Synod 2012: The New Evangelization for the Transmission of Christian Faith

The Vatican on Tuesday published the Instrumentum laboris – the working document – of the upcoming Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, dedicated to the New Evangelization for the Transmission of Christian Faith. Articulated in four chapters, the document will serve as the basis of reflection and discussion during the course of the three weeks’ gathering of Synod Fathers, experts and other invited guest participants from October 7^th to October 28^th at the Vatican. The following paragraphs offer a brief outline of the working document:

The first chapter is dedicated to a rediscovery of the heart of evangelization: the experience of Christian faith – the encounter with Jesus Christ, God the Father’s Gospel to humanity, which transforms us, gathers us together and introduces us, through the gift of the Spirit, to a new life, already experienced by us in the present, precisely in our feeling gathered as the Church. At the same time, this new life is the cause of our joy which compels us, as witnesses and joyful heralds of the gift received, to travel the streets of the world, awaiting the fulfilment of the Kingdom of God.

The second chapter seeks to focus attention on discerning the changes which affect how we live our faith and which influence our Christian communities. The reasons for spreading the idea of the new evangelization are then evaluated as well as the different ways the many particular Churches can feel involved.

The third chapter treats the basic places, means, persons and activities in the transmission of the Christian faith — the liturgy, catechesis and works of charity — and how, in the process of transmission, the faith needs to be professed, celebrated, lived and prayed.

Finally, in similar fashion, the fourth and final chapter discusses areas of pastoral activity, specifically those dedicated to the proclamation of the Gospel and the transmission of faith. The classic areas are then discussed, with greater development given to the most recent ones which have arisen in response to the impact and concerns arising from a reflection on the new evangelization in Christian communities and the manner in which they live their faith.

The General Secretary of the Synod of Bishops, Archbishop Nikola Eterovic told Vatican Radio more about how the document was put together, about the purpose it will serve during the work of the Synod Assembly, and about the aim of the New Evangelization. Listen: