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POPE-BISHOPS Sep-19-2005 (490 words) xxxi
New bishop's first task is to teach faith, pope says
By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CNS) -- The first task of a bishop is to teach his people the Christian faith, helping them see that God loves each one of them and that he has revealed himself in Christ, Pope Benedict XVI told a group of new bishops.
The 110 bishops, including five from Eastern Catholic churches, were appointed over the past year. They were in Rome for a course sponsored by the Congregation for Bishops and designed to give them practical information for dealing with their new responsibilities.
Pope Benedict, who as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had been one of the key speakers at the course in previous years, told the bishops it was important for the Vatican to offer them "an adequate reflection on the challenges and problems that await you."
Meeting the bishops Sept. 19 at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, the new pope told the new bishops that their first task is to teach the faith.
"Be 'doctors of the faith,' authentic doctors who proclaim with Christ's authority the faith to be believed and lived," he said.
"You must help the faithful entrusted to your pastoral care rediscover the joy of the faith, the joy of being personally loved by God, who gave his son Jesus for our salvation," the pope said.
"As you well know, to believe consists above all in entrusting oneself to the God who knows us and personally loves us, and in welcoming the truth revealed in Christ with a confident attitude that leads us to have trust in him," the pope said.
"Despite our weaknesses and our sins," the pope said, "he loves us, and this love gives meaning to our lives and to the life of the world."
Being teachers of the faith, he said, means helping people see that their response to God's love must be a commitment to developing a personal relationship with him, allowing him to transform their lives and their consciences.
Pope Benedict encouraged the new bishops to make frequent use of the "Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church" in their teaching, not only because it is an official presentation of what the church believes but also because it is "a sign of communion" and unity in the faith.
The pope also asked the bishops to do what they could to ensure that the Year of the Eucharist, scheduled to end in October, "leaves in the hearts of the faithful the desire to increasingly root their lives in the Eucharist."
Pope Benedict prayed that the Eucharist would be "the inspiring force of your ministry."
He asked the bishops to remember that "the way the bishop celebrates the Mass nourishes the faith and devotion of his priests and faithful."
In his diocese, the bishop is responsible for ensuring "a worthy and decorous celebration of the Eucharist and for promoting eucharistic devotion," he said.
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Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
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