Twentieth General Congregation

VATICAN CITY, OCT 16, 2001 (VIS) - The Twentieth General Congregation of the 10th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops began at 5 p.m. this evening in the presence of the Holy Father and 232 synod fathers. The reading of the language group reports was concluded in this session. The president delegate on duty was Cardinal Bernard Agre, archbishop of Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

Following are extracts from three of the five reports presented in the Synod Hall:

SPANISH-PORTUGUESE LANGUAGE GROUP C: BISHOP CARLOS AGUIAR RETES OF TEXCOCO, MEXICO. "The bishop must promote a priesthood very united with the bishop for the realization of the diocesan pastoral plan. God calls when and where He wishes. Prayer for vocations is of fundamental importance. The Church's mission is to prepare the terrain for the flourishing of vocations, favoring the encounter with the living Jesus Christ. The promotion of vocations is closely related to certain contextual realities which cannot be neglected: the general decrease in the number of children per family, the crisis of the family as an institution; the secularization of large cities, moral relativism, the current difficulties of youth in making life-long commitments. ... In the face of the plurality of charisms and spiritualities in the Church, the bishop must promote his diocesan priests in the spirituality of communion. The curia must be the expression of the pastoral charity of the bishop. Poverty experienced in the administration of ecclesiastical property is shown in the consideration of the social (and not personal) character of these goods. Celibacy and obedience are expressions of poverty. We point out some criteria and orientations: 1. Sharing goods is a way of bearing witness to poverty. 2. Social assistance is still necessary, and cannot be replaced by promotion alone. 3. We should affirm the effectiveness of working for social justice on the basis of the social doctrine of the Church. 4. Recognize the new forms of poverty in its new faces: marginalized women, the undocumented (workers) and migrants, indigenous peoples, prisoners, the excluded. In the face of these a new image of charity must be projected. 5. The question of foreign debt is a factor and cause of poverty; efforts must continue for debt relief."

ITALIAN LANGUAGE GROUP B: ARCHBISHOP COSMO FRANCESCO RUPPI OF LECCE, ITALY. "It was said that the bishop must be a 'doctor veritatis', and for this reason must proclaim entirely the doctrine of Christ and of the Church, aware that Jesus, sole Redeemer and Lord, leads us to the full knowledge of God and to the life of grace. In treating the bishop's holiness and spirituality, the Fathers greatly insisted on the need for him to always be on the path of holiness and to become for everyone, first of all for the priests, an authentic teacher of prayer and a spiritual guide. For this reason, his humility and poverty, his faith, his hope and his charity must be mirrored, offering his own life and his own apostolic service as a model to the flock. ... The bishop's commitment to the pastoral vocational ministry, however, must be constant, remembering that, without a solid family and youth pastoral ministry, stable and durable results will not be possible. His commitment to the formation of future priests must also be assiduous and, for the seminary in particular, he must ensure qualified and up-to-date educators. ... The Italian group paid notable attention to the theme of apostolic collegiality and the unity of the Church: the unity of the Church, whose supreme custodian is the Pope, is in the hearts of all the Bishops. Therefore, gratitude to the Holy Father is unanimous for his daily, heroic and appealing service for the unity and charity of all Churches. Episcopal collegiality, cum Petro et sub Petro, is expressed in the love of each bishop for the Universal Church and for each particular Church, and is expressed through missionary solicitude towards the poorer and more needy Churches."

ENGLISH LANGUAGE GROUP C: ARCHBISHOP JOHN OLORUNFEMI ONAIYEKAN OF ABUJA, PRESIDENT OF THE EPISCOPAL CONFERENCE, NIGERIA. "In the area of Christian morality, we need to stress the social doctrines of the Church, the teachings on marriage and family and the ethics of responsible sexual behavior. 2. The spiritual life of the bishop must be centered around his ministry, especially in the liturgy, in prayer and in pastoral charity by which he encounters God in the people he is serving. ... The promotion of vocations to the priesthood and religious life should be a major concern of the bishop, in the light of the general crisis in this area. We have to clarify and affirm the identity of the priest, pray earnestly for vocations, and put in place a definite pastoral program of vocation promotion. ... The Roman Curia will serve collegiality better if decentralized. The ongoing reflection on the nature of national conferences of bishops should continue along the line of greater autonomy and freedom of action on the pastoral level. The common voice of bishops in conference can exert great positive influence in addressing civil authorities, both national and international, for the good of the society. ... The bishop should be a clear witness to the virtue of poverty, in simplicity of life-style, and above all in his concern for and preferential attention to the needs of the poor within his diocese. This concern should go beyond the diocese to the world, caring for the needs of the poor victims of the injustice of the present economic order."

The following synod fathers delivered their interventions in writing only, without presenting them in the hall: Archbishop Buti Joseph Tlhagale, O.M.I., of Bloemfontein, South Africa, and Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, S.J., archbishop of Milan, Italy.

Below are extracts from the summaries of their interventions:

ARCHBISHOP BUTI JOSEPH TLHAGALE, O.M.I., OF BLOEMFONTEIN, SOUTH AFRICA: "The members of the SACBC (South African Catholic Bishops' Conference) propose that collegiality of the bishops be made more effective. ... The consultative status of the Synod of Bishops is not considered sufficient. The present status often gives the impression that collegiality is not much more than a verbal statement without a corresponding reality. The concrete measures which could transform the Synod of Bishops into a deliberative structure cannot be proposed here and it will also be impossible to determine these during the synod itself. The SACBC therefore proposes that such a structure be prepared through a world-wide process of study and consultation. ... The members of the SACBC propose that episcopal conferences should be given increased importance. ... Subsidiarity (should) be recognized as a divinely instituted principle for designing the cooperation between the various levels of the government of the Church. ... A further time limitation should be established for the office of the bishop."

CARDINAL CARLO MARIA MARTINI, S.J., ARCHBISHOP OF MILAN, ITALY. "1. During the discussion in the hall, very little was said about the systematic pastoral visit to all the parishes and ecclesiastic institutions of the diocese, a visit which is one of the primary commitments of the bishop and which is dealt with in the Instrumentum Laboris no. 121. This visit must be well prepared and planned in an atmosphere of faith and must be done personally by the bishop, along with the help of collaborators. It might be opportune to look into the dioceses to see if and how this privileged form of contact between the bishop and the faithful is carried out. 2. Various interventions opportunely dealt with the relationship between the bishop and the Word of God. I would like to recall a double aspect: that of the bishop who personally cultivates that praying contact with the Scriptures 'which draws from the biblical text the living word which questions, directs and shapes our lives'; and that of the bishop who guides and helps the faithful, in particular the young, to pray starting with the Scriptures. It is important that it is the bishop himself who explains the Scriptures in the cathedral and invites the young to pray with him. 3. Reflection on the bishop as an instrument of communion in the local Church, and how he who represents and interprets it, asks himself how to ensure that the local Church as well can be recognized as the expression of its bishop, beginning with the procedures used in the search for appropriate candidates."

Vatican Information Service
16. oktober 2001