教皇：「『回心への心からの望み』なくして福音宣教は語れない。」
聖ペトロ広場のミサで世界代表司教会議始まる
By Junno Arocho 2012/10/7 ZENIT
バチカン市 2012/10/7 （ ZENIT ） 教皇ベネディクト 16 世は、聖ペトロ広場で行われたミサの中で、 「キリスト教信仰を伝えるための新しい福音宣教」をテーマとする（第13回）世界代表司教会議の開幕を公式に告げた。教皇はまた、アヴィラの聖ヨハネと聖ヒルデガルド・フォン・ビンゲンを教会博士とすることを宣言した。
説教の中で教皇は、新しい福音宣教の性格と、全世界に福音を告げなさいと弟子たちを招いたキリストの言葉を黙想した。ベネディクト 16 世はカトリック教会の役割を強調して、「教会は宣教のために存在する。」と述べ、「現代においても、聖霊は教会の中に、良い知らせを告げる努力と、宗教的、精神的ダイナミズムを養い育ててきた。それは第２バチカン公会議において、より普遍的な表現と、最大の権威ある励ましを見出した。」
「そのようにして刷新された福音宣教のダイナミズムは、そこから生まれる二つの『分野』に良い影響をもたらす。その一つは Missio ad Gentes （全ての人々への宣教）、すなわち、まだイエスとその救いのメッセージを知らない人々に福音を告げること。もうひとつは主として、洗礼は受けたが教会から遠ざかり、キリスト者としての生活を省みない人々に向けた新しい福音宣教である。」
教皇は、信仰に距離を置く人々への宣教という司教会議の目的に、繰り返し言及し、それらの人々の再発見は「個人や家族や社会に喜びと希望をもたらす、恵みの源泉だ。」と述べた。
その日（ 10/7 ）の第１朗読と福音で扱われた結婚というテーマを深く黙想し、教皇は、婚姻の秘跡こそ「福音そのものである」と、その大切さを強調した。教皇はまた、今日の社会において、信仰の危機は本質的に結婚の危機とリンクしていると述べた。「忠実で別つことのできない結びつきである結婚は、キリストにおいて、十字架に至るまで忠実にわたしたちを愛してくださった三位一体の神の恩恵に基盤を置いている。」と述べた。
「今日、多くの結婚が、不幸のうちに、悪い結末を迎えているという心痛む現実に直面して、わたしたちは、この言葉の意味を完全に理解しなければならない。」
聖性への招き
教皇ベネディクト 16 世は、第２バチカン公会議の全キリスト者に対する聖性への招きを想起して、「新しい福音宣教の先駆者とその体現者」に特別な配慮を行った。教皇はミサの中で、 アヴィラの聖ヨハネと、聖ヒルデガルド・フォン・ビンゲンを、教会博士とすると宣言し、彼らこそ、すべてのキリスト者が福音を述べ伝えるように呼ばれていることの模範であると語った。
聖性への招きは、また、 キリスト者の弱さ、更には罪さえも思い起こす助けになるとして、教皇は、 「回心への心からの望み」無くして福音宣教を語ることはできないと強調した。
教皇は、説教の最後に聖人たちと「偉大な福音宣教者たち」のとりなしを願い、特に、彼の前任者の福者ヨハネ・パウロ 2 世の業績は「新しい福音宣教の模範」であるとして、そのとりなしを祈った。
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Pope: We Cannot Speak of New Evangelization
without a "Sincere Desire for Conversion"
Synod of Bishops Opens with Mass at St. Peter's Square
By Junno Arocho http://www.zenit.org/article-35667?l=english
VATICAN CITY , OCT. 7, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Pope Benedict XVI officially opened The Synod of Bishops, under the theme of "The New Evangelization and the Transmission of the Christian Faith" with the celebration of Mass in St. Peter's Square. The Holy Father also proclaimed St. John of Avila and St. Hildegard of Bingen as Doctors of the Church.
During his homily, the Holy Father reflected on the nature of the new evangelization, and the call of Christ to his disciples to announce the Gospel around the whole world. Pope Benedict XVI stressed the role of the Catholic Church, saying that the "Church exists to evangelize."
"Even in our own times, the Holy Spirit has nurtured in the Church a new effort to announce the Good News, a pastoral and spiritual dynamism which found a more universal expression and its most authoritative impulse in the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council," the pope said.
"Such renewed evangelical dynamism produces a beneficent influence on the two specific "branches" developed by it, that is, on the one hand the Missio ad Gentes or announcement of the Gospel to those who do not yet know Jesus Christ and his message of salvation, and on the other the New Evangelization, directed principally at those who, though baptized, have drifted away from the Church and live without reference to the Christian life."
The Pope reiterated the Synodal Assembly's purpose to evangelize to those who have strayed from the faith saying its rediscovery can be a "source of grace which brings joy and hope to personal, family and social life."
Contemplating on the theme of marriage found in the first reading and Gospel of Sunday, the Holy Father emphasized the importance of the sacrament of Marriage, calling it "a Gospel in itself." The Pope also stated that the crisis of faith is inherently linked to the crisis of marriage in today's society. "Marriage, as a union of faithful and indissoluble love, is based upon the grace that comes from the triune God, who in Christ loved us with a faithful love, even to the Cross," the pope said.
"Today we ought to grasp the full truth of this statement, in contrast to the painful reality of many marriages which, unhappily, end badly."
A Call to Holiness
Pope Benedict XVI, in recalling the Second Vatican Council's call to holiness for all Christians, specifically regarded the saints as "pioneers and bringers of the new evangelization." The Holy Father presented St. John of Avila and St. Hildegard of Bingen, who were both proclaimed Doctors of the Church during the Mass, as examples of the call of all Christians to announce the Good News.
Saying that the call to holiness also helps us to contemplate on the fragility, and even sins of Christians, the Pope emphasized that it is not possible to speak of the New Evangelization without "a sincere desire for conversion.
The Holy Father concluded his homily asking the intercession of the saints and "great evangelizers", particularly his predecessor, Blessed John Paul II, referring to the late Pope's pontificate as "an example of the new evangelization."
以下に教皇スピーチ全文引用 ↓
教皇スピーチ全文（英語）
ZE12100701 - 2012-10-07 Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-35665?l=english
Pope Benedict XVI's Homily at Opening Mass of Synod of Bishops
"The Holy Spirit Has Nurtured in the Church a New Effort to Announce the Good News"
VATICAN CITY, OCT. 7, 2012 (Zenit.org).- The following is the translation of the homily delivered by Pope Benedict XVI today at the Opening Mass of the Synod of Bishops on The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith. During the Mass, the Holy Father proclaimed St. Juan of Avila and St. Hildegard of Bingen as Doctors of the Church.
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Dear Brother Bishops,
Dear brothers and sisters,
With this solemn concelebration we open the thirteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the theme The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith. This theme reflects a programmatic direction for the life of the Church, its members, families, its communities and institutions. And this outline is reinforced by the fact that it coincides with the beginning of the Year of Faith, starting on 11 October, on the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council. I give a cordial and grateful welcome to you who have come to be part of the Synodal Assembly, in particular to the Secretary-General of the Synod of Bishops, and to his colleagues. I salute the fraternal delegates of the other churches and ecclesial communities as well as all present, inviting them to accompany in daily prayer the deliberations which will take place over the next three weeks.
The readings for this Sunday's Liturgy of the Word propose to us two principal points of reflection: the first on matrimony, which I will touch shortly; and the second on Jesus Christ, which I will discuss now. We do not have time to comment upon the passage from the Letter to the Hebrews but, at the beginning of this Synodal Assembly, we ought to welcome the invitation to fix our gaze upon the Lord Jesus, "crowned with glory and honor, because of the suffering of death (2:9). The word of God places us before the glorious One who was crucified, so that our whole lives, and in particular the commitment of this Synodal session, will take place in the sight of him and in the light of his mystery. In every time and place, evangelization always has as its starting and finishing points Jesus Christ, the Son of God (cf. Mk1:1); and the Crucifix is the supremely distinctive sign of him who announces the Gospel: a sign of love and peace, a call to conversion and reconciliation. My dear Brother Bishops, starting with ourselves, let us fix our gaze upon him and let us be purified by his grace.
I would now like briefly to examine the new evangelization, and its relation to ordinary evangelization and the mission ad Gentes. The Church exists to evangelize. Faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ's command, his disciples went out to the whole world to announce the Good News, spreading Christian communities everywhere. With time, these became well-organized churches with many faithful. At various times in history, divine providence has given birth to a renewed dynamism in Church's evangelizing activity. We need only think of the evangelization of the Anglo-Saxon peoples or the Slavs, or the transmission of the faith on the continent of America , or the missionary undertakings among the peoples of Africa, Asia and Oceania . It is against this dynamic background that I like to look at the two radiant figures that I have just proclaimed Doctors of the Church, Saint John of Avila and Saint Hildegard of Bingen. Even in our own times, the Holy Spirit has nurtured in the Church a new effort to announce the Good News, a pastoral and spiritual dynamism which found a more universal expression and its most authoritative impulse in the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council. Such renewed evangelical dynamism produces a beneficent influence on the two specific "branches" developed by it, that is, on the one hand the Missio ad Gentes or announcement of the Gospel to those who do not yet know Jesus Christ and his message of salvation, and on the other the New Evangelization, directed principally at those who, though baptized, have drifted away from the Church and live without reference to the Christian life. The Synodal Assembly which opens today is dedicated to this new evangelization, to help these people encounter the Lord, who alone who fills existence with deep meaning and peace; and to favor the rediscovery of the faith, that source of grace which brings joy and hope to personal, family and social life. Obviously, such a special focus must not diminish either missionary efforts in the strict sense or the ordinary activity of evangelization in our Christian communities, as these are three aspects of the one reality of evangelization which complement and enrich each other.
The theme of marriage, found in the Gospel and the first reading, deserves special attention. The message of the word of God may be summed up in the expression found in the Book of Genesis and taken up by Jesus himself: "Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh" (Gen 2:24; Mk 10:7-8). What does this word say to us today? It seems to me that it invites us to be more aware of a reality, already well known but not fully appreciated: that matrimony is a Gospel in itself, a Good News for the world of today, especially the de-Christianized world. The union of a man and a woman, their becoming "one flesh" in charity, in fruitful and indissoluble love, is a sign that speaks of God with a force and an eloquence which in our days has become greater because unfortunately, for various reasons, marriage, in precisely the oldest regions evangelized, is going through a profound crisis. And it is not by chance. Marriage is linked to faith, but not in a general way. Marriage, as a union of faithful and indissoluble love, is based upon the grace that comes from the triune God, who in Christ loved us with a faithful love, even to the Cross. Today we ought to grasp the full truth of this statement, in contrast to the painful reality of many marriages which, unhappily, end badly. There is a clear link between the crisis in faith and the crisis in marriage. And, as the Church has said and witnessed for a long time now, marriage is called to be not only an object but a subject of the new evangelization. This is already being seen in the many experiences of communities and movements, but its realization is also growing in dioceses and parishes, as shown in the recent World Meeting of Families.
One of the important ideas of the renewed impulse that the Second Vatican Council gave to evangelization is that of the universal call to holiness, which in itself concerns all Christians (cf. Lumen Gentium, 39-42). The saints are the true actors in evangelization in all its expressions. In a special way they are even pioneers and bringers of the new evangelization: with their intercession and the example of lives attentive to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they show the beauty of the Gospel to those who are indifferent or even hostile, and they invite, as it were tepid believers, to live with the joy of faith, hope and charity, to rediscover the taste for the word of God and for the sacraments, especially for the bread of life, the Eucharist. Holy men and women bloom among the generous missionaries who announce the Good News to non-Christians, in the past in mission countries and now in any place where there are non-Christians. Holiness is not confined by cultural, social, political or religious barriers. Its language, that of love and truth, is understandable to all people of good will and it draws them to Jesus Christ, the inexhaustible source of new life.
At this point, let us pause for a moment to appreciate the two saints who today have been added to the elect number of Doctors of the Church. Saint John of Avila lived in the sixteenth century. A profound expert on the sacred Scriptures, he was gifted with an ardent missionary spirit. He knew how to penetrate in a uniquely profound way the mysteries of the redemption worked by Christ for humanity. A man of God, he united constant prayer to apostolic action. He dedicated himself to preaching and to the more frequent practice of the sacraments, concentrating his commitment on improving the formation of candidates for the priesthood, of religious and of lay people, with a view to a fruitful reform of the Church.
Saint Hildegard of Bingen, an important female figure of the twelfth century, offered her precious contribution to the growth of the Church of her time, employing the gifts received from God and showing herself to be a woman of brilliant intelligence, deep sensitivity and recognized spiritual authority. The Lord granted her a prophetic spirit and fervent capacity to discern the signs of the times. Hildegard nurtured an evident love of creation, and was learned in medicine, poetry and music. Above all, she maintained a great and faithful love for Christ and the Church.
This summary of the ideal in Christian life, expressed in the call to holiness, draws us to look with humility at the fragility, even sin, of many Christians, as individuals and communities, which is a great obstacle to evangelization and to recognizing the force of God that, in faith, meets human weakness. Thus, we cannot speak about the new evangelization without a sincere desire for conversion. The best path to the new evangelization is to let ourselves be reconciled with God and with each other (cf. 2 Cor. 5:20). Solemnly purified, Christians can regain a legitimate pride in their dignity as children of God, created in his image and redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, and they can experience his joy in order to share it with everyone, both near and far.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us entrust the work of the Synod meeting to God, sustained by the communion of saints, invoking in particular the intercession of great evangelizers, among whom, with much affection, we ought to number Blessed John Paul II, whose long pontificate was an example of the new evangelization. Let us place ourselves under the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Star of the New Evangelization. With her let us invoke a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit that from on high he may illumine the Synodal assembly and make it fruitful for the Church's way ahead.
[Original text: Italian]