Vatican: statements from Synod of Bishops

ROME
8 October 2008

The Fourth General Congregation of the Twelfth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops took place yesterday afternoon in the presence of 240 Synod Fathers. The president delegate on duty was Cardinal George Pell, archbishop of Sydney, Australia. Bishops made the following statements:

BISHOP MAURICE PIAT, CSSP OF PORT-LOUIS, MAURITIUS. "The crisis of the transmission of the faith in the societies of Christendom can be largely explained by the fact that in these societies the Church enjoys relative security and tends to take the faith for granted, to privilege the teaching of doctrine and to neglect the Word of God in the process of transmission. If not built on the rock of the Word of God, the doctrinal and moral edifice remains founded upon sand and with difficulty resists the tsunami of modern digital culture. Hence the urgent need to find a place for the Word of God as the foundation for the life and mission of the Church. The Word becomes a foundation when it is welcomed as the event of God speaking to us about Himself, addressing us as friends and inviting us to share His life. This Word does not seek to convince the curious but to arouse faith in the hearts of the humble. Thus, in presenting the faith we are not simply transmitting a tremendous message, but an invitation united to the promise: 'come and you will see'". the rest

China's Catholics of Guizhou: Three Days with Three Bishops
Anthony E. Clark, Ph.D.
October 3, 2008

In the nineteenth century several intrepid French missionary priests from the Paris Foreign Missions Society (M.E.P.) traveled to China's southern Guizhou province, where many holy Chinese Catholics later sacrificed their lives rather than apostatize. Just one hour outside of Guizhou's capital city, Guiyang, rests the grave of four Chinese saints who were beheaded in 1861 when a Qing dynasty official led a persecution against Catholic believers.

Despite repeated challenges, the Church has continued in Guizhou ever since the Gospel was planted there nearly two centuries ago. The Catholic faithful there have a turbulent history, but in spite of two hundred years of suffering the Church in Guizhou can now boast a flourishing community.

I was recently granted audiences with the three bishops of Guizhou during a three-day visit to the cathedral in Guiyang, the provincial capital. I was first granted an audience with the ninety-year-old principle bishop of Guiyang, His Excellency Wang Chongyi. Second, I was granted a private interview with the eighty-year-old "underground" bishop, His Excellency Hu Daguo. And finally, I had a brief interview with the young, recently consecrated bishop, His Excellency Xiao Zejiang. The situation in Guizhou with the bishops is complex, but the devotional life of the faithful is rich. the rest