"I ask you to reach out to the movements with much love"

Study Seminar for bishops regarding the reality of the various movements in the Church

Seminario de estudio en Rocca di Papa Seminar in Rocca di Papa Studienseminar in Rocca di Papa Foto: www.laici.org © 2008

ROME, mkf. No, José Alfredo "Pope" Pereira, a Schoenstatt Father seminarian from Paraguay was not a Schoenstatt representative at the study seminar for bishops regarding the reality of the movements in the Church. However, the photo accompanying this article – taken during the month of April at a general audience at St. Peter’s – expressed what the Holy Father stressed at the conclusion of the seminary. The way in which he approached the Pilgrim MTA by taking Her in his hands is what he is asking of the bishops: to reach out to the movements with love, and for them to realize that such movements "are not a problem; rather they are gift from the Lord, a precious resource to enrich the entire Christian community with their charisms."

Encouraged by His Holiness Benedict XVI, the Pontifical Council for the Laity organized a study seminar that was held May 15^th -17^th, 2008 and was attended by a significant group of bishops for the expressed purpose of reflecting on and dialoguing about the reality of the movements in the Church. Father Heinrich Walter, president of the General Presidency of Schoenstatt, represented Schoenstatt.

On the 17^th, the Holy Father received a group of the bishops who had participated in this study seminar. The sessions had been held on at Rocca di Papa near Rome.

"One of the most important novelties the Holy Spirit has generated in the Church in order to put Vatican Council II into effect"

"The ecclesial movements and the new communities – the Pope said – are one of the most important novelties the Holy Spirit has generated in the Church in order to put Vatican Council II into effect… Paul VI and John Paul II were able to welcome and discern, to encourage, and promote the unexpected emergence of the new lay groups which, in various and surprising ways, restored vitality, faith, and hope to the entire Church."

Benedict XVI stressed that although, "…no small amount of prejudice, resistance, and tension has been overcome, there remains the important task of promoting more mature communion among the components of the Church, so that all charisms, while respecting the specific nature of each, may fully and freely contribute to constructing the one Body of Christ."

In reference to the subject of the study seminar: "I ask you to reach out to the movements with great love," an exhortation he himself had addressed to a group of German bishops on their ad limina visit in 2006. He said, "Reaching out with great love to movements and new communities, impels us to an adequate knowledge of their situation, avoiding superficial impressions and reductive judgments." This helps us to understand that such movements "…are not a problem…they are a gift from the Lord, a precious resource to enrich the entire Christian community with their charisms."

Bearers of many gifts

The Pope emphasized that, "Difficulties and misunderstandings on particular points do not justify {an attitude} of closure." And he told the prelates that they must, "…closely accompany," the movements and new communities, "with Paternal solicitude…" so as to put to good use "…the many gifts they bear, gifts we have learned to know and appreciate: their missionary drive, their effective course of Christian formation, their witness of faithfulness and obedience to the Church, their sensitivity to the needs of the poor and their wealth of vocations."

"The authenticity of the new charisms is guaranteed by their willingness to submit to the discernment of ecclesiastical authority," the Holy Father added. In this context he indicated that bishops, "…must examine and test the charisms in order to recognize and evaluate that which is good, true and beautiful, that which contributes to increasing the sanctity of individual and of the community. And when it is necessary to intervene in order to correct," he concluded, "Such interventions must also be expressions of great love."

Source: Vatican Information Service, VIS 080519 (440)

Translation: Celina Garza, Harlingen, TX, USA/amj