Four Canadian bishops participating in new evangelization synod in Rome

By Deborah Gyapong

Canadian Catholic News

OTTAWA (CCN) — Four Canadian bishops are among the 262 prelates gathered at the Vatican for the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian faith Oct. 7-28.

Quebec Archbishop Gérald Cyprien Lacroix, Saint-Hyacinthe François Lapierre, PMÉ, Nelson Bishop John Corriveau and Antigonish Bishop Brian Dunn will each be making five minute presentations at the synod. They were elected earlier this year by their fellow bishops to be delegates.

During the annual plenary of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) in Sainte-Adele, Quebec, Sept. 24-28 the delegates and two substitutes shared draft versions of their texts.

The final texts will be published on the CCCB.ca website after they are delivered, the CCCB announced in an Oct. 5 news release naming the delegates.

Lacroix told the bishops he would be speaking on sharing one’s personal encounter with Jesus Christ and the willingness to welcome God’s saving grace anew each day. He also stressed the role of laymen and women in sharing the Gospel.

Lapierre spoke of new evangelization in the context of a church that is increasingly impoverished, with aging priests and fewer interested young people. He spoke of new opportunities hidden in these challenges, including better use of the church’s social doctrine, to meet the needs of those who are seeking for meaning.

Corriveau focused on communion, energized by the mystery of the Holy Trinity, as an antidote to this age’s individualism, noting the church is created to be a family and how believers best reflect the trinitarian image of God when they are in relationship.

Dunn, who replaced former Bishop Raymond Lahey who pleaded guilty to child pornography charges, examined the Holy Spirit is saying to the church in light of the sexual abuse crisis and proposed a deeper sense of listening and reconciliation to reach out to those who have been hurt.

Two substitute delegates also prepared texts in case one of the chosen bishops is unable to make his presentation. Saint-Jean-Longueuil Bishop Lionel Gendron spoke on making trinitarian renewal foundational to new evangelization. Halifax Archbishop Anthony Mancini addressed the question of how faith is transmitted in a modern world where the roots of the Christian faith can no longer be presumed.