"communion and witness" now the priority of the Church: Cardinal Sandri
October 16, 2012: "communion and witness", which led the Synod for the Middle East,
is now the priority of the Church, said Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation
for the Oriental Churches, at the 13th Synod of the bishops, on Monday.
This ‘communion and witness’, he said, draws strength from the four pillars on which
the Church is founded, namely, the proclamation of the word, the service of charity,
the Eucharist and the set of sacraments, personal and community prayer. They are essential
to every work of evangelization.
He thanked Pope Benedict XVI for having introduced
the Eastern Catholic Churches in the Synod on the New Evangelization with the gift
of Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in the Middle East and the unforgettable visit to
Lebanon.
The pilgrimage, especially in the year of faith will make the churches
and historic sites of our salvation, confirming the spiritual and material charity
to increase hope for Christians of the East and to receive from their testimony that
comfort of that hope which is essential the new evangelization. With the Eastern Brothers
let’s say: we acknowledge all the problems, divisions, lack of fidelity to the Gospel,
sometimes mingling with the power or the search for a safe and economic. We wish therefore
to purify the spirit and pastoral work, together with our people, added Cardinal Sandri.