Subject: VISnews 110614
Organization: VIS - Ufficio Stampa della Santa Sede
From: Vatican Information Service - Eng - txt
VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
TWENTY FIRST YEAR - N. 111
ENGLISH
TUESDAY, 14 JUNE 2011
SUMMARY:
- Evangelisation Is a Task for All Members of the Church
- Holy Father to Confer the First "Ratzinger Prize"
- Other Pontifical Acts
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EVANGELISATION IS A TASK FOR ALL MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH
VATICAN CITY, 14 JUN 2011 (VIS) - Yesterday at 7.30 p.m. in the Roman
basilica of St. John Lateran Benedict XVI inaugurated an ecclesial congress
marking the close of the pastoral year of the diocese of Rome. The congress,
which will run from 13 to 15 June, has as its theme: "The joy of engendering
the faith in the Church of Rome".
Commenting on the choice of theme, the Pope affirmed that "the faith
cannot endure by itself in the world, it is not automatically transmitted to
men's hearts but always has to be announced. And the announcement of the
faith, in order to be effective, must come from a heart that believes, that
hopes, that loves, a heart that adores Christ and believes in the power of
the Holy Spirit. ... The response of faith arises when, by God's grace, man
discovers that believing means finding true life, the 'full life'".
The Holy Father highlighted the fact that "the Church, each one of us,
must bring the world the good news that Jesus is Lord, the One in Whom God's
closeness and love for each man and woman became flesh. This announcement
must resound anew in regions of ancient Christian tradition". In this
context the Pope recalled words he had pronounced at World Youth Day 2005 in
Cologne, Germany: "The happiness you seek, the happiness you have the right
to enjoy, has a name and a face: Jesus of Nazareth, concealed in the
Eucharist.
"If mankind forgets God", he added, "this is also because Jesus is often
reduced to the status of a wise man, and His divinity is diminished if not
denied outright. This way of thinking makes it impossible to comprehend the
radical novelty of Christianity, because if Jesus is not the only Son of the
Father, then God did not enter into the history of mankind. The truth is
that the incarnation is at the very heart of the Gospel. May we, then, show
increasing commitment to renewing evangelisation, which is a task not just
for the few but for all the members of the Church".
"Should we too not share the beauty and reason of the faith, and carry the
light of God to the men and women of our time with courage, conviction and
joy?" Pope Benedict asked. "Many are the people who have not yet met the
Lord; they must be given our special pastoral attention. ... Today this is
more urgent than ever and requires us to commit ourselves trustingly, upheld
by the certainty that the grace of God always works on the heart of man".
The Pope went on to explain that the messengers of the good news of the
Gospel are the baptised, especially parents "whose job it is to seek Baptism
for their children. ... Children need God from an early age. They have the
capacity to perceive His greatness; they know how to appreciate the value of
prayer and ritual, and to discern the difference between good and evil. Thus
they must be guided in the faith from earliest infancy".
As for subsequent stages of the journey of faith, the Holy Father recalled
how "the Christian community has always accompanied the formation of
children and young people, helping them not only to understand the truths of
faith with the intellect, but also to live the experience of prayer, charity
and fraternity. The word of faith risks being muted if it does not find a
community that puts it into practice, giving it life and making it
attractive", he said.
Benedict XVI also spoke of "adolescents who begin the journey of Christian
initiation", whom he encouraged "to follow this path, which leads to
discovery of the Gospel not as a utopia but as a way to live life to the
full". He also invited them to rediscover the Sacrament of Confirmation,
"that the gift of the Holy Spirit may confirm the joy of having been
generated as children of God".
"In order for this to be effective and fruitful, it is important that
knowledge of Jesus grow and extend beyond the celebration of the Sacraments.
This is the task of catechesis. ... Catechesis is ecclesial activity and
therefore catechists must teach and bear witness to the faith of the Church,
and not some interpretation of their own. This is why the Catechism of the
Catholic Church was written".
The Pope concluded by emphasising the need "for education in silence and
interior life. I trust that the paths of Christian initiation followed in
the parishes of Rome may educate people in prayer, that prayer may permeate
our lives and help us discover the Truth that dwells in our heart.
Faithfulness to the faith of the Church must be accompanied by a
'catechetical creativity' which takes account of the context, culture and
the age of the people for whom it is intended. The heritage of history and
art conserved in Rome is another way to bring people to the faith, I invite
everyone to emphasise, in their catechesis, this 'way of beauty' which leads
to the One Who, according to St. Augustine, is Beauty ever old and ever
new".
AC/ VIS
20110614 (870)
HOLY FATHER TO CONFER THE FIRST "RATZINGER PRIZE"
VATICAN CITY, 14 JUN 2011 (VIS) - At midday today in the Holy See Press
Office, a press conference was held to present the "Ratzinger Prize",
established by the "Vatican Foundation: Joseph Ratzinger - Benedict XVI".
The Holy Father is due to confer the prize for the first time on 30 June.
At the press conference Cardinal Camillo Ruini, president of the
foundation's academic committee, announced the names of the prize winners:
Manlio Simonetti, Italian layman and scholar of ancient Christian literature
and Patrology; Olegario Gonzalez de Cardedal, Spanish priest and professor
of systematic theology, and Maximilian Heim, German Cistercian, abbot of the
monastery of Heiligenkreuz in Austria and professor of fundamental and
dogmatic theology.
Professor Simonetti, said Cardinal Ruini, "is a leading international
authority, perhaps the first in Italy, in the field of the study of ancient
Christianity. ... Although he has reached the age of 85, he continues to
work actively on texts from the first four centuries of Christianity".
Professor Gonzalez de Cardedal, who is 76, is a former professor of
dogmatic theology at the Pontifical University of Salamanca, Spain. From
1969 to 1979 he was a member of the International Theological Commission.
"His principal theological works concern God and the Trinity, Christology
and the relationship between theology and anthropology, particularly as
regards comparison between Christian faith and non-belief", said Cardinal
Ruini.
Professor Heim, 50, "entered the 'New Circle' of pupils of Joseph
Ratzinger - Benedict XVI ... and is a consultant in the project of
publishing Joseph Ratzinger's complete works. ... Apart from being a monk
and theologian, he is active in promoting questions relating to faith and
theology among a larger public via a series of lectures and the publication
of a number of books. Both initiatives have the title 'Auditorium'".
Benedict XVI ordered the creation of the foundation on 1 March 2010, in
order to respond to a desire expressed by many scholars over the course of
the years. One of the tasks of the academic committee is to establish
criteria of excellence for the creation and conferral of prizes to scholars
who have distinguished themselves in academic publications and/or research.
OP/ VIS
20110614 (370)
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
VATICAN CITY, 14 JUN 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed:
- Bishop Pascal N'Koue Natitingou, Benin, as metropolitan archbishop of
Parakou (area 9,259, population 398,000, Catholics 184,000, priests 48,
religious 104), Benin.
- Bishop Hlib Lonchyna M.S.U., apostolic administrator "sede vacante" of
the apostolic exarchate for Ukrainian faithful of Byzantine rite resident in
Great Britain, as apostolic exarch of the same apostolic exarchate
(Catholics 10,000, priests 13, religious 3).
NER/ VIS
20110614 (80)
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