{"id":3706,"date":"2020-03-15T01:29:46","date_gmt":"2020-03-15T00:29:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/15.188.244.8.xip.io\/meeting-of-parish-priests-and-clergy-of-rome-2-22-2007\/"},"modified":"2020-06-14T03:16:15","modified_gmt":"2020-06-14T02:16:15","slug":"meeting-of-parish-priests-and-clergy-of-rome-2-22-2007","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/neocatechumenaleiter.org\/en\/words-of-the-popes\/benedict-xvi\/meeting-of-parish-priests-and-clergy-of-rome-2-22-2007\/","title":{"rendered":"Meeting of parish priests and clergy of Rome 2-22-2007"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Meeting of parish priests and clergy of Rome 2-22-2007 <\/h1>\n\n
<\/div>\n\n

Benedict XVI<\/h4>\n\n
<\/div>\n\n

Vatican – Hall of Blessings, February 22, 2007 *<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

During the annual meeting \n the Holy Father Benedict XVI with the clergy of his diocese of Rome, where the \n possibility for some parish priests to ask questions and obtain \nanswers of the Pope, to a parish priest who asked about how to insert himself \nbetter to develop a ministry of unity in the universal Church, the \nPope has responded speaking also of the Neocatechumenal Way, of the \nknowledge that he personally has and of its Statute.<\/em>The theme of the Ecclesial Movements and the New Communities, \nas a providential gift for our times, it has been proposed by the \nFather Gerardo Ra\u00fal Carcar, belonging to the community of the Fathers of \n Sch\u00f6nstatt, arrived in Rome in September 2006 from Argentina and today \nis cooperating vicar of the parish of San Jer\u00f3nimo a Corviale. It is about \nthe realities that have a creative impulse, live the faith and seek \nnew ways of life to find a proper missionary placement in \nthe Church. The religious has asked the Pope for advice on how \nto be inserted to really develop a ministry of unity in the \nuniversal Church.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

Response of the Pope:<\/em> \n“So I see that I must be briefer. Thank you for your question. I think you \nmentioned the essential sources of all that we can say about \nMovements. In this sense, your question is also an answer. \nI would like to explain immediately that in recent months \nI have been receiving the Italian Bishops on their ad limina visits and so have \nbeen able to find out a little more about the geography of the faith in Italy. I see many very beautiful things \n together with the problems that we all know. I see above all \nthat the faith is still deeply rooted in the Italian heart \neven if, of course, it is threatened in many ways \nby today’s situations. The Movements also welcome my fatherly \nrole as Pastor. Others are more critical and say \nthat Movements are out of place. I think, in fact, that situations \ndiffer and everything depends on the people in question.<\/p>\n\n

It seems to me that we have two fundamental \nrules of which you spoke. The first was given to us \nby St Paul in his First Letter to the Thessalonians: do not extinguish \ncharisms. If the Lord gives us new gifts we must be \ngrateful, even if at times they may be inconvenient. And it is beautiful that without an \ninitiative of the hierarchy but with an initiative from below, as people say, \n but which also truly comes from on High, that is, as a gift \nof the Holy Spirit, new forms of life are being born in the Church \njust as, moreover, they were born down the ages.<\/p>\n\n

At first, they were always \ninconvenient. Even St Francis was very inconvenient, and it was very hard for the Pope \nto give a final canonical form to a \nreality that by far exceeded legal norms. For St Francis, it was \na very great sacrifice to let himself be lodged in this juridical framework, \nbut in the end this gave rise to a reality that is still alive today and will live on \nin the future: it gives strength, as well as new elements, to the Church’s life. \nI wish to say only this: Movements have been born in all the centuries. \nEven St Benedict at the outset was a Movement. They do not become \npart of the Church’s life without suffering and difficulty. St Benedict himself \nhad to correct the initial direction that monasticism was taking. Thus, in our century too, \nthe Lord, the Holy Spirit, has given us new initiatives with new \naspects of Christian life. Since they are lived by \nhuman people with their limitations, they also create difficulties.<\/p>\n\n

So the first rule is: do not extinguish \n Christian charisms; be grateful even if they are inconvenient. The second rule \nis: the Church is one; if Movements are truly gifts \n of the Holy Spirit, they belong to and serve the Church and in patient dialogue \nbetween Pastors and Movements, a fruitful form is born where \nthese elements become edifying for the Church today \nand in the future. \nThis dialogue is at all levels. Starting with the \nparish priest, the Bishops and the Successor of Peter, the search for \nappropriate structures is underway: in many cases it has already borne fruit. \nIn others, we are still studying. For example, we ask ourselves whether, \nafter five years of experience, it is possible to confirm definitively \nthe Statutes for the Neocatechumenal Way, whether a trial period is \nnecessary or whether, perhaps, certain elements of \nthis structure need perfecting. \nIn any case, I knew the Neocatechumens from the very outset. It was \na long Way, with many complications that still exist today, \nbut we have found an ecclesial form that has already vastly improved the \nrelationship between the Pastor and the Way. We are going ahead like this! The same \ncan be said for other Movements.<\/p>\n\n

Now, as a synthesis of the two fundamental rules, \nI would say: gratitude, patience and also acceptance of the \ninevitable sufferings. In marriage too, there is \nalways suffering and tension. Yet, the couple goes forward and thus \ntrue love matures. The same thing happens in the Church’s communities: \n let us be patient together. The different levels of the hierarchy too \n – from the parish priest to the Bishop, to the Supreme Pontiff – \nmust continually exchange ideas with one another, they must foster dialogue to \n find together the best road. The experiences of parish priests \nare fundamental and so are the experiences of the Bishop, and let us say, the \nuniversal perspectives of the Pope have a theological and pastoral \nplace of their own in the Church.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

On the \n one hand, these different levels of the \nhierarchy as a whole and on the other, all life as it is lived in the parish context with patience \n and openness in obedience to the Lord, really create new vitality \nin the Church.<\/p>\n\n

Let us be grateful to the Holy Spirit \nfor the gifts he has given to us. Let us be obedient to the voice of the Spirit, \nbut also clear in integrating these elements into our life; lastly, \nthis criterion serves the concrete Church and thus patiently, \n courageously and generously, the Lord will certainly guide and \nhelp us.”<\/p>\n\n

(*) Cfr. \u00abL\u2019Osservatore Romano\u00bb, 24 February 2007.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meeting of parish priests and clergy of Rome 2-22-2007 Benedict XVI Vatican – Hall of Blessings, February 22, 2007 * During the annual meeting the Holy Father Benedict XVI with the clergy of his diocese of Rome, where the possibility for some parish priests to ask questions and obtain answers of the Pope, to a parish priest who asked about how to insert himself better to develop a<\/p>\n

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