New evangelization

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Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - "Handing on the Faith" is the title of the third chapter of laboris the XIII General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the theme: "The new evangelization for the transmission of the Christian faith" (7 to 28 October 2012). 

Here it is evident that the purpose of the new evangelization and the transmission of the faith, and this is not the work of one individual only, but instead is the responsibility of every Christian and the whole Church. It focuses especially on the liturgy and life of prayer, which "transform a Christian community which celebrates and transmits the Trinitarian faith", and on the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which develops the fundamental contents of faith and at the same time indicates the pedagogy of its transmission. At the heart of the new evangelization the parish must be placed, point of reference and coordination of pastoral initiatives, and family, the model-place of evangelization.

The Year of Faith represents an urgent call to conversion so that every Christian and every community, transformed by grace, may bear abundant fruits. Among the fruits of faith the first mentioned is charity, then a renewed ecumenical commitment, the search for truth, interreligious dialogue, the courage to denounce the infidelities and scandals emerging in Christian communities.The last chapter, the fourth, of the Instrumentun titled "Revivifying pastoral activity" starts by remembering the missionary mandate entrusted by Jesus to the Church, which at different times gave rise to "pastoral practices dictated by the desire to transmit faith and the need to proclaim the Gospel with the language of men, rooted in their cultures and among them. " A review of such practices, before the rapid social and cultural changes, was started some time ago and, in many respects, is still in action. In particular it emphasizes the richness of the ways of Christian evangelization at an evangelical point of view; the need to help Christian communities, starting from the parishes, "to adopt a more missionary style" of its presence, the urgency to find forms, places, initiatives to bring in the daily life of society the first proclamation. 

The Church throughout its history has made great effort in the field of education. The current cultural context makes this process more difficult and the commitment of the Church therefore assumes particular importance, especially, "to highlight the root of the anthropological and metaphysical challenges concerning education." The chapter concludes by pointing out that the problem of evangelization is not an organizational and strategical question, but spiritual: "The ultimate secret of the new evangelization is the answer to the call of every Christian to holiness.

"In the Conclusion we note that the first evangelization began at Pentecost, and that new evangelization does not mean "new Gospel", but it means "appropriate response to the signs of times, the needs of individuals and peoples of today, new scenarios ... ". Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, present among us with his Spirit, allows us to look at the future "with eyes of faith, without tears of despair." This hope must be the foundation of our pastoral activities and our church life. "In this regard we have a password for a present and future pastoral: new evangelization, that is, new proclamation of the message of Jesus, which brings joy and frees us. This password nourishes the hope that we need: the contemplation of the Church was born to evangelize, knows the deep source of energy for the proclamation." (2) (SL) (Agenzia Fides 21/6/2012)