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Ärende: Vatican Information Service - Press Release
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                               VIS-Press releases

PAPAL ADDRESS TO SWISS BISHOPS

VATICAN CITY, NOV 9, 2006 (VIS) - Made public yesterday afternoon was a talk
given by the Pope to prelates from the Conference of Swiss Bishops during a
meeting held in the Vatican on the morning of Tuesday, November 7.

The Holy Father began his talk by addressing the question of faith, affirming
that if people once used to grow in this virtue "as a part of life," today "the
opposite seems more natural, in other words, that in the end it is not possible
to believe, that in fact God is absent. In any case, the faith of the Church
appears to be a thing of the distant past." For this reason, "I believe it is
important to become aware of the fact that faith is at the center of
everything."

"Faith," said the Pope, "is above all faith in God. ... This centrality of God
must, I believe, become visible in a completely new way in all our thoughts and
actions. It is what animates our activities, which, otherwise, can easily
degenerate into activism and become empty of meaning."

"This complete form of faith as expressed by the Creed, of a faith in and with
the Church as a living entity in which the Lord is at work," is what "we must
seek to put truly at the center of our activities. Even today, we see this very
clearly: development causes damage when it is promoted exclusively, without
(also) nourishing the soul."

"If, alongside aid in favor of developing countries, alongside the teaching of
everything man is capable of doing, everything his intelligence has invented
and his will made possible, if alongside all that, his soul is not also
illuminated ... then we learn only how to destroy. For this reason, I believe,
we must reinforce our missionary responsibilities. If we are happy in our
faith, we feel obliged to speak of it to others; the extent to which mankind
welcomes it is in the hands of God."

Turning to address the question Catholic education, Benedict XVI mentioned "one
thing which causes us all 'concern,' in the positive sense of the word: ... the
fact that the theological formation of future priests and of other teachers and
announcers of the faith should be outstanding. We need, then, good theological
faculties, good major seminaries and well-trained teachers of theology."

"The unity of Scripture," Pope Benedict said, "is not a purely historical or
critical fact, ... but a theological fact. These writings form one Scripture,
and can be fully understood only if read in 'analogia fidei,' as a unit in
which there is a movement towards Christ and, conversely, in which Christ draws
all history to Him." In this context, the Pope underlined the importance that,
"alongside, with and within historical-critical exegesis," there be "an
introduction to living Scripture as the actual Word of God."

The Pope then went on to speak about catechesis which "over the last fifty
years has, on the one hand, made considerable progress in terms of methodology
but, on the other, has lost a lot in terms of anthropology and the search for
points of reference, to such a degree that it often does not even manage to
cover the contents of the faith." It is important, Benedict XVI continued, for
catechesis to fully value the faith, "and to find ways for that faith to be
understood and accepted. Because religious ignorance today has reached a
frightening level."

On the subject of the liturgy, the papal address made it clear that this "is
not some 'self-expression' of the community which in the liturgy enters center
stage, it is rather the community abandoning its 'being itself' to enter the
great banquet of the poor, to become part of the great living community in
which God Himself nourishes us. ... And it must be borne in mind that the
homily is not an interruption of the liturgy for the purposes of making a
speech, but that it is part of the sacramental event, bringing the Word of God
into the present moment of the community."

"This means that the homily is itself part of the mystery, of the celebration
of the mystery, and hence cannot be separated therefrom," said the Pope,
highlighting the importance of it being the celebrant who pronounces the
homily. "The priesthood is a thing of beauty only if the mission to be
accomplished is seen as a whole, from which things cannot be cut off here and
there. And this mission has always involved - even in the Old Testament rite -
the priest's duty to link the sacrifice with the Word, which is an integral
part of the whole."

As for the Sacrament of Penance, said the Holy Father, "we truly must learn it
anew. Even from a purely anthropological point of view it is important, on the
one hand, to recognize sin and, on the other, to exercise forgiveness. The
widespread lack of awareness of sin is a worrying phenomenon of our times. The
gift of the Sacrament of Penance consists, then, not only in the fact that we
receive forgiveness, but also in the fact that we become aware of our need for
forgiveness, ... and so we can also better understand others and forgive them."

On the question of episcopal ministry, the Pope highlighted the importance
"that bishops, as successors of the Apostles, ... bear true responsibility for
the local Churches entrusted by the Lord to their care. ... On the other hand,
they must open the local Churches to the Universal Church." In this context,
the Holy Father mentioned the difficulties of the Orthodox "with their
autocepahlous Churches," and of Protestants "with the breakup of regional
Churches. ... We are aware," he added, "of the enormous significance of
universality, how important it is that the Church should open herself to
totality, truly becoming, in her universality, one Church."

In closing, Benedict XVI touched on the question of ecumenism, highlighting the
importance of guaranteeing the essential and God-given values of our society.
"I believe," he concluded, "that if we learn to act together in this field we
can achieve a large measure of unity, even where full theological and
sacramental unity is not yet possible."
AC/ADDRESS/SWISS BISHOPS VIS 061109 (1050)

SUMMARY

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