Bishop Pedro Ossandon Buljevic

Auxiliary Bishop Pedro Ossandon Buljevic of Santiago de Chile endorsed the See Judge Act method as a tool for the new evangelisation in an address to the Synod of Bishops in Rome last week.

"How can we propose the Biblical animation of life in the Spirit?" Bishop Buljevic asked.

People must learn "to permanently discern the signs of the times, according to the Holy Spirit in the service of the Kingdom of God," explained.

"This involves incorporating a discipline that teaches us to dialogue in truth and charity with the culture of Holy Scripture and in accordance with the teaching of the Church."

The Church must promote "the encounter with Christ, from the Trinitarian spirituality of communion, in the discernment in the Spirit," Bishop Buljevic said, referring to the see-judge-act method as outlined in the Aparecida Document adopted by the Latin American bishops in 2007.

In another address to the Synod, former YCS member and President of the Pontifical Council for Justice & Peace, Cardinal Peter Turkson took up Blessed John Paul II’s description of the Catholic Social Teaching as “an instrument of evangelisation”.

Quoting Blessed John XXIII's Cardijn-inspired ncyclical Mater et Magister, Cardinal Turkson said that “it is not enough merely to formulate a social doctrine. It must be translated into reality”.

“Evangelization would not be complete if it did not take account of the unceasing interplay of the Gospel and of man's concrete life, both personal and social," Cardinal Turkson continued.

"Testimony to Christ's charity, through works of justice, peace and development, is part and parcel of evangelization, because Jesus Christ, who loves us, is concerned with the whole person.”

Cardinal Turkson's presentation followed a wave of interventions by the Latin American bishops who brought with them a strong focus on the reality of poverty in their continent and the outcome document from the last meeting of Latin American Bishop in Aparecida (available at www.celam.org/aparecida.php )," noted IYCS Secretary General Devett O'Brien.

SOURCE

Synod Bulletin 14 - 13.10.2012

Synod Bulletin

See Judge Act an instrument of the new evangelization (Media Blog, ACBC)

The Pan African Congress of Catholic Laity concluded last week in Cameroon.

The Congress, following in the wake of the apostolic exhortations Ecclesia in Africa of Blessed John Paul II and Africae Munus of Benedict XVI.

The theme of the Congress, “Being witnesses of Jesus Christ in Africa today: Salt of the earth… light of the world,” was highlighted by addresses by the president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, Cardinal Stanisław Rylko and by interventions by Catholic leaders from throughout Africa.

In agreement with the morning congress presentations by Cardinal Peter Turkson and Professor Marguerite Peeters, Cardinal Rylko challenged the Catholic laity to defend the dignity of the human person and the inalienable rights like the right to life, which no individual, groups, authorities, states can change because it is supreme and comes from God.

Earlier Cardinal Turkson reminded the congress of the affirmation that in the life of the faithful, Christian social commitment and social action flow from the spirituality of discipleship. He also underlined the need for lay commitment to social action especially in places where only they can be the salt and light of the world.

Cardinal Christian Tumi, Emeritus Archbishop of Douala in Cameroon, presided at Sunday’s closing Mass, which took place in Mvolye Basilica in Yaoundé.

In his message to the conference, Pope Benedict quoted Pope Paul VI.

"I would like to recall a few words of the Servant of God, Paul VI, faithful interpreter of the Council: 'For the Church, evangelizing means bringing the Good News into all the strata of humanity, and through its influence transforming humanity from within and making it new' (Ap exhortation Evangelii nuntiandi, 18).

"In this transformation of the whole society, which is so urgent for Africa today, the lay faithful have an irreplaceable role: 'Through its lay members, the Church is made present and active in the life of the world.

"The laity has a great role to play in the Church and in society. [...] The lay faithful, in fact, are "ambassadors of Christ" (2 Cor 5:20) in the public place, in the heart of the world ' (Ap. Exhortation Africae munus, 128).

"Women and men, young people, the elderly and children, families and entire societies, all of Africa today looks to the 'ambassadors' of the Good News, the lay faithful from the parishes, Communautés Ecclésiales Vivantes, from the ecclesial movements and from new communities who are in love with Christ and the Church, filled with joy and gratitude for the Baptism they have received, brave peacemakers and heralds of true hope," Pope Benedict said.

SOURCE

Pope: message to the Pan-African Congress of Catholic Laity (Vatican News)

Pan-African Congress of Catholic Laity concludes in Cameroon (Vatican News)

Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson and the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace of which he is president are both emphasising the importance of Cardijn's See Judge Act method.

Addressing a 30 March - 1 April congress in Lyon, France, organised by UNIAPAC, the ecumenical business leaders movement, Cardinal Turkson pointed to the method as a tool for discerning the vocation of the business leader.

Read his speech Vocation of the Business Leader here.

In fact, this speech was basically an introduction to a new document published by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace entitled "Vocation of the Business Leader: A Reflection".

This whole 32 page document is explicitly organised into three sections based on the See, Judge and Act.

Read more here: See Judge Act with Cardinal Turkson

Photo: Wikipedia/Haiducul/CC 3.0