{"id":1379,"date":"2014-09-15T22:00:10","date_gmt":"2014-09-16T02:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nuntiatura.ca\/en\/?p=1379"},"modified":"2015-02-25T15:49:20","modified_gmt":"2015-02-25T20:49:20","slug":"plenary-assembly-of-the-catholic-bishops-of-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/plenary-assembly-of-the-catholic-bishops-of-canada\/","title":{"rendered":"Plenary Assembly of the Catholic Bishops of Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"

Address of the Apostolic Nuncio, Msgr. Luigi Bonazzi<\/strong>
\nBeaupr\u00e9, September 15, 2014<\/p>\n

Your Eminences, Your Excellencies,
\nDear brothers in the Episcopate,<\/p>\n

Seven months after my arrival in Canada, in this vast territory which extends from one ocean to another, a mari usque ad mare<\/em>, after a first contact with your Regional\u00a0Episcopal Assemblies, after visiting different dioceses \u2013 permit me to mention Whitehorse,\u00a0perhaps the most distant \u2013 I have today the joy and the grace of meeting all of you, Pastors of the Church of the Lord which is in Canada, at the beginning of the Plenary Assembly of\u00a0your Episcopal Conference.<\/p>\n

I find particularly significant the place and the moment where our meeting unfolds:\u00a0here, in the Archdiocese of Qu\u00e9bec, in this \u201cMother Church\u201d from where began the\u00a0evangelization of Canada 350 years ago; in this same moment, when through Pope Francis,\u00a0the Holy Spirit is calling the Church to a renewed evangelization. This is truly a favorable\u00a0moment, a time of grace to be welcomed! (Cf. 2 Cor 6:1-2)<\/p>\n

Thank you, Lord, for this gift! Sincere thanks to you, dear brother Bishops of\u00a0Canada for your warm welcome. It reminds me of the words of St. Paul: \u201cLove one another\u00a0with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.<\/em>\u201d (Rom. 12:10).<\/p>\n

In order to know and make oneself known, as we are all aware, one must leave one\u2019s\u00a0own home, go out from one\u2019s self, and walk with confidence and respect towards the home\u00a0of others. In this regard, permit me to assure you of my profound desire and grateful\u00a0availability to visit your homes, each of you personally, your dioceses, insofar as you will\u00a0see useful a visit of the Apostolic Nuncio. I feel encouraged to manifest to you my\u00a0availability by Pope Francis who \u2013 I tell you this with joy \u2013 regards you, the Bishops of\u00a0Canada, with high consideration and esteem. Last year, three months after his election to\u00a0the Chair of Peter, he wished to meet with the Apostolic Nuncios. Emphasizing that he was\u00a0expressing \u201cnot merely formal words\u201d but \u201cthings I have pondered in my heart\u201d, Pope\u00a0Francis told us: \u201cYour job is more than important, it is the work of making the Church, of\u00a0constructing the Church, among the particular Churches and the universal Church,\u00a0between the Bishops and the Bishop of Rome. You are not intermediaries; rather you are\u00a0mediators, who create communion with your mediation.<\/em>\u201d This is precisely the daily service\u00a0that I would like to offer you, relying upon the grace of God, confident also in the assistance\u00a0you will provide.<\/p>\n

The Church in Canada. You are her Pastors. You know her more than I do. You\u00a0know her and you love her. The information that I have received and which I have heard\u00a0from you, leads \u2013 after these last decades of increased secularization \u2013 to the recognition\u00a0of new problems and great challenges. Let us consider, for example, the Consecrated Life\u00a0which, as a gift of the Holy Spirit, belongs intimately to the life, holiness and mission of\u00a0the Church (cf. VC, n. 3). \u201cWhat would the world be without religious?<\/em>\u201d St. Teresa of\u00a0Avila used to say (cf. CV 105). It is a view I share profoundly and which I recall whenever\u00a0I can. As you know, at the beginning of the 1960\u2019s the Church in Canada could count on\u00a0more than 60,000 religious. Today, there are a little more than 15,000, and their average\u00a0age is 80 years. Surely, this is a problem and one of the great challenges. In this context\u00a0how providential is the Year of Consecrated Life, which Pope Francis will inaugurate this\u00a0November 30. O Lord, enlighten us and help the Church in Canada to live this time of\u00a0grace with an abundance of fruit! Besides, you know other areas, which are a source of\u00a0anxiety and suffering: the shortage of priestly vocations, the aging of the clergy, the\u00a0weakening of the faith\u2026<\/p>\n

The statistical \u201csociological perspective\u201d seems to lead to \u201can alarming portrait\u201d.\u00a0Certainly, we cannot close our eyes. But even more, we must not close them to the\u00a0\u201ctheological perspective\u201d, the one that leads us to look at the Church as the Holy Spirit sees\u00a0her. How does the Holy Spirit see the Church today? What does the Spirit say to the\u00a0Church?<\/p>\n

One must work hard each day to find a response to these fundamental questions.\u00a0But in the meantime, by means of that instrument \u2013 Peter and his successors, the Bishops\u00a0of Rome – given to the Church in order to \u201cconfirm in the faith\u201d (Luke 22:32), the Holy\u00a0Spirit has already given us some fundamental perspectives. These can and should\u00a0encourage us, inspire us and enable us to work with confidence.<\/p>\n

– In what I like to consider as his \u201cspiritual testament\u201d handed to the Church at the\u00a0threshold of the third millennium – I am referring to the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio\u00a0Ineunte – St. John Paul II saw the pathway of the Church within the framework of the\u00a0\u201cmiraculous catch of fish\u201d (cf. Luke 5:1ff). In her navigation on the sea of history,\u00a0sometimes calm, sometimes agitated, sometimes even rough, the \u201cbarque\u201d of the Church\u00a0has at its disposal, an \u201cemergency kit\u201d to use in case of necessity. In this \u201cemergency kit\u201d,\u00a0there is the invitation not to be afraid to put out into the deep again and again: \u201cDuc in\u00a0altum.\u201d There will be a miraculous catch of fish. With the icon of the \u201cmiraculous catch\u201d,\u00a0St. John Paul II exhorts us all \u2013 pilgrims of the third millennium \u2013 to keep alive an verrenewed
\nhope, assuring us that the Lord calls us to an inexhaustible experience of grace.<\/p>\n

The Pope strongly invites us to look deeper: this is not the time for a final assessment, but\u00a0for a more profound attention to the Word and to the promise of God. This is the time to\u00a0listen to what the Lord is saying to our Church, this is the time for trusting and for casting\u00a0the nets into the deep. Therefore: Do we see a troublesome picture before us? Yes! Days,\u00a0months and years without apparent results? This too! Does the Church seem somehow\u00a0declining? That also! But all of this is accompanied by the certainty \u2013 if we trust in the\u00a0word of Christ and we cast out the nets \u2013 that a miraculous catch lies ahead, the birth or\u00a0rebirth of a Church more evangelical.<\/p>\n

In perfect harmony with St. John Paul II, Pope Francis \u2013 gift of the faith of Pope\u00a0Benedict XVI to the Church in the Year of Faith \u2013 is not asking if the weather is good, if\u00a0the forecast is favorable, if the nets are well prepared: he invites the Church to go forth,\u00a0\u201cto go outside.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA Church which goes forth\u201d is, basically, the fundamental theme of the Apostolic\u00a0Exhortation of Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium<\/em>. A Church that goes forth is a Church\u00a0that does not look at itself nor live for itself. \u201cAll of us are called to take part in this new\u00a0missionary \u2018going forth\u2019.\u201d (20). \u201cThe Church which \u2018goes forth\u2019 is a community of\u00a0missionary disciples who take the first step, who are involved and supportive, who bear\u00a0fruit and rejoice.<\/em>\u201d (24). These words make spontaneously arise before our eyes the images\u00a0of Pope Francis in the midst of people, without barriers, totally immersed, a living image\u00a0of how he and we would like the Church to be. \u201cGoing forth\u201d does not mean opening the\u00a0doors for people to enter into the Church; rather it means bringing Christ into the world\u00a0and \u2013 according to the missionary vocation of a Christian \u2013 bringing Him to those who do\u00a0not know Him. \u201cLet us not allow ourselves to be robbed of missionary enthusiasm!\u201d (80).\u00a0\u201cLet us not allow ourselves to be robbed of the joy of evangelization!\u201d (83). \u201cLet us not\u00a0allow ourselves to be robbed of missionary vigour!\u201d<\/em> (109) Hence the call, or even better,\u00a0the \u201cdream\u201d, as Pope Francis has put it, of the \u201cChurch\u2019s missionary transformation.<\/em>\u201d (EG,\u00a0Chapter I).<\/p>\n

– It is not possible to have a \u201cChurch that goes forth<\/span>\u201d unless there is a solid \u201cChurch\u00a0that enters<\/span>\u201d, a Church that is profoundly rooted in God, in the mystery of the Trinity and\u00a0of Redemption. All of Chapter V of Evangelii Gaudium<\/em> insists on this fundamental point.\u00a0\u201cJesus wants evangelizers who proclaim the good news not only with words, but above all\u00a0by a life transfigured by God\u2019s presence.\u201d (259) \u201cWithout prolonged moments of\u00a0adoration, of prayerful encounter with the Lord, our work easily becomes meaningless; we\u00a0lose energy as a result of weariness and difficulties, and our fervour dies out.\u201d (262)<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Therefore, it is necessary first of all to pray and then to proclaim. Pope Francis\u00a0insists strongly on this hierarchy of values: the first task of an apostle is prayer, then\u00a0proclamation. \u201cWhen we think of the Successors of the Apostles, the bishops \u2013 this includes\u00a0the Pope for he too is a bishop \u2013 we must ask ourselves if this successor of the Apostles\u00a0prays first and then proclaims the gospel; this is what it means to be an Apostle and this is\u00a0what makes the Church apostolic.\u201d (General Audience, October 16, 2013). This hierarchy\u00a0of priorities reminds me of that wise rule of pastoral life that says: \u201cWhat Christ does\u00a0within me is more important than what I do myself<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

– The depth of the \u201ccontemplative dimension\u201d will assure depth to our \u201cministerial\u00a0dimension\u201d, to the apostolate. What gives depth to our pastoral work? We all know that\u00a0the perception of space – technically called the \u201cstereoscopic vision\u201d, namely the perception\u00a0not only of length and height but also of depth – follows from the synergy of our two eyes,\u00a0each of which has a slightly different view from the other. With one eye, we can see, but\u00a0we cannot perceive the depth of space. This perception comes from the combination of the\u00a0two different visions of our eyes. In other words, the diversity of the two images is essential\u00a0for depth. Drawing from the metaphor: it is communion, the constant engagement to\u00a0achieve unity among us \u2013 which is always a unity of differences \u2013 that assures the \u201cdepth\u201d\u00a0of our pastoral action. We need the other; we need the eyes of others. If I look at things\u00a0only from my point of view, I have partial vision. Hence the value of the Episcopal\u00a0Conference, of Episcopal Collegiality: they offer the possibility of knowing the \u201ceye\u201d of\u00a0my brother bishops. Hence again, the value of the Council for Economic Affairs, of the\u00a0Presbyteral Council, of the Pastoral Council, of the various organisms of communion: all\u00a0of them are places allowing the enlargement of my point of view, which is enriched by the\u00a0\u201ceye\u201d of my priests, of the laity\u2026 Of course, many times, it is not easy to harmonize\u00a0different views; it is tiring to bring together different visions. However, by oneself, one\u00a0does not go far.<\/p>\n

All of this brings us to treasure and to live another fundamental rule of pastoral life\u00a0which says: \u201cActing in unity is more important than acting, no matter how perfect it\u00a0may be, in isolation: collaboration then is more important than working in solitude;\u00a0the communion is more important than the action.\u201d \u201cThe diocese walks with the feet of\u00a0its priests\u201d, a Brazilian Bishop that I met during my holidays said to me. He told me how,\u00a0with three days off, he had arranged to visit three different priests in three different\u00a0parishes. With great fruitfulness for the three priests and for himself. I leave to you to\u00a0develop the numerous pastoral implications, which arise from the desire to promote an\u00a0evangelization that has depth, that is to say, an evangelization in communion.<\/p>\n

Our consolation is that God always goes before us. \u201cThis is our great consolation<\/em>\u00a0– these are the words of Pope Benedict XVI which I like to repeat \u2013 God goes before us. He has already done all things. He have given us peace, forgiveness and love<\/em>.\u201d (Lectio\u00a0Brevis from the Hour of Terce, October 3, 2005). The Resurrection of Christ has already\u00a0been sown in the vast fields of Canada! St. Marie de l\u2019Incarnation and St. Fran\u00e7ois de\u00a0Laval, two new stars shining and enlightening the firmament of the Church of Canada are the bright proof of this! Precisely in the light of this perspective, Pope Francis concludes\u00a0Evangelii Gaudium: \u201cIt is the Risen Christ who tells us, with a power that fills us with\u00a0confidence and unshakeable hope: \u2018Behold, I make all things new\u2019.\u201d (Rev. 21:5)<\/em>. The\u00a0Pope goes on, inviting us to advance with confidence towards the fulfilment of this\u00a0promise, while entrusting ourselves to Mary, Star of the New Evangelization, praying to\u00a0her:<\/p>\n

Mary, Virgin and Mother,<\/em>
\nhelp us to say our own \u201cyes\u201d<\/em>
\nto the urgent call, as pressing as ever,<\/em>
\nto proclaim the good news of Jesus.<\/em>
\nGive us a holy courage to seek new paths,<\/em>
\nthat the gift of unfading beauty<\/em>
\nmay reach every man and woman.<\/em>
\nStar of the new evangelization,<\/em>
\nhelp us to bear radiant witness to communion,<\/em>
\nservice, ardent and generous faith,<\/em>
\njustice and love of the poor,<\/em>
\nthat the joy of the Gospel<\/em>
\nmay reach to the ends of the earth,<\/em>
\nilluminating even the fringes of our world.<\/em>
\nMother of the living Gospel,<\/em>
\nwellspring of happiness for God\u2019s little ones,<\/em>
\npray for us.<\/em>
\nAmen. Alleluia!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Address of the Apostolic Nuncio, Beaupr\u00e9, September 15, 2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[45,22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1379"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1379"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1650,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1379\/revisions\/1650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}