Parishes as protagonists ” “

After Vienna in 2003, the International Congress for the new evangelization will be held in Paris this year, from 23 October to 1st November. An opportunity for reflection and exchange, the congress will also be for Paris a week of evangelization, which is already mobilizing parishes and communities. It is a genuine city-wide event comprising meetings, workshops, the keeping open of churches and cathedrals day and night, days of prayer and forgiveness, evenings of festivity and processions: all with a single objective: “Proclaiming Christ, source of all felicity”. THE ‘capitalS’ OF EVANGELIZATION. The International Congress for the new evangelization was born from the meeting of four European cardinals: Jean-Marie Lustiger, archbishop of Paris, Christoph Schonborn, archbishop of Vienna, Godfried Danneels, archbishop of Brussels, and José da Cruz Policarpo, archbishop of Lisbon. During the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, the four archbishops decided to respond together to the Pope’s appeal for a “new evangelization” by organizing “great city missions” in the four European capitals. The organizational machine put into place by the Church in Paris is impressive. “The idea – explains Jean-Francois Canteneur, co-ordinator of the Parisian event – is not to organize a great event in which everyone congregates in a single place, but on the contrary to propose a multitude of events in the parishes, in such a way as to invite each of them to bear witness to the Gospel in the area in which each is situated”. So the parishes themselves will be the protagonists of the Congress and will, during the week in which it is being held, host over 300 workshops of exchange and reflection on “every stage and dimension of life: from culture to family life, from social work to political action”. Discussion will focus on education and youth, solidarity and politics, art, culture and the media. Another important component of the event is the idea of leaving open all day 150 churches and chapels in the city, where the visitor can share in moments of prayer and public debates, or attend concerts and theatrical performances. In each church a “book of life” will be placed at the disposal of all those who wish to write down their prayer intentions. On Sunday, 31 October, these “books” will be borne in procession and placed at the foot of a large Cross, some 16 metres high, raised in front of the cathedral of Notre-Dame. The cathedral of Notre-Dame and the basilica of the Sacre-Coeur will be at the heart of the Parisian event; they will remain open day and night for meditation and prayer. ALL THE DIMENSIONS OF EVANGELIZATION. At Notre-Dame, each morning, a cycle of conferences will be held (broadcast live also in the church of Saint Sulpice and translated into the languages of the countries promoting the initiative) on the theme “ Everyone called to spread the Good News“. Msgr. Bruno Forte, archbishop of Chieti, Father Enzo Bianchi, prior of the monastery of Bose, and Cardinal Ivan Dias, archbishop of Bombay, have been invited to make their contribution. The programme is ambitious: on the first day, with the help of a philosopher of religions and a professor of contemporary history, an attempt will be made to define the main features of metropolitan life in Europe, torn between “civilization of the image, opinion and anonymity” and “reality of Christian life”. The impact of the meeting with other religions, the “unique and vital relationship between Christianity and Judaism”, and the contribution made by the “wisdom of the East that is knocking on the doors of Europe”, will also be evaluated. The urban context is also impregnated by “scepticism and indifference”, so the only way of evangelization – says the presentation of the third conference – is that of leading men and women to the discovery of the love of God. It is the same love that leads Christians to devote themselves to healing with works and actions of solidarity all the forms of social exclusion that urbanization generates. This is an “often critical” mission. That’s why “the fourth day wishes to propose a reflection to underline the fact that charity and evangelization are not two separate and opposing realities, but closely linked: charity is the way and first step of any form of evangelization”. The cycle will end with a reflection on the “ecclesial and sacramental dimension of the apostolate”, while the city event as a whole will be concluded with a “day of missionary mandate”.