celebrated, the parish priest authorized the Eucharistic Reserve
in the local hermitage and the Bishop designated an extraordinary
communion minister. A new zeal was noted. Maybe, in other regions,
the celebration of the Word without a priest may weaken the endeavors
of pastoral vocational work in favor of ministerial priesthood. On the
contrary, in Honduras, it was a source of priestly vocations. In my
diocese of Choluteca, for example, all young priests were Delegates
of the Word.
[Original text: Spanish]
— H.E. Most. Rev. Zbigniew KIERNIKOWSKI, Bishop of Siedlce (POLAND)
Modern man, not having heard the Word, often stands in front of it
dumbstruck. In Mark’s Gospel, we have the scene of Jesus who opens
the ears and loosens the tongue with the gesture (almost a rite)
of Ephphatha (Mk 7:24).
Kerygma is a very important moment. If however kerygma is not followed
by a true formation in listening to the Word in the bosom of the
community of faith, there is a risk of falling into the various
moralisms, or flowing into different types of fanaticism or other
sorts of subjective interpretation.
It is necessary to remember that man , after the sin (conditio
peccatoris) needs help to be able to listen and let himself be formed
. If this help is not forthcoming, man flees his reality, like Adam
in the Garden, because he is afraid of getting involved and taken over
by the Word of the Gospel which proposes a "new life" to him, putting
him in the position where he has to abandon himself to follow Jesus,
the risen Crucified in which the Sermon of the Mount is achieved.
The discourse of the Mountain is very attractive. But if man finds
himself facing this message on his own, understanding it only as a
commandment and not as an image or promise of the new man, he will be
frightened. The truths, "How blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed
are those who are persecuted; offer no resistance to the wicked;
love your enemies" (Mt 5) will seem unrealistic to him.
It is not unusual — even though the first hearing takes place —
if this conception of the Word doesn’t commence in a way that is
appropriate, it aborts, it divorces, it betrays, the conception is
perceived as uncomfortable and dangerous.
The only person capable of welcoming the Word is Mary — the
Immaculate. She, insofar as she is the Immaculate one — could welcome
the Word, conceive it, store it in her heart and lead it to fruition,
to be born as the New Man, the New Adam. She is the figure and the
Mother of the listening that becomes fruitful in all who hear.
The approach used in the neocatechumenal journey is based on initial
kerygma and followed by a serious process of initiation under the
guidance of the Church (bishops, parish priests and catechists)
carried out in small communities and with all the necessary stages of
Christian initiation. In this way, the catechumenate has the initiate
follow an itinerary that teaches him to refer the Word to his own life.
–Boundary_(ID_gBd3tSlYHOw9DIffHtcPkQ)–