{"id":341482,"date":"2012-10-29T14:15:24","date_gmt":"2012-10-29T13:15:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/synod-quenching-the-thirst-for-the-infinite\/"},"modified":"2024-06-06T12:07:52","modified_gmt":"2024-06-06T10:07:52","slug":"synod-quenching-the-thirst-for-the-infinite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/synod-quenching-the-thirst-for-the-infinite\/","title":{"rendered":"Synod: quenching the thirst for the infinite"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Three weeks of intense work, exchanges of insights and sharing of experiences<\/strong>. The thirteenth Synod of the Bishops,<\/strong><\/a> dedicated to the new evangelization, concluded with a solemn mass in St Peter\u2019s square. From 7th to 28th October, speaking about the challenges met today in proclaiming the Word of God, bishops from all over the world met together with 45 experts, 49 auditors and fraternal delegates, representatives of 15 Churches<\/strong> and ecclesial communities. Everyone of them spoke and Pope Benedict XVI<\/strong> was present nearly the whole time. He listened, took notes, welcomed all that was said. A synod, he said when greeting the assembly \u2018is always a powerful moment of ecclesial communion \u2026 [where we] experience the beauty of being Church and of being Church today, in this world as it is, in this humanity with all its struggles and its hopes.\u2019 The Focolare Movement<\/strong><\/a> participated in the synod through the presence of three auditors: the Movement\u2019s President, Maria Voce<\/a>, Ernestine Sikujua Kinyabuuma<\/strong> from the Democratic Republic of Congo<\/strong> and Gis\u00e8le Muchati<\/strong> from Syria<\/strong>. The three representatives brought with them the experience and life of the Focolare in the field of evangelization which is \u2018often on the frontiers, together with the whole Church,\u2019 as Maria Voce put it. It is a commitment that involves people of every age, that penetrates \u2018everywhere, homes, factories, government buildings, hospitals, schools and universities\u2019 making \u2018visible\u2019 the \u2018relationships of brothers and sisters brought about by the Gospel.\u2019 \"\"<\/a>\u2018We come away from the synod,\u2019 Maria Voce said in an interview on an Italian national news programme, \u2018with the great hope of being able to see in the demands, the questions and the challenges of our times not so much the problems themselves as the chance of witnessing in a new, living and joyful way. The encounter with Christ is always something beautiful to be able to proclaim and it is something that can satisfy the thirst for the infinite which all human beings have.\u2019 Ernestine Kinyabuuma shared her personal experience of teaching at the Maria Malkia University Institute of Lubumbashi<\/strong>. She spoke the day after three religious from the Democratic Republic of Congo had been kidnapped. She said, \u2018In the midst of the changes brought about by globalization, Africa is going through a crisis at all levels, political, economic and cultural. For this reason, seeking a way out, people are reacting everywhere.\u2019 It is in this context that Christians experience how much \u2018the hand of God intervenes in the little things of our lives, at the points where our lives seem most at risk. We have courage given by faith in the words of Jesus who tells us that whatever we do to the least we do to him.\u2019 This is what has generated the Focolare community\u2019s commitment to the central prison of Lubumbashi where it has been possible to build three dormitory blocks, a tailor\u2019s workshop and a small shop selling essentials. The pain of the Syrian people also touched the synod through the words of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State: \u2018We cannot be mere spectators of a tragedy like the one consuming Syria.\u2019 This is the reason for sending a delegation \u2018convinced that the solution to the crisis cannot be other than political and thinking of the terrible sufferings of the populace, of the fate of the evacuees as well as of the nation\u2019s future.\u2019 In an interview to Radio Vatican Gis\u00e8le Muchati, who is responsible for the Focolare\u2019s New Families Movement in Syria, said \u2018I wish to express my gratitude to the Holy Father for sending a delegation from the Holy See to Syria. It is something special, because it will help the Syrian people feel that all the people of God are with them.\u2019 Gis\u00e8le told the synod of the experience of the Focolare Movement in a land torn by war, caring for families and refugees. Its commitment was, she said, \u2018at all costs to maintain faith in God to whom nothing is impossible. In Aleppo, since August, in various neighbourhoods small spontaneous prayer groups have sprung up. Thus\u00a0 the voice of prayer is often lifted up despite the sound of gunfire and bombs. The experience of unity strengthens and gives peace in the midst of danger, faith in God\u2019s love is stronger, hope is alive.\u2019 In conclusion, the synod handed over to the Pope 58 \u2018final recommendations\u2019 – proposals that emerged from all that had been said and which will help Benedict XVI to compose his Post-Synodal Exhortation to be published in the coming months. The \u2018word\u2019 of the synod will now be taken into the world by those who took part in it. Message to the People of God<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On 28 October, the Synod of Bishops on the new evangelization came to a conclusion. It was marked by great hope and new enthusiasm to witness to the joy coming from living the Gospel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-341482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-non-categorizzato"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341482\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}