The 4th National Ecclesial Meeting will also be a “propitious occasion to qualify the service we intend to offer to the country as witnesses of hope”, says the message of the presidency of the Italian Bishops’ Conference on the occasion of the ecclesial meeting due to be held shortly in Verona (16-20 October). The Meeting, following those of Rome, Loreto and Palermo, has as its theme “Witnesses of the Risen Jesus, hope of the world”. “The challenge – explains the message – is to communicate the Gospel in such a way that it be effective, and reach out to the real experiences of man in his daily life. We are halfway through the decade and it is useful to look back on the road we have travelled so far, and re-affirm our commitment for the years ahead”. The Italian bishops, recalling the witness of the “early Church” and the description of “hope” given in the First Letter of Peter, a text “we have meditated on in these months of preparation”, declare: “It is just this hope we must bear witness to, and not only with words: a hope that accompanies and supports evangelization. Our communities need to be transformed by the meeting with the Risen Lord and thus give proof of an alternative lifestyle”.
