WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION
by
His Most Reverend Cardinal
Darío Castrillón Hoyos
Prefect for the Congregation for the Clergy
THE
Reverend Brothers in the Episcopate
and in Priesthood, Esteemed Educators in catechesis, my dear Catechists!
I am extremely happy to greet and welcome all those participating in
this European Catechistic Conference,
on a subject of such great importance for achieving the new evangelisation’s
main duty which all Christians are called to: “The particular Church, the home of catechesis”.
1. The particular Church is the
privileged place for catechesis, as the announcing and inculturated
testimony of Christ’s mystery.
Attuned to the repeated and vibrant appeals made by the Holy Father and
addressed at all God’s people, for the revitalising within the Church - also
through words and examples - of a widespread and profound catechesis rooted in
Christ, we too feel called upon and encouraged to “to carry forward the work of Christ
under the lead of the befriending Spirit. And Christ entered this world to give
witness to the truth, to rescue and not to sit in judgment, to serve and not to
be served.” (Pastoral Const. Gaudium et spes, no. 3).
Referring to the Old Continent, in his post-synod Apostolic Exhortation
“Ecclesia in Europa”
dated June 28th 2003, John Paul II wrote: “Christian communities
need to work at proposing a catechesis
adapted to the varying spiritual journeys of the faithful at different ages and
in different life situations, and to provide for suitable programmes for
spiritual accompaniment and for the rediscovery of one's own Baptism. Naturally a fundamental point of reference in this commitment will
be the Catechism of the Catholic Church” (no. 51).
In this sense, following the fecund
path traced by the Church’s everlasting Teachings, and in particular, by the
Documents of the Second Vatican Council, the Congregation for the Clergy
intends to provide today a special opportunity for an in-depth theological
meditation on the
“Go home to your family and
announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you” (Mark 5,19). Christ’s invitation to humankind, freed from the power
of the devil, calls upon the particular Church as the domestic space for bearing witness to the Truth.
The various papers presented by the
distinguished Professors and Catechetic Educators will remind us that the
beginning and the heart of all catechesis is Christ’s paschal mystery (see 1 Cor 15,3-4), God’s redeeming project in the history of the
kenosis-exaltation of the Word incarnate (see Phil 2,6-11), a plan representing
a primitive announcing of the faith that Paul himself, the people’s Apostle,
received from the very first witnesses.
We shall better understand that the
link with the living Apostolic tradition is crucial for all catechesis, with a
message addressing two fundamental needs: fidelity
to the Truth and the coming of the “Good News” to the receiver, who hears
the Word in humankind’s “native language”, hence in the vital context of the
particular and real territorial and cultural situation of the human person.
2. On the catechetic path leading all faithful in the Diocese to a
personal encounter with Christ
In this perspective, the first
paper from
Furthermore, with a missionary
spirit, nothing in the lives of Christians and non-Christians belonging to the community
life, or at the edge of it, will be neglected or indifferent to the discreet
and active knowledge and presence of the particular Church, which means
sharing, solidarity and aid.
In this sense, catechesis is not
simply one activity among the many undertaken by the Diocese in evangelisation,
but rather represents an unequivocal and crucial “work of justice”. As the
Second Vatican Council states in Lumen Gentium: “The laity have the right, as do all
Christians, to receive in abundance from their spiritual shepherds the
spiritual goods of the Church, especially the assistance of the word of God and
of the sacraments “ (LG no. 37).
On this subject John Paul II’s recent Apostolic Exhortation Pastores gregis states (no. 30): “In the area of
catechesis too, the Bishop is clearly the pre-eminent catechist of his
people…It is therefore the duty of every Bishop to give real priority within
his particular Church to active and effective catechesis. He must demonstrate
his personal concern through direct interventions aimed at promoting and
preserving an authentic passion for catechesis” (n. 29).
Along these lines, the new edition
of the General Directory for Catechesis
dated August 15th 1997, on the subject of those receiving
catechistic activities, emphasises and presents effectively the need and right
of each believer, and of the community, to receive valid catechesis (see DGC
nos. 167-168). Bishops and Presbyters, should they neglect or minimise this
“work of justice”, would not only be neglecting a pastoral activity, but also
be failing a precise duty – resulting from the sacrament they have received –
which corresponds to an equally precise duty that must not be ignored or
damaged. I hope the plea Paul heard in the vision of the
Today we also remember that the
challenge posed by catechesis cannot be adequately faced if one does not appeal
to the prophetic duty of all the baptised, who from the new areopagi of the European continent
are called upon to bear witness to the Truth in the worlds of politics and
finance, in the world of art with its multiform and noble expressions, in the
world of communication and scientific research, in the world of IT, with all
the honest and considerable means available there, to mend that rift between
the Gospel and culture causing serious damage to civilised society and the
Church.
Last but not least, in analysing in
depth a number of aspects of the Church’s catechetic mission, we shall rediscover
that parish catechesis appoints the
family as the fundamental place for its formative work, promoting many forms
and modalities of catechesis: Christian
initiation in receiving the sacraments addressed at children, the preparation of the young for marriage and the married for the arrival
and education of their children, a more profound doctrinal education for
the elderly, the welcoming of the faith in suffering and illness for the sick;
all in all a permanent catechesis not
restricted to the education of children, but accompanying the Christian path to
full maturity, pointing out the universal vocation to sanctity to all.
I wish to thank all those
participating in this videoconference, reminding you all that they will speak,
though a live link-up, from ten nations
in the European continent. The paper from
I hope you all enjoy the
conference.