Year of Faith

My dear Fathers, Brothers and Sisters,

Pope Benedict XVI has declared a “Year of Faith”. It will begin on 11th October 2012 and it will end on 24th November 2013, the Solemnity of Christ the King. The starting date of the Year of Faith (11th October 2012) marks two important anniversaries: one, the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council; two, the twentieth anniversary of the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Pope John Paul II promulgated the Catechism of the Catholic Church so that the faithful may see the power and beauty of faith.

During the Year of Faith, the Pope wants the entire Church to undertake a deep reflection on faith so that in these changing times all those who believe in Christ may vigorously and consciously live the gospel.

Celebration of Year of Faith is a concerted effort to rediscover and study the fundamental content of the faith that receives its systematic and organic synthesis in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Here, in fact, we see the wealth of teaching that the Church has received, safeguarded and proposed in her two thousand years of history. From Sacred Scripture to the Fathers of the Church, from theological masters to the saints across the centuries, the Catechism provides a permanent record of the many ways in which the Church has meditated on the faith and made progress in doctrine so as to offer certitude to believers in their lives of faith.

The Pope wants all sections of the Church – religious communities, parish communities, ecclesial bodies, etc. to find ways to make a public profession of the Christian faith.

What Fruits does the Pope expect to reap from the celebration of this year?

Through the celebration of the year of faith the Pope expects:

a) to arouse in every believer the aspiration to profess the faith in fullness and with renewed conviction, with confidence and hope;
b) to intensify the celebration of the faith in the liturgy, especially in the Eucharist;
c) to rediscover the content of the faith that is professed, celebrated, lived and prayed; to reflect on the act of faith.

According to Pope Benedict XVI what the world needs the most today is “Credible witness of people enlightened in mind and heart by the word of the Lord and capable of opening the hearts and minds of many to the desire for God and for true life, life without end.” The Holy Father hopes that a meaningful celebration of the Year of Faith will give to the church such credible witnesses.

How should the Diocese of Varanasi celebrate it?

To start with, we will discuss and reflect on the ways and means to celebrate this Year of Faith in a worthy and fruitful manner. We will have to intensify our faith, so as to help all believers in Christ to acquire a more conscious and vigorous adherence to the Gospel, especially at a time of profound change such as humanity is currently experiencing. We will have to create opportunities to profess our faith in the Risen Lord in our Parishes, religious houses, institutions, in our Christian families, so that everyone may feel a strong need to know better and to transmit to future generations the faith of all times.

Therefore we have to commit ourselves to continuous faith formation for all ages and generations. We should empower people who are knowledgeable about the faith and possess faith-sharing skills to share their faith with those who are not involved in the Church community or are not spiritually committed.

We must be ready to invest our time and resources to develop faith formation around life situations and spiritual needs. We need to offer faith formation programmes for spiritual seekers or spiritually hungry people that will enable them to investigate the Catholic faith in small communities.

+Raphy Manjaly
Bishop of Varanasi