At 4:30pm today, in the New Synod Hall, the Holy Father, Pope Francis opened the working session of the 68th Assembly of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI) which is taking place at the Vatican beginning today and until May 21, focused on the theme: Verifying the reception of the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium.
Following the introductory prayer, Pope Francis addressed the Italian Prelates.
Dear brothers, good afternoon!
I greet you all and I greet the bishops who have been appointed since the last Assembly, and also the two new Cardinals who were created after the last Assembly.
When I hear this passage from the Gospel of Mark, I think: but Mark must have been angry with Mary Magdalene, because up to the last minute, he never forgot that she had been possessed by seven demons ... and then I think: and what about me? How many demons have I entertained? I stay quiet.
First, I want to express to you my gratitude for this gathering, and for the theme that you have chosen: The Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium.
The joy of the gospel, at this moment in history when we are often surrounded by discouraging news from local to international situations through which we experience affliction and tribulation - in this framework that truly gives us little comfort - our Christian and Episcopal vocation is to go against the current: daring to be joyful witnesses of the Risen Christ in order to share joy and hope with others. Our vocation is to listen to what the Lord says to us: Comfort, comfort my people, says the Lord (Is 40:1). In fact, we are asked to console, to help, to encourage all our brothers who are oppressed beneath the weight of their crosses, without any distinction, accompanying them, never growing tired of working at lifting them up with the strength that comes only from God.
Jesus also says: You are salt for the earth, but if salt should lose its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is good for nothing; it should be thrown out and trampled underfoot (Mt 5:13). It is very sad to see defeat in the eyes of a Consecrated person, to see a Consecrated person who is unmotivated or spent: he is like a well that has run dry, where no one can find water to quench their thirst.
Today therefore, knowing that you have chosen as the theme for your gathering, the Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, I wish to hear your ideas, your questions, and to share with you a few of my own questions and reflections.
My questions and my preoccupations arise from a global vision - not only an Italian one but a global one - and above all from the innumerable meetings that I have had in the past two years with the Episcopal Conferences, where I have noted the importance of something that might be defined as an ecclesial sensitivity: possessing the same sentiments as Christ - humility, compassion, mercy and concreteness - the charity of Christ is concrete - and wisdom.
Ecclesial sensitivity also includes not being timid or irrelevant in disavowing and defeating a widespread mentality of public and private corruption which has managed to shamelessly impoverish families, retired persons, honest workers, even entire Christian communities, discarding the young, systematically depriving them of every hope for their future, and above all marginalizing the weak and the needy. Being ecclesialy sensitive, like good shepherds, allows us to go out to the people of God in order to defend them from ideological colonization that would otherwise cut them off from their proper human identity and dignity.
Ecclesial sensitivity is also demonstrated in pastoral choices and in the elaboration of documents - our documents - lest an abstract doctrinal or theoretical understanding should prevail, as though our guidelines are not intended for our people or for our country - but merely for a few scholars and experts - instead, we must pursue every effort to translate them into concrete and understandable proposals.
Ecclesial and pastoral sensitivity are also reflected in the strengthening of the indispensable role of the laity who are willing to assume the responsibility that belongs to them. In truth, lay people who have an authentic Christian formation should not need a Bishop-pilot, or a Monsignor-pilot or a data input clerk in order to take on their proper responsibility at all levels, from the political sphere to the social environment, from the field of economics to the legislature! In fact, they have received everything that they need from the Bishop Pastor!
Finally, ecclesial sensitivity is concretely revealed in collegiality and in communion between Bishops and their priests; in communion between the Bishops themselves; between rich Dioceses - rich in material wealth and in the wealth of vocations - and those which are in difficulty; between the peripheries and the centres; between the Episcopal Conferences and the Bishops themselves and with the Successor of Peter.
In some parts of the world, we find evidence of a weakened collegiality, both in the determination of pastoral plans and in the sharing of commitments to financial planning. In some places, there is a lack of verifying the acceptance of programs and the implementation of plans, for example, to organize a convention or an event that, while highlighting the lonely voices, ignores the community even as it endorses choices, opinions and persons - instead of allowing themselves to be transported toward the horizon where the Holy Sprit calls us to go.
Another example of the lack of ecclesial sensitivity: how many religious institutions allow themselves to grow old - Monasteries, Congregations, so much so that they no longer bear any evangelical witness that is faithful to the charism of their founders? Why can they not come together before it's too late from many points of view? This is a world wide problem.
I'll stop here, after having wanted to offer only a few examples of Ecclesial sensitivity that is weakened because of continually having to confront enormous worldly problems and crises that do not spare even the sense of Christian and ecclesial identity.
May the Lord - during the Jubilee of Mercy which will begin on December 8 of this year - grant you the grace to discover the joy needed to rediscover the mercy of God and make it fruitful. Because we have first received the gift of God's mercy, all of us are called to give consolation to every man and woman of our time. From this moment onward, we entrust this Holy Year to the Mother of Mercy, that she might turn her gaze upon us and watch over our journey (Homily, March 13, 2015).
This was only an introduction. Now, I'll leave you some time to offer your own reflections, your own ideas, your own questions about Evangelii Gaudium and about anything else you want to ask, and I thank you very much!
Following the introductory prayer, Pope Francis addressed the Italian Prelates.
Speech of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
addressed to the Prelates of the
Italian Episcopal Conference
Dear brothers, good afternoon!
I greet you all and I greet the bishops who have been appointed since the last Assembly, and also the two new Cardinals who were created after the last Assembly.
When I hear this passage from the Gospel of Mark, I think: but Mark must have been angry with Mary Magdalene, because up to the last minute, he never forgot that she had been possessed by seven demons ... and then I think: and what about me? How many demons have I entertained? I stay quiet.
First, I want to express to you my gratitude for this gathering, and for the theme that you have chosen: The Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium.
The joy of the gospel, at this moment in history when we are often surrounded by discouraging news from local to international situations through which we experience affliction and tribulation - in this framework that truly gives us little comfort - our Christian and Episcopal vocation is to go against the current: daring to be joyful witnesses of the Risen Christ in order to share joy and hope with others. Our vocation is to listen to what the Lord says to us: Comfort, comfort my people, says the Lord (Is 40:1). In fact, we are asked to console, to help, to encourage all our brothers who are oppressed beneath the weight of their crosses, without any distinction, accompanying them, never growing tired of working at lifting them up with the strength that comes only from God.
Jesus also says: You are salt for the earth, but if salt should lose its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is good for nothing; it should be thrown out and trampled underfoot (Mt 5:13). It is very sad to see defeat in the eyes of a Consecrated person, to see a Consecrated person who is unmotivated or spent: he is like a well that has run dry, where no one can find water to quench their thirst.
Today therefore, knowing that you have chosen as the theme for your gathering, the Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, I wish to hear your ideas, your questions, and to share with you a few of my own questions and reflections.
My questions and my preoccupations arise from a global vision - not only an Italian one but a global one - and above all from the innumerable meetings that I have had in the past two years with the Episcopal Conferences, where I have noted the importance of something that might be defined as an ecclesial sensitivity: possessing the same sentiments as Christ - humility, compassion, mercy and concreteness - the charity of Christ is concrete - and wisdom.
Ecclesial sensitivity also includes not being timid or irrelevant in disavowing and defeating a widespread mentality of public and private corruption which has managed to shamelessly impoverish families, retired persons, honest workers, even entire Christian communities, discarding the young, systematically depriving them of every hope for their future, and above all marginalizing the weak and the needy. Being ecclesialy sensitive, like good shepherds, allows us to go out to the people of God in order to defend them from ideological colonization that would otherwise cut them off from their proper human identity and dignity.
Ecclesial sensitivity is also demonstrated in pastoral choices and in the elaboration of documents - our documents - lest an abstract doctrinal or theoretical understanding should prevail, as though our guidelines are not intended for our people or for our country - but merely for a few scholars and experts - instead, we must pursue every effort to translate them into concrete and understandable proposals.
Ecclesial and pastoral sensitivity are also reflected in the strengthening of the indispensable role of the laity who are willing to assume the responsibility that belongs to them. In truth, lay people who have an authentic Christian formation should not need a Bishop-pilot, or a Monsignor-pilot or a data input clerk in order to take on their proper responsibility at all levels, from the political sphere to the social environment, from the field of economics to the legislature! In fact, they have received everything that they need from the Bishop Pastor!
Finally, ecclesial sensitivity is concretely revealed in collegiality and in communion between Bishops and their priests; in communion between the Bishops themselves; between rich Dioceses - rich in material wealth and in the wealth of vocations - and those which are in difficulty; between the peripheries and the centres; between the Episcopal Conferences and the Bishops themselves and with the Successor of Peter.
In some parts of the world, we find evidence of a weakened collegiality, both in the determination of pastoral plans and in the sharing of commitments to financial planning. In some places, there is a lack of verifying the acceptance of programs and the implementation of plans, for example, to organize a convention or an event that, while highlighting the lonely voices, ignores the community even as it endorses choices, opinions and persons - instead of allowing themselves to be transported toward the horizon where the Holy Sprit calls us to go.
Another example of the lack of ecclesial sensitivity: how many religious institutions allow themselves to grow old - Monasteries, Congregations, so much so that they no longer bear any evangelical witness that is faithful to the charism of their founders? Why can they not come together before it's too late from many points of view? This is a world wide problem.
I'll stop here, after having wanted to offer only a few examples of Ecclesial sensitivity that is weakened because of continually having to confront enormous worldly problems and crises that do not spare even the sense of Christian and ecclesial identity.
May the Lord - during the Jubilee of Mercy which will begin on December 8 of this year - grant you the grace to discover the joy needed to rediscover the mercy of God and make it fruitful. Because we have first received the gift of God's mercy, all of us are called to give consolation to every man and woman of our time. From this moment onward, we entrust this Holy Year to the Mother of Mercy, that she might turn her gaze upon us and watch over our journey (Homily, March 13, 2015).
This was only an introduction. Now, I'll leave you some time to offer your own reflections, your own ideas, your own questions about Evangelii Gaudium and about anything else you want to ask, and I thank you very much!
No comments:
Post a Comment