Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today I will introduce the new cycle of catechesis, which will be developed throughout the Year of Faith that has just started and interrupt – for this period – the cycle dedicated to the school of prayer. With the Apostolic Letter Porta Fidei I chose this special year, so that the Church would renew its enthusiasm to believe in Jesus Christ, the only Saviour of the world, revive the joy of walking on the path that He has shown us, and witnesses in a concrete way the transforming power of the faith. … …
Slik begynte pave Benedikt sin preken/katekese under gårsdagens audiens på Petersplassen, og på Vatikanradioens nettsider kan vi lese mer om dette:
To accompany Christians’ worldwide on the journey of the Year of Faith – which he opened last week – the Pope announced that he would be interrupting his series on the Christian School of Prayer for now to concentrate on helping people deepen their understanding of why we believe what we believe, starting with the “the essential formula of faith”, the Creed.
The Holy Father arrived at this decision following the results of the questionnaire bishops around the world were asked to answer ahead of the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelisation which is currently underway in the Vatican. The Pope highlighted some issues this revealed: a faith that is passive and private, rejection of faith formation, the rupture between faith and everyday life.
He said “Christians often do not even know the core of their Catholic faith, the Creed, so as to leave room for a certain syncretism and religious relativism, without clarity on the truths to be believed and the salvific uniqueness of Christianity. The risk is not far off today of people building a so-called «do-it-yourself» religion. Instead, we should return to God, the God of Jesus Christ, we must rediscover the message of the Gospel, to bring it into more deeply into our minds and our daily lives”.