Seminar Presentation. Good News (Evangelii Gaudium 25-33). pastoral conversion to which Pope Francis calls of people wishing to proclaim the

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2 Seminar Presentation In the grace of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, the eighth Rome Symposium, organised in cooperation with the Pontifical Redemptor Hominis Institute (Rome) and the Akademie für Dialog & Evangelisation (Vienna), follows on from the work done during previous meetings. After symposia considering the contribution of the new ecclesial movements and communities to the life and mission of the Church (2004), announcing Christ in the post-modern world (2006), the role of the parish in the New Evangelisation (2008), the necessary complementarity between priests and laity (2010), the missionary contributions of the Social Teaching of the Church (2012) and of education (2014), the 2016 Symposium will study the importance of mercy in the pastoral conversion to which Pope Francis calls of people wishing to proclaim the Good News (Evangelii Gaudium 25-33). Pope Francis linked mercy and the pastoral conversion to which he has referred frequently from the inception of his Pontificate during his voyage to Brazil in 2013: Concerning pastoral conversion, I would like to recall that pastoral care is nothing other than the exercise of the Church s motherhood. She gives birth, suckles, gives growth, corrects, nourishes and leads by the hand So we need a Church capable of rediscovering the maternal womb of mercy. Without mercy we have little chance nowadays of becoming part of a world of wounded persons in need of understanding, forgiveness, love.» (FRANCIS, 27 July 2013, Rio de Janeiro, Allocution to Brazilian Bishops). Using an interactive methodology, the Symposium wishes to take seriously the Holy Father s invitation to Christina communities: Pastoral ministry in a missionary key seeks to abandon the complacent attitude that says: We have always done it this way. I invite everyone to be bold and creative in this task of rethinking the goals, structures, style and methods of evangelization in their respective communities. (Evangelii Gaudium 33) Pope Francis makes this call to all communities, including those new communities who have been active in evangelisation in recent decades, to the point, perhaps, of considering themselves as specialists of mission. However, it is not enough to rely solely on past experience, however rich it might be. Pope Francis asks us to allow a questioning of our praxis and to be creative, seeking ever better ways of taking into account the challenges of our time, so as to remain in a permanent state of mission (Evangelii Gaudium 25). 2

3 To answer this call, and help the participants in an in-depth study of this question, wellknown speakers from Italy, France, Germany and the United States will take part in the Symposium. These speakers will help the participants to discern the signs of the times and the calls that the Holy Spirit makes through these sings. These experts will help participants to discover concrete ways for «rethinking the objectives, structures, style and methods of evangelisation» in our communities. The Symposium will study the pastoral ministry of Jesus the perfect missionary (Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi 7), and of the apostles he trained for three years during his public life. The Symposium will also consider the personal and community conversion that mission requires: how can we live mercy, humility, love and compassion? How can we announce the Gospel in love and truth, respecting people while calling them to conversion? The Symposium will consider how the founders of movements and new communities (Chiara Lubich, Pierre Goursat, Simona Tronci 1 ) replied in their own way to the challenges of their time and how they lived out the call to evangelising with mercy. How can these people help us today? The Symposium will see that Pope Francis missionary challenge pushes communities to take risks in order to go towards our contemporaries, and particularly towards the most wounded among them: «I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security» (Evangelii Gaudium 49). As in previous symposia, the times of debate will allow a sharing of experiences. Space will also be given to prayer and to liturgy, in order to favour openness to the Holy Spirit. New The languages of the 2016 Symposium will be Italian, English, French and German. 1 All three are Servants of God, with an ongoing process of canonisation. 3

4 Thursday 28 January 2016 Symposium Programme 9.00 a.m.: Laudes 9.30 a.m.: Greeting Prof. Denis Biju-Duval, President, Pontifical Redemptor Hominis Institute (Pontifical Lateran University) 9.30 a.m.: Introductory Considerations: Mercy, a path of pastoral conversion for the New Evangelisation Speaker : Cardinal Philippe Barbarin (Archbishop of Lyon, France) (to be confirmed) a.m.: Short Debate a.m.: Coffee Break a.m.: Jesus, Model for Evangelisation: the Place of the Cross in Jesus Pastoral Approach Speaker: Prof. Gregorio Vivaldelli (Biblical Scholar, Via Pacis Community (Italy) a.m.: Debate a.m.: Holy Mass 1.00 p.m.: Lunch 2.30 p.m.: Panel 1: - Fr. Nicolas Buttet (Eucharistein Community, Switzerland): Mercy, Path of Evangelisation - Prof. Otto Neubauer (Akademie für Dialog & Evangelisation, Vienna): Evangelisation and Humility 3.30 p.m.: Mercy and Truth: Lessons from the Practice of Apologetics Speaker: Mr. Karl Keating, Catholic Answers, USA 4.30 p.m.: Break 5.00 p.m.: Joy and Evangelisation: Servant of God Simona Tronci, co-founder of the Primavera Community of Cagliari Antonella Tanda (Associazione Primavera, Catholic Charismatic Renewal, Italy): 6.00 p.m.: Panel with all five speakers: - Nicolas Buttet - Otto Neubauer - Karl Keating - Gregorio Vivaldelli - Antonella Tanda 4

5 7.00 p.m.: Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament p.m.: Dinner Friday 29 January a.m.: Laudes 9.30 a.m.: What Missionary Conversion is needed as a reply to the Signs of the Times? Speaker: Prof. Clemens Sedmak (Universität Salzburg and Notre Dame University) a.m.: Debate a.m.: Communion and Mercy: Servant of God Chiara Lubich, Founder of the Focolari Movement Speaker: Maria Voce (President, Focolari Movement) a.m.: Holy Mass 1.00 p.m.: Lunch 2.30 p.m.: The Apostles Pastoral Approach (Acts, St Paul s Letters) Speaker: Prof. Mauro Meruzzi (Biblical scholar and theologian of evangelisation, Emmanuel Community, Pontifical Urbanianum University, Rome) 3.30 p.m.: Compassion and Mercy: Servant of God Pierre Goursat, Founder of the Emmanuel Community Speaker: Martine Catta (Co-founder of the Emmanuel Community) 4.00 p.m.: Break 4.30 p.m.: Panel 2 - Fr. Francis Manoukian (Emmanuel Community, Itinerant Missionary Team) : building an apostolate of conversion - Fr. Christian Hennecke (Spiritual Director, Paderborn Seminary, Germany) : Compassion and Growth of small Christian communities - Prof. Paolo Asolan (Pontifical Redemptor Hominis Institute): Evangelisation and Charity 5.30 p.m.: Panel with the day s speakers - Prof. Clemens Sedmak - Prof. Mauro Meruzzi - Martine Catta - P. Francis Manoukian - P. Christian Hennecke - Prof. Paolo Asolan 5

6 7.00 p.m.: Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament 8.15 p.m.: Dinner Saturday 30 January p.m.: Laudes 9.30 p.m.: Pastoral Conversion: Discerning the Seeds that God has Already Sown in the Church Speaker: Prof. Denis Biju Duval, President, Pontifical Redemptor Hominis Institute a.m.: Debate a.m.: Coffee Break a.m.: Evangelisation through Holiness. What is Pastoral Fruitfulness? Holiness, the beginning of Pastoral Fruitfulness Speaker: Cardinal Robert Sarah (Prefect, Congregation for Divine Worship) a.m.: Debate a.m.: Holy Mass 1.00 p.m.: Lunch 2.30 p.m.: Concluding Considerations Fundamentals and Dynamics of the Church s Missionary Springtime Speaker: Bishop Dominique Rey, Bishop of Fréjus-Toulon, France) 3.30 p.m.: Debate 4.30 p.m.: Concluding remarks. 6