A new cardinal-designate said he was encouraged by the recent bishops'
synod in Rome, which emphasized an encounter with the risen Christ as
the basis of all evangelization.
What “caught my attention in the synod was the desire of everyone to
make evangelization not so much a strategy but a living encounter with
the living Lord,” Archbishop Luis A. Tagle of the Philippines told CNA
Oct. 29.
“I guess in the past decades or so we were so focused on how to do
things all over the world – churches were trying to strategize. In
itself it is not bad. But we might forget that faith is not a product of
a strategy.”
“Faith might bring forth new strategies. But if it is not rooted in
friendship with Jesus Christ and the following of Jesus Christ, then
what kind of evangelization will happen?”
Archbishop Tagle attended the Oct. 7-28 new evangelization synod in
Rome, during which it was announced that the Manila prelate was among
the six bishops to be appointed cardinal. The group will be elevated at a
consistory to be held Nov. 24.
“It is a real calling, a real mission,” he said, “to share...in the universal mission of the Holy Father.”
Archbishop Tagle will be appointed to the Congregation for Catholic
Education upon his elevation. At 55, he will become the world's second
youngest cardinal.
“It came as a total surprise to me,” said Archbishop Tagle of the
appointment. “But what consoles me is this: The announcement came three
days after the canonization of the second Filipino saint, Pedro
Calungsod, a young catechist who joined the Jesuit missionaries to Guam
and…witnessed to Jesus to the offering of his own life.”
On the recently ended synod, Archbishop Tagle said the new evangelization presents questions not given to easy answers.
“There are many opportunities for spreading the Good News and of the Lord and his salvific presence in our midst,” he said.
“But maybe because some of them are relatively new, we’ve not yet been able to grasp fully the impact of all of these.”
“Some are worried, some are concerned. But we realize, too, that being
concerned is OK so long as we don’t jump or are moved to pessimism. We
have to affirm our faith that our Lord is risen, he is here, he is very
much present, we have to listen to him.”
This complexity “led us in the synod to humility,” he said, adding that
the lack of concrete measures by the synod as an opportunity “for
exploration.”
“The Holy Father, in his post-synodal exhortation, will give us basic
orientations. Now the specific, concrete implementation would have to be
done on the local level.”
“The complexity of the situation just merits openness,” and he is glad
that there is no need for bishops worldwide to “act similarly,
uniformly, disregarding our unique contexts.”
Archbishop Tagle added that he was encouraged by the synod's call to personal conversion among Catholics.
The response to to the word of God “would always entail being renewed
in the mind and the heart according to Jesus Christ. This theme struck
me as a leitmotif in the whole synod,” said the archbishop.
He is especially hopeful that fellow Filipinos continue to spread the faith wherever they go.
“The presence of overseas Filipino workers in many places across the
world is for us an evangelizing moment. And we now feel the
responsibility…of giving them initial formation so that when they leave
the country they could be equipped to contribute to the life of the
Church wherever they are.”
Archbishop Tagle also said looks forward to the Year of Faith – which
kicked off on Oct. 11 in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Second
Vatican Council – as a chance to return to “a living encounter with
Christ” and for “a deepening of the knowledge of the content of the
faith.”
“Faith is a content, and this is an opportunity to rediscover anew Vatican II's teachings.”