Lombardi editorial: New Evangelization and Sanctity
Below, please fine the full text of Vatican Radio's English translation of the weekly
editorial from the Director of the Press Office of the Holy See, Federico Lombardi,
SJ.
New Evangelization and Sanctity
While the Synod Fathers gathered
in Rome continue their often difficult and complex reflections on the New Evangelization,
looking for unifying themes and threads running through the literally hundreds of
speeches made in the last few days by bishops, guests and observers, the canonisation
ceremony on 21 October breaks onto the scene like a powerful beam of light and joy.
No fewer than seven Blesseds are being proclaimed as models of sanctity for the
whole Church.
Priests, men and women religious, lay men and women. They lived
in Europe, Asia, Africa, America and Oceania. From the missionary Jesuit in distant
lands who died a martyr in Madagascar to the priest who was an educator of troubled
youth, to the sick woman who for decades carried out the invaluable spiritual mission
of suffering in her bed. There is the young Filipino lay catechist – he, too, a martyr;
there is the religious sister dedicated to caring for lepers; the religious sister
who spent her energy for the education of children, young people and workers. Then,
there is the true flower of this wonderful group, the young Kateri Tekakwitha, an
extraordinary fruit of the first proclamation of the faith among the tribes of Native
Americans.
Saints have always been the most credible witnesses of the Christian
faith, of the living and working Spirit of the Risen Jesus, of the transformation
of humanity thanks to the mysterious power of the Gospel. Without them, the Church
cannot live, cannot at all effectively spread the Gospel in a world that perhaps has
trouble accepting it, even though that same world has an immense need for it. The
world needs the saints, the world needs the Gospel: in order to rediscover the gratuitousness
of love, joy and hope. The New Evangelization will also start again with the saints
of our time.