Bishops Discuss Challenges Ahead with Pope

Times of Malta
May 26, 2012

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120526/editorial/Bishops-discuss-challenges-ahead-with-Pope.421305

Archbishop Paul Cremona and Gozo Bishop Mario Grech will go to the Vatican tomorrow to report on the state of their dioceses. They do so in accordance with Church law that lays down that, every five years, a diocesan bishop must make a report to the Supreme Pontiff on the state of the diocese entrusted to him.

The ad limina apostolorum, as these visits are known in Church language, is primarily a manifestation and a means of communion between the bishops and the Chair of Peter. It is an occasion that has three principal moments, each one of them having its own proper meaning.

The first moment is the pilgrimage to the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul. Closely linked to this is the meeting with the successor of St Peter.

What takes place at this stage is not simply an exchange of information between the Holy Father and the bishops but is primarily the affirmation and the consolidation of collegiality in the body of the Church. This gives rise to unity in diversity and generates a kind of interaction between the universal Church and the particular Churches.

The third moment of the visit ad limina is the meeting with those in charge of the various offices of the Roman Curia.

In these discussions, the bishops have direct access to the individual offices responsible for handling certain issues and problems and thus are introduced to various aspects of common pastoral concern.

As it happens, the Maltese ecclesiastical leaders go for these high-level consultations in Rome at a time when the Holy See is preparing for next October’s Synod of Bishops. This will be focusing on the theme, The New Evangelisation For The Transmission Of The Christian Faith.

The Pope and his aides are likely to be interested in knowing how the bishops intend to lead the faithful in the new, very challenging reality facing the Church in Malta, which does not mean they do not follow what happens here.

The problems are not limited to the traumatic experiences caused by certain high-profile issues, such as the scandals of the sexual abuse of minors within the Church’s fold, the impact of the divorce referendum result and the controversies involving Church teaching regarding IVF and same-sex unions.

There are, of course, other problems that need to be addressed, including that of people distancing themselves from the Church for personal reasons. These vary from religious indifference or a lukewarm spirit to a feeling that, in certain areas, Catholicism is merely “a collection of prohibitions”.

The Maltese bishops have rightly declared that what is required is a new evangelisation that will stimulate a kind of renewal urging people to shift from their present standpoint and move forward. The need of this wise new evangelisation is not because the essence of the gospel has changed but, rather, because the society in which it must be lived and transmitted today is different from what it used to be in the past.

At the centre there must be a carefully hewn plan based on a sound catechesis and careful formation of the heart. This would require a mobilised clergy with a very intentional and unified sense of direction. It is, after all, the clergy that has to be the key to bringing the vision of any new evangelisation to the people.

Bishops and priests need to work together to devise a concerted plan aimed at helping individual Catholics reclaim their own identity as Catholics. They must then very courageously invite others to see and taste the goodness of their Lord.