(January 07.01.2012 The note of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued
Saturday offered pastoral recommendations for “both the encounter with Christ, and
the ever-greater understanding of the contents of faith”. Among the recommendations
is to promote pilgrimages to the Holy Land. The faithful are invited to turn with
particular devotion to Mary, model of the Church. Therefore, every initiative that
helps the faithful to recognize the special role of Mary in the mystery of salvation,
is to be encouraged. Thus pilgrimages to major Marian shrines. The next World Youth
Day, in Rio de Janeiro in July 2013, will offer a special occasion for the young to
experience the joy which comes from faith in the Lord Jesus and communion with the
Holy Father, in the greater family of the Church. Noting how, still today, the Word
of God continues to grow and spread, it will be important to give witness that “all
the anguish and all the longing of the human heart finds fulfilment” in Christ Jesus
and that faith “becomes a new criterion of understanding and action that changes the
whole of man’s life.” The Year of Faith will offer a special opportunity for all
believers to deepen their knowledge of the primary documents of the Second Vatican
Council and their study of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. This Year will provide
an auspicious time for a more attentive reception of the homilies, catechesis, addresses
and other speeches and documents of the Holy Father. Pastors, consecrated persons
and the lay faithful are invited to renew their efforts in effective and heart-felt
adherence to the teaching of the Successor of Peter. Various ecumenical initiatives
are to be planned, aimed at “the restoration of unity among all Christians” which
“is one of the principal concerns of the Second Vatican Council.” In particular,
there will be a solemn ecumenical celebration in which all of the baptized will reaffirm
their faith in Christ. . A Secretariat to coordinate all the different initiatives
will be established within the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization.
At the conclusion of this Year, on the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Universal
King, there will be a Eucharist celebrated by the Holy Father, in which a solemn renewal
of the profession of faith will take place.