Last week Archbishop Dew, of Wellington New Zealand, was named by Pope Benedict XVI to serve as one of the papally-appointed Synod Fathers for the October 2012 Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization.
The Pope specifically appointed 36 Synod Fathers for the Thirteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which will focus on the new evangelisation.
They are additional to delegates from the world’s bishops’ conferences, three president-delegates (Cardinals Tong Hon, Robles Ortega and Monsengwo Pasinya), the relator-general (Cardinal Wuerl) and the secretary (Archbishop Carré).
Later, there will be additional lay men and women who will be invited to contribute as well.
The New Evangelisation Synod expected to focus on the family’s role.
At the Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist in 2005 Archbishop Dew and the New Zealand Bishops raised the issue of divorced and remarried Catholics being able to receive the Eucharist. He said that bishops have “a pastoral duty and an obligation before God to discuss and debate the question.” They asked the assembly to reconsider the Church ban, referring to it as a “source of scandal”, adding “Our Church would be enriched if we were able to invite dedicated Catholics, currently excluded from the Eucharist, to return to the Lord’s Table.”
Source
- NewsVA
- CNA
- CathNewsAustralia
- Image: Reuters