Benedict XVI: A bishop must be a “teacher of the faith”.
On September 19, Benedict XVI addressed 110 bishops from around the world, who were consecrated in the last twelve months, and gathered in Rome for a training session organized by the Congregation for Bishops and for the Eastern Churches, in the premises of the Legionaries of Christ, from September 13 to 21.
“As you took your first steps in the episcopal office, you will have already realized how truly necessary are humble confidence in God and apostolic courage, which is born of faith and of your sense of responsibility as a bishop.” “As successors of the apostles, dear colleagues, you are doctores fidei, authentic doctors who annonce to the people, with the same authority as Christ, the faith in which we must believe and live.” “The proclamation of the Gospel is the origin of the Church,” and a bishop is above all a “teacher of the faith.”
“This demands interiority, silence and vigilance, attitudes which I invite you, not only to live, first of all, yourselves, but also to propose to your faithful.” “You must help the faithful entrusted to your pastoral care to rediscover the joy of faith, the joy of being loved personally by God, who gave His Son for our salvation” and “be careful that the faithful attend Sunday Mass, in which the Word of Life is heard, and in which Christ Himself is present under the species of bread and wine.”
The pope presented to his “dear confreres” the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church as a “faithful and sound synthesis of the Catechism itself. “They are both a reference point for your teaching and the sign of the communion of Faith which we live.” – On this subject, see the article in the next Christendom (n° 2): “Can The Abridged Catechism of the Catholic Church attain its objective?”
The Sovereign Pontiff concluded: “Do everything you can so that the year of the Eucharist, which is drawing to a close, leaves in the hearts of the faithful the desire to be ever more deeply rooted for the whole of their lives in the Eucharist. May it be, for you also, the inspiring strength of your pastoral ministry,” remaining especially attentive to the manner of celebrating which “nourishes the faith and devotion of your priests and faithful.”
