A busy October............

H/t to Blue Eyed Ennis: Phil over at Blue Eyed Ennis has done a round up of what is happening in October in the Church universal which we are going to shamelessly copy some of and then send you across to see the rest of it on her blog!

New Doctors of the Church
 
As we have noted a few times on this blog, St Hildegard of Bingen will be declared a doctor of the Church on 7th October by Pope Benedict XVI. Rome Reports has a short video explaining what it is all about:

XIII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops
 
From 7th - 28th October 2012 around 300 Catholic Bishops from around the world will come together in Rome for the XIII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, to reflect on the theme of "The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith".
 
A Synod is an international meeting of bishops. According to Pope Benedict XVI, the Synod is to be a moment to examine the journey that had been made in terms of spreading Gospel in the modern day and to resume with fresh impetus the urgent work still to be done in evangelising today’s world.

Reprentatives from the Irish bishops:

• Archbishop Diarmuid Martin
• Bishop Kieran O'Reilly (Bishop of Killaloe)

(The non-attendance by Cardinal Sean Brady is a point of note as usually the Irish attendees at Synods are the president and vice-president of the episcopal conference and in an Irish context that always means the archbishops of Armagh and Dublin).
 
From the press release following the Autumn meeting of the Irish episcopal conference:

The Synod will reflect upon the transmission of Christian faith, one of the great challenges facing the Church, and it will be examined in the context of the new evangelisation. New evangelisation is an expression of the internal dynamism of Christianity which wishes to make men and women of good will know the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of the mystery of God revealed in Jesus Christ; it is not a weary response to the crisis of faith and the challenges facing the Church in the modern world. The work of new evangelisation aims at a renewal of the ordinary pastoral activity of particular Churches while seeking, at the same time, to engage with people who have left the Church.

The Synod will open with the views of episcopal conferences which will analyse the need for new tools and new forms of expression to make the Word of God more understandable in our contemporary lives. The Synod will hopefully be an opportunity to discuss and compare points of view and practical experiences, to be shared in order to provide encouragement to leaders and particular Churches.

Of particular focus for the Synod will be the lack of vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life at the present time, an issue discussed at length by the bishops at their meeting. The work of the Synod will be enriched by its association with the Universal Year of Faith which begins on 11 October next.

As we have already noted there is a Limerick connection to the Synod this year with the appointment of Prof Rev Eamon Conway of Mary Immaculate College in Limerick as one of the theological advisors/experts to the Synod!

The Year of Faith 2012 - 2013

We have already spoken about this on the programme a number of times including letting you know what Limerick is doing for the Year of Faith so check out our links HERE. The Year of Faith begins on 11th October, the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, and it will end on the Solemnity of Christ the King on 24th November 2013. Blue Eyed Ennis also reminds us that it is also the 20th anniversary of the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

During the Year of Faith, catholics are being asked to study and reflect on the documents of the Council (which you can access HERE) and the Catechism (which you can access HERE) so that they may deepen their knowledge of the faith.