1. By means of the Holy Spirit the Church is guided "into all the truth" (John 16,13), and is made capable of acknowledging the inestimable treasure received by Christ through the sacraments of Christian initiation: it is the new life inaugurated by the Word made flesh and "hidden with Christ in God " (Col 3,3) which is now being constantly placed in the humble hands of the priests and kept " in earthen vessels" (2 Cor 4,7) of the fragile human existence. Thus human life is raised to the high nobility of divine filiation, of regal priesthood and in the Paschal Mystery is allowed to share the closeness to Jesus Christ.

With this consideration, I intend to introduce the seventh international session of Videoconferences on Sacramental Theology of Christian initiation, from the Second Vatican Council to today.

The good of the person is to be in the Truth and to do the Truth (John Paul II, En. Let. Veritatis Splendor, n. 84). This goodness, which we tackled last time in our considerations on Moral Theology, is given to man by the sacraments of Baptism, of Confirmation and of the Eucharist, divine actions which are capable of actualising the mysteries of Christ in the "present" of the Church.

The Word made flesh is in fact, the pedagogue of the compassionate love of the Father, Creator of the three sacraments of Christian initiation, masterpieces of divine grace. By revealing the analogy with the origin, the development and the growth of natural human life, the three sacraments are like a ladder which allows man to easily ascend to the encounter with God in the "prospect of being divinized and thus becoming more of a man" (John Paul II, Bull Incarnationis mysterium, n. 2).

2. Through Baptism "laver of regeneration and revival of the Spirit " (Tt 3,5), every human being is in fact born to the new life of Christ, through Confirmation in the Pentecost, upon reception of a new seal of the Paraclete, human life grows and becomes stronger, and is nourished with the food of eternal life by means of the Eucharist. "Thus men – we read in the Apostolic Constitution Diviane consortium naturae of Paul VI- by means of these sacraments of Christian initiation are capable of better appreciating the treasures of divine life and of progressing until they accomplish the perfection of charity" (AAS 63 1971, 657-664). This happens because, as Saint John Chrysostomus said, "our sacraments are not like the acts of a play: here everything is regulated by the Spirit" (Homily on the First Letter to the Corinthians 41,4)

Great is therefore the responsibility of the ordained ministers, of the administrators and of the bestowers of the mysteries of Christ (cfr. 1 Cor, 4,1), to the service of the priesthood of faithfuls and of all humanity!

Priests know that their ministry is not a mere reminder of Christ, rather the re-presentation and the re-actualisation of the redeeming action of the Word incarnated in history (cfr Ecum. Counc.Vaticano II, Cost. dogm. Lumen gentium, n. 10). Through exousía, the sacred power received in the Priestly Ordination, the ministry "guarantees that in the sacraments Christ acts on behalf of the Holy Spirit for the Church" (Catechismof the Catholic Church, n. 1120).

3. I am grateful to the theologians who are participating today to share doctrinal thoughts and theological insights on these three sacraments of Christian initiation. We are directly connected to eight nations in the five continents. The first three conferences, twenty minutes each, will respectively be held: from Rome by Prof. H.E.Mons. Rino Fisichella, Rector of the Pontifical Lateran University, from Sydney, by Prof. David Orr and from Taipei by Prof. Louis Aldrich.

The three-minute addresses that will follow, will be held: from New York, by Prof. Michael Hull; from Manila, by Prof. Catalino Arevalo; from Madrid, by Prof. Alfonso Carrasco Rouco; from Bogotà, dal Prof. Silvio Cajiao; from Johannesburg, by Prof. Stuart C. Bate.

In conclusion, from Rome again, from the Congregation for the Clergy, we shall listen to the addresses of Prof Paolo Scarafoni, of Prof. Antonio Miralles and of Prof. Jean Galot.

May all priests draw inspiration from this encounter and open, with greater awareness and generosity, the sacramental door of divine life, so the People of God may enter and satisfy their thirst at the sources of salvation, in this special time of grace of the forthcoming celebration of the Paschal Mystery.