Peace, transmission of the faith, community life, young people, Christian initiation, use of economic resources and guidelines for the ecclesial journey: the final communiqué of the Permanent Council of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI) sets out a broad agenda, in which the bishops hold together the pastoral dimension, institutional responsibility and a reading of the present time. Gathered in Rome from 23 to 25 March under the guidance of Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the bishops indicate as points of reference “the need for missionary conversion”, “the centrality of the transmission of the faith”, the importance of ecclesial co-responsibility, and the need to identify “common instruments, times and moments for assessment”. Among the priorities are “Christian initiation, mission and peace”. Also part of this framework is the approval of the text on the identity of godfathers and godmothers, called to be a “bridge” and “link” between family and community, and the new criteria for the management of 8×1000 funds, based on “transparency, accountability, traceability and communicability”. The starting point is a clear acknowledgement: “faith can no longer be taken for granted” and society “no longer normally refers to the Gospel”.
Communities to be renewed
This context calls for a reflection on the condition of Christian communities. The communiqué speaks of a society marked by “loneliness, family fragility, questions of meaning, and new forms of material and spiritual poverty”, and notes an “increasingly evident and widespread hunger for community”. Yet this expectation is met with the difficulty of transforming individual needs into a shared experience of faith, hope and charity. For this reason, the bishops insist on the need to create “true communities, capable of welcoming those who are in search, accompanying those who return to the faith, supporting catechumens”, and making visible “a charity that is not reduced to mere assistance”. Hence also a call for a “pastoral creativity” that strengthens the fabric of community life and supports ordained ministry. Within this framework, attention is given to young people, described as “in need of and longing for credible words, authoritative adults and an ecclesial presence capable of accompanying them”. The theme is linked to the value of unity, indicated as a constitutive trait of ecclesial life in a cultural context “not infrequently marked by exacerbated divisions”.
A reading of the present
It is against this background that the international situation must be read. The strongest passage of the communiqué is about war: “we cannot become accustomed to war or to the language that justifies or trivialises it”. The bishops renew their closeness to the Churches in the Middle East, marked by “violence, insecurity and fear”, and express concern over a scenario in which conflict continues to present itself as an “ordinary instrument for resolving disputes”. This denunciation is accompanied by a reminder of the global consequences, including “the energy crisis that risks weighing on families and on the most vulnerable”. Hence “the need to educate for peace”, to support “every diplomatic effort”, to safeguard “the value of international law”, and to relaunch the role of Europe. Taken together, the themes addressed by the Permanent Council outline a Church that seeks to hold together the proclamation of the Gospel and the quality of community life. At its core is a Church called to show its “missionary” face, with “meekness and clarity”, in a style of “closeness, fraternity and listening”.
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