Possessing a treasure

The Synod fathers drew a positive balance of the Bishops’ Synod on the new evangelization that closed on Sunday October 28 with a solemn Mass in St. Peter’s Square. SIR Europe collected reflections and impressions of participants, providing an overview of the perspective on the proclamation of the Word of God in the Year of Faith that has just begun.Germany. In a statement released Oct. 26 by the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK), the German bishops stressed that the Synod has to perceive the universality of the Catholic Church. "Diversity enriches and we feel that it is a gift for everyone. At the same time it emerged that the new evangelization is a common yearning that involves all continents alike", said Msgr. Robert Zollitsch, DBK President, in a press conference held at the Vatican. Also the German Church, Zolltisch said, is "called to step up its commitment to proclaim faith in new ways and in an accessible language, with new images" suitable to a "secularized and pluralistic world. In this Synod I met a Church that listens and learns, that addresses the issues and challenges present in a responsible manner and with joyful hope. It is important", he continued, "to transmit the knowledge of faith. The encounter with God takes place within a personal relationship. It is our task", he concluded, "to create occasions to know and experience faith". The archbishop of Cologne, card. Joachim Meisner, said the Synod is a confirmation of the "binding participation to joy ad to the concerns for what happens inside the Universal Church. The Synod is the expression of solidarity, new evangelization and most of all, of self-evangelization. We must start from ourselves, understanding and proclaiming our faith". Meisner underlined the importance of love for our fellow neighbour as well as the bishops’ membership to "the college of bishops in the world". The Cardinal recalled, "The responsibility of evangelization belongs to each faithful" and he exhorted "to live faith with courage and in a way that is visible to the external world". The archbishop also recalled "the generous commitment of many Christians in the persecuted Church", "a living and altruistic witness of faith in the Gospel. To these people goes our special solidarity", Meisner concluded.Belgium. A "laborious but fruitful commitment": with these words André-Joseph Léonard, archbishop of Malines-Bruxelles, describes in his "diary" of the Synod the work that brought the Synod fathers to draw up the "final message of the Synod to the People of God": "the Synod fathers eliminated redundancies, made concepts clearer and added further reflections. The final result is a dynamic and stimulating document, embodying the breath of the Spirit, which was enthusiastically approved by the Assembly". The preparation of the final propositions to present to the Holy Father was much more complex and difficult: in fact, it is the fruit of the commitment of 12 working groups divided into five languages, each of which presented a set of proposals. The proposals were thus collected by a group of rapporteurs according to a specific order with 57 -eventually 58 – proposals. France. "A long document that raises a set of questions, in particular it highlights the importance of the personal encounter with Jesus, the starting point for the development of a truly new evangelization". Cardinal André Vingt-Trois thus commented the Synod’s final message, which underlines that "it is necessary for the Church as a whole, for all of its members, to convert to the World of God. During the Synod – said the archbishop of Paris – we developed the belief that the New Evangelization is the Word of God, inasmuch as it is received as the Word of Life. Only in this way Christian faithful become the witnesses of Christ". Archbishop Vingt-Trois pointed out that the first recipients of the new evangelization are the "very evangelizers" who address, in the Western world, a "modern, secularised society". These "evangelizers" are now asked to meet the challenge "of seeing in the difficulties not obstacles but expectations of the Good News of the Gospel". Italy. "The point isn’t a solution, but an ongoing burning fire. By listening to the Agora’ of the people I realised the great extent of the passion for the Gospel", said card. Angelo Bagnasco, CEI President, in an interview broadcast by the Catholic Network TV2000, with journalists also from Radio Inblu, on the meaning of the Bushops’ Synod. "Far from repeating a refrain, the Church wishes to rekindle the fire", he said, answering a question on the role of the Synod. "Love must be revived, realizing the treasure we possess. The greatest tragedy, at a time of difficulty, is loneliness. When this happens all obstacles appear unsurmountable, men give up and become passive. But it should be realized that in any moment man encounters Christ who precedes him".