October 8, 2012. (Romereports.com) The Pope opened the discussion forum on the Synod on the New Evangelization. He began by improvising a speech where he reflected on the meaning of the word
'evangelization.'BENEDICT XVI
“My meditation refers to the word 'evangelium-evangeliae'. In this synod we want to discover what it means, what it tell us, what we have to, or should do.”
Before the 262 Synod Fathers, observers and experts, the Pope emphasized that Christians did not build the Church from scratch, but rather, they followed the path laid out by God, by evangelizing. The Pope said, the role of the Church is to tell others about the life of Jesus, and at its very core, that is the role of the New Evangelization.
BENEDICT XVI
“Only God can begin. We can only cooperate, since the start has to come from God. So it is not a mere formality that we start each day of this synod, with a prayer. It's a reflection of reality. Only through God's beginning, is our path and our cooperation possible. But it is not our decision.”
This was the first reflection, Benedict XVI addressed to all those taking part in the Synod. Special guests will also take part in the meetings, including Orthodox leader, Patriarch Bartholomew and Anglican primate Rowan Williams.
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