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   * Crossposted in: IN_CATHOLIC.   
   VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
      
   TWENTIETH YEAR - N. 178   
   ENGLISH   
   TUESDAY, 12 OCTOBER 2010   
      
   SUMMARY OF SYNOD OF BISHOPS: 11 - 12 OCTOBER   
      
   - Second General Congregation   
   - Third General Congregation   
      
   OTHER NEWS:   
      
   - Presentation of Council for New Evangelisation   
   - Holy Father's Motu Proprio "Ubicumque Et Semper"   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
   SECOND GENERAL CONGREGATION   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 11 OCT 2010 (VIS) - The Second General Congregation of the   
   Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops began at 4.30   
   p.m. today in the Synod Hall. During this session reports were presented   
   from each of the five continents.   
      
     The president delegate on duty was Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of   
   the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, and there were 163 Synod Fathers   
   present.   
      
     Extracts from the reports are given below:   
      
   AFRICA. CARDINAL POLYCARP PENGO, ARCHBISHOP OF DAR-ES-SALAAM, TANZANIA AND   
   PRESIDENT OF THE SYMPOSIUM OF EPISCOPAL CONFERENCES OF AFRICA AND MADAGASCAR   
   (SECAM). "The Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar   
   has an intrinsic link with the Church in the Middle East, specifically   
   through the Church in Egypt which is part of both Africa and the Middle   
   East. ... Christians are migrating from the Middle East due to what may be   
   considered oppressive conditions against the Christian faith in some of the   
   Middle East countries. ... Today, no Christian on the coasts of Eastern   
   Africa feels obliged to hide his Christian identity despite the fact that   
   Islam continues to be the religion of the majority. Separate Christian   
   settlements are no longer needed.... Closer co operation between the sub   
   Saharan Church and the Church in North Africa and the Middle East remains   
   and will always remain of paramount importance for the survival of   
   Christianity on both sides. SECAM is an excellent tool for such co   
   operation".   
      
   NORTH AMERICA. CARDINAL ROGER MICHAEL MAHONY, ARCHBISHOP OF LOS ANGELES,   
   U.S.A. "While acknowledging their union with Rome, inter-ecclesial relations   
   should be encouraged, not only among the 'sui iuris' Churches in the Middle   
   East but especially in the diaspora. Recognising the haemorrhaging of   
   Christians from the Middle East to Europe, Australia, and the Americas, we   
   have sought various ways to transform emigration into a new opportunity for   
   support for these Christians as they become established throughout the   
   diaspora. ... The biggest challenge we face with our immigrant peoples   
   whether they be Middle Eastern Catholics or Vietnamese Catholics who have   
   fled their country for Southern California, or Cubans who have fled Cuba for   
   the Miami shores   is not one of assisting them in living the mystery of   
   'communio' between and among various Christians and Christian Churches. The   
   biggest challenge is to help them respond to the grace of giving witness to   
   the Gospel by forgiving those enemies who quite often are the principal   
   reason for their leaving their homeland to find peace and justice on our   
   shores".   
      
   ASIA. ARCHBISHOP ORLANDO B. QUEVEDO O.M.I. OF COTABATO, PHILIPPINES AND   
   SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION OF ASIAN BISHOPS' CONFERENCES (FABC).   
   "We are a 'little flock' in Asia, less than three percent of the more than   
   three billion Asians. In the light of rising religious suspicions and   
   extremism, sometimes erupting in violence and death, we can surely be afraid   
   or timid. But we are fortified and encouraged by the words of the Lord,   
   'Fear not, little flock'. ... We will seriously address the great pastoral   
   challenges before us in Asia, such as the phenomenon of migration which is   
   sometimes called the new slavery, the negative impact of economic and   
   cultural globalisation, the issue of climate change, religious extremism,   
   injustice and violence; religious freedom, and biogenetic issues that   
   threaten human life in the womb and from conception to natural death".   
      
   EUROPE. CARDINAL PETER ERDO, ARCHBISHOP OF ESZTERGOM-BUDAPEST, HUNGARY AND   
   PRESIDENT OF THE "CONSILIUM CONFERENTIARUM EPISCOPORUM EUROPAE" (CCEE).   
   "Europe is in debt to the Middle East. Not only do a multitude of the   
   fundamental elements of our culture come from that region, but the first   
   missionaries to our continent came from there too. ... When we consider the   
   Middle East, we Europeans have to examine our consciences. Is the Gospel   
   message still alive among us; that good news that we received from the   
   Apostles? Or is that light and enthusiasm that stems from faith in Christ   
   absent now from our lives? In our times, when Christian refugees and   
   emigrants arrive in Europe from various Middle Eastern countries, what is   
   our reaction? Do we pay enough attention to the reasons that force thousands   
   if not millions of Christians to leave the land where their ancestors lived   
   for almost two thousand years? Is it also true that our behaviour is   
   responsible for what is happening? We are truly facing a great challenge.   
   ... Do we know how to effectively express our support to the Christians of   
   the Middle East? ... The Christians who come from the Middle East knock on   
   the doors of our hearts and reawaken our Christian conscience".   
      
   OCEANIA. JOHN ATCHERLEY DEW, ARCHBISHOP OF WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND AND   
   PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERATION OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS' CONFERENCES OF OCEANIA   
   (FCBCO). "The two largest Eastern Catholic Churches in Australia are the   
   Maronite and Melkite. ... As well as these Eastern Catholic Churches, there   
   are also Chaldean, Syrian, Syro-Malabar and Coptic Catholic Churches. The   
   Maronite, Melkite and Chaldean Eparchies extend into New Zealand, offering   
   pastoral and liturgical services to their communities there too. The wider   
   Middle East is present in Oceania through migrants and refugees who have   
   made their home in the region: European Jews from the earliest days of   
   Australia and New Zealand settlement, as well as refugees from Germany in   
   the 1930s, and survivors of the Shoah; Lebanese, Palestinians, Egyptians;   
   Iraqi, both Christian and Muslim; and in more recent years, Kurdish refugees   
   from Iraq, Iran and Turkey. Our historical links are strongly marked by war   
   and peace. ... These links are cemented today through the presence of many   
   pilgrims from Oceania who visit the Holy Land; through refugee resettlement;   
   aid development programmes of Caritas International; the presence of   
   international religious orders who are dedicated to educational work, or the   
   support of the Holy Places".   
      
   LATIN AMERICA. RAYMUNDO DAMASCENO ASSIS, ARCHBISHOP OF APARECIDA, BRAZIL AND   
   PRESIDENT OF LATIN AMERICAN EPISCOPAL COUNCIL (CELAM). "In our Latin   
   American and Caribbean countries, we have many Eastern immigrants - first   
   and second generation - the majority being Christians. Many have become part   
   of the Latin Church and there are small groups with their own eparchies. We   
   would like them to grow more in the conscience of our common Catholic faith   
   and come closer in a shared missionary action. At this time, we are   
   developing in all our Churches what is called the 'Continental Mission', the   
   fruit of the General Conference of Aparecido. It would be a splendid witness   
   to be able to join this evangelising effort. ... We would like to share with   
   you the concerns about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In this too we are   
   in communion with the Holy Father in his effort to find a solution to the   
   conflict".   
      
     Following the reports from the continents, and before a period of free   
   discussion at which the Pope was also present, a number of Synod Fathers   
   spoke. Extracts from two of their speeches are given below.   
      
   ARCHBISHOP ELIAS CHACOUR OF AKKA OF THE GREEK-MELKITES, ISRAEL. " During the   
   past twenty centuries our Christians from the Holy Land were alike condemned   
   and privileged to share oppression, persecution and suffering with Christ.   
   ... Being the archbishop of the largest Catholic Church in the Holy Land,   
   the Melkite Catholic Church, I insistently invite you and plead with the   
   Holy Father to give even more attention to the living stones of the Holy   
   Land. ... We are in Galilee since immemorial times. Now we are in Israel. We   
   want to stay where we are, we need your friendship more than your money".   
      
   ARCHBISHOP BOUTROS MARAYATI OF ALEPPO OF THE ARMENIANS, SYRIA. "If we want   
   this Special Assembly to be fruitful, we should consider a special   
   conference for each country, with an ecumenical aspect, where we can discuss   
   the issues according to the local situations. Without any doubt, the   
   challenges are the same, but every country has its own situation. For the   
   past hundred years, emigration or violent deportation have continued to   
   occur from the East. ... Are we waiting for the day where the world as a   
   spectator amidst the indifference of the Western Churches will sit back and   
   watch the 'Death of the Christians of the East?' Despite the crises and   
   difficulties that face our Christian life and our ecumenical relations, we   
   still 'believe, hoping against every hope'".   
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   THIRD GENERAL CONGREGATION   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 12 OCT 2010 (VIS) - The Third General Congregation of the   
   Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops began at 9 a.m.   
   today in the Synod Hall in the presence of the Pope and 165 Synod Fathers.   
   The president delegate on duty was His Beatitude Ignace Youssif III Younan,   
   Patriarch of Antioch of the Syrians, Lebanon.   
      
   FR. DAVID NEUHAUS, S.J., HEAD OF PASTORAL CARE FOR HEBREW-SPEAKING CATHOLICS   
   IN THE PATRIARCHATE OF JERUSALEM OF THE LATINS. Hebrew is also a language of   
   the Catholic Church in the Middle East. Hundreds of Israeli Catholics   
   conduct all aspects of their life in Hebrew, inculturating their faith   
   within a society that is defined by the Jewish tradition. ... [This is] a   
   great challenge for the Hebrew-speaking vicariate today ... [which also]   
   seeks ways to serve as a bridge between the Church, predominantly   
   Arabic-speaking, and Jewish-Israeli society to promote both a teaching of   
   respect for the people of the first covenant and a sensibility to the cry   
   for justice and peace for Israelis and Palestinians. Together,   
   Arabic-speaking and Hebrew-speaking Catholics must give witness, and work in   
   communion for the Church in the land of her birth".   
      
   ARCHBISHOP LOUIS SAKO OF KERKUK OF THE CHALDEANS, IRAQ. " The fatal exodus   
   afflicting our Churches cannot be avoided, emigration is the biggest   
   challenge which threatens our presence. The data is worrying. The Eastern   
   Churches, and even the universal Church, must take on their responsibilities   
   and, with the international community and local authorities, find common   
   choices which respect the dignity of the human person. Choices which are   
   based on equality and full citizenship, with efforts towards partnership and   
   protection. The strength of a State must be based upon its credibility in   
   the application of its laws at the service of its citizens, without   
   discrimination between the majority and the minority. We want to live in   
   peace and freedom rather than merely surviving".   
      
   ARCHBISHOP JOSEPH MOHSEN BECHARA OF ANTELIAS OF THE MARONITES, LEBANON.   
   "Given that the overwhelming majority of Middle Eastern countries are Muslim   
   and therefore refuse secularism, it would be preferable, for our Synod, to   
   use instead the term of citizenship or civic State. This is a term that is   
   more acceptable and includes the same realities. ... But for the reality of   
   citizenship to be admitted, generalised and integrated at the level of   
   constitutions and above all mentalities, a dual task is required: At the   
   societal level, the means of social communication can be of great assistance   
   in anchoring the notions of what citizenship entails, above all the equality   
   of all and the acceptance of religious and cultural diversity. At the   
   educational level, ... citizenship can be nourished throughout the years in   
   school. A work of purification is indispensable at the level of programmes   
   to eliminate discrimination. This dual task is indispensable if we want to   
   go beyond the level of the elites for whom citizenship, dialogue and even   
   freedom are allowed, in order to be able to reach the masses who can be   
   manipulated and turned towards any sort of extremism".   
      
   BISHOP SALIM SAYEGH, AUXILIARY OF JERUSALEM OF THE LATINS, PATRIARCHAL VICAR   
   FOR JORDAN. "Among the problems facing the Church in the Middle East, we   
   have to mention that of the sects, which causes great doctrinal confusion.   
   ... What can be done to safeguard the treasury of the faith and to limit   
   their growing influence? ... Priests and pastors of souls are pleaded with,   
   insistently, to visit families and to assume their responsibility in   
   explaining, defending, disseminating, living and helping to live the   
   Catholic faith. Demonstrate serious concern for the Christian formation of   
   adults. ... Sensitise Catholic schools to their Catholic mission. ... Have   
   the courage to revise catechism texts so that they might clearly express the   
   faith and doctrine of the Catholic Church".   
      
   ARCHBISHOP VINCENT LANDEL S.C.I. OF BETH, OF RABAT, MOROCCO AND PRESIDENT OF   
   REGIONAL EPISCOPAL CONFERENCE OF NORTH AFRICA (CERNA). "Our responsibility   
   as a Church is to help Christians to accept the differences that separate   
   them from their Muslim friends, ... to help them cultivate an attitude of   
   humble trust towards people different from ourselves. ... Our responsibility   
   as a Church is to help Christians who live temporarily in our lands to   
   understand that they can live their Christian faith with joy and passion in   
   a totally Muslim society. This will help them to return to their own   
   countries with different ideas about Muslims, and so eliminate the   
   prejudices that run the risk of ruining the world".   
      
   ARCHBISHOP PAUL YOUSSEF MATAR OF BEIRUT OF THE MARONITES, LEBANON. "The   
   responsibility of the Western powers: They have committed injustices and   
   historical errors in their encounter with the Middle East. They too should   
   make amends by removing injustices, which whole peoples suffer especially   
   the Palestinian people. The Christians of this region, who were unjustly   
   identified with those powers, would benefit from these reparations thanks to   
   their cohesion with their brothers. ... The responsibility of Christians in   
   the West and in the rest of the world: They should show solidarity with   
   their brothers and sisters of the Middle East, Christians in the West and in   
   the rest of the world should know their Middle Eastern brothers and sisters   
   better, show more solidarity to their causes. They should also exercise   
   pressure on public opinion at home as well as on their governments to   
   re-establish justice in their relationships with the Middle East and Islam,   
   and help liberate the world from fundamentalism".   
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   PRESENTATION OF COUNCIL FOR NEW EVANGELISATION   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 12 OCT 2010 (VIS) - This morning in the Holy See Press Office   
   Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the newly-founded Pontifical   
   Council for Promoting New Evangelisation, explained the contents of   
   "Ubicumque et semper", the Apostolic Letter "Motu Proprio data" by which   
   Benedict XVI establishes the new dicastery.   
      
     "The theme of new evangelisation has been the subject of deep reflection   
   by Church Magisterium over recent decades", said Archbishop Fisichella. "It   
   is immediately clear that this goal represents a challenge to the entire   
   Church, which must ... find adequate ways to renew her announcement to many   
   baptised people who no longer understand what it means to belong to the   
   Christian community, and are victims of the subjectivism of our times with   
   its closure in an individualism that often lacks public and social   
   responsibility. The 'Motu Proprio' directly identifies those Churches of   
   ancient tradition which ... require a renewed missionary spirit, one capable   
   of helping them make a forward leap to meet the new requirements which the   
   current historical situation imposes".   
      
     "As 'Ubicumque et semper' makes clear, new evangelisation is not a mere   
   formula, identical in all circumstances", the archbishop explained. "Rather,   
   it obliges us to develop well-founded ideas capable of acting as support to   
   a corresponding pastoral activity. Moreover it must be capable of carefully   
   verifying the various traditions and goals that the Churches possess by   
   virtue of the treasure of their centuries-long history: a plurality of forms   
   that does not undermine unity".   
      
     Nor must new evangelisation sound like "an abstract formula", the   
   president of the new dicastery continued his remarks. "We must", he said,   
   "fill it with theological and pastoral content, and we will do so with the   
   strong support of the Magisterium of recent decades", also bearing in mind   
   "the many initiatives which, over the course of recent years, have been   
   enacted by individual bishops in their particular Churches, epsicopal   
   conferences and groups of believers".   
      
     Among the tasks entrusted to the Pontifical Council for Promoting New   
   Evangelisation is that of promoting the use of the Catechism of the   
   Universal Church. "The Catechism is indeed", the prelate noted, "one of the   
   most mature fruits to emerge from the directives of Vatican Council II. It   
   is an organic compilation of the entire heritage of the development of dogma   
   and is the most complete instrument to transmit the unchanging faith in the   
   face of the constant changes and questions the world poses to believers".   
      
     Thus the new dicastery will use "all the inventions that progress in   
   communications technology has created, making them positive instruments at   
   the service of new evangelisation", Archbishop Fisichella concluded.   
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   HOLY FATHER'S MOTU PROPRIO "UBICUMQUE ET SEMPER"   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 12 OCT 2010 (VIS) - Given below are extracts of "Ubicumque et   
   semper", the Apostolic Letter "Motu Proprio data" by which Benedict XVI   
   establishes the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelisation.   
      
     "The Church has the duty to announce the Gospel of Jesus Christ always and   
   everywhere. ... Over history this mission has assumed new forms and methods,   
   depending on place, situation and historical moment. In our own time, one of   
   its most singular characteristics has been that of having to measure itself   
   against the phenomenon of abandonment of the faith, which has become   
   progressively more evident in societies and cultures that were, for   
   centuries, impregnated with the Gospel.   
      
     "The social transformations we have seen over recent decades have complex   
   causes, the roots of which are distant in time and have profoundly modified   
   our perception of the world. ... If, on the one hand, humanity has seen   
   undeniable benefits from these transformations and the Church received   
   further stimuli to give reasons for the hope she carries, on the other, we   
   have seen a worrying loss of the sense of the sacred, even going so far as   
   to call into discussion apparently unquestionable foundations, such as faith   
   in the God of creation and providence; the revelation of Jesus Christ our   
   only Saviour, the shared understating of man's fundamental experiences like   
   birth, death and family life, and the reference to natural moral law".   
      
     "Among the central themes examined by Vatican Council II was the question   
   of relations between the Church and the modern world. In the wake of this   
   conciliar teaching, my predecessors dedicated further reflection to the need   
   to find adequate forms to allow our contemporaries to still hear the Lord's   
   living and eternal Word".   
      
     "Venerable Servant of God John Paul II made this demanding undertaking one   
   of the pivotal points of his vast Magisterium, summarising the task awaiting   
   the Church today in the concept of 'new evangelisation' (which he   
   systematically developed in numerous occasions), especially in regions of   
   age-old Christianity".   
      
     "Thus, in my turn, sharing the concern of my venerated predecessors, I   
   feel it appropriate to offer an adequate response so that the entire Church,   
   allowing herself to be regenerated by the Holy Spirit, may present herself   
   to the modern world with a missionary vigour capable of promoting a new   
   evangelisation".   
      
     "In Churches of ancient foundation, ... although the phenomenon of   
   secularisation continues its course, Christian practice still shows signs of   
   possessing vitality and profound roots among entire peoples. ... We also   
   know, unfortunately, of areas which appear almost completely   
   de-Christianised, areas in which the light of faith is entrusted to the   
   witness of small communities. These lands, which need a renewed first   
   announcement of the Gospel, seem particularly unreceptive to many aspects of   
   the Christian message".   
      
     "At the root of all evangelisation there is no human project of expansion,   
   but the desire to share the priceless gift that God wished to give us,   
   sharing His life with us".   
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    - Origin: VIS - Ufficio Stampa della Santa Sede (1:396/3)    
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    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS-Meridian, MS-bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)