Notice: Curia all-stars to release document on Evangelization and Catechesis

CNA reports on what probably will be a very important document:

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), headed by Cardinal William Joseph Levada, is about to release an important document on evangelization and catechesis, Vatican sources told CNA this week.

According to the Vatican sources, the document, which could be made public this Advent, “can be regarded as an application of the principles of the document “Dominus Iesus” to the way evangelization is transmitted and catechesis is taught within the Catholic Church.”

In “Dominus Iesus” the CDF, then under the leadership of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, clearly established the differences between the Catholic Church and other religions including other Christian denominations. “Dominus Iesus” states that only the Catholic Church possesses the fullness of the Christian faith.

According to sources consulted by CNA, the new document on evangelization will stress the need to make the person of Jesus Christ, in his role as God incarnated to bring the full revelation of God’s plans through the Catholic Church, the corner stone and center of every program of evangelization and catechesis.

The intention of the document, according to the source, is “to bring back the centrality of Jesus to the programs aimed at transmitting the faith to future generations, since several of these programs are centered on feelings or confused ideas about the teachings of the Church on the nature of Jesus.”

The doctrinal note will be released next Friday (the 14th). A quick look at the presenters reveals an impressive "who's who" list of top-flight Curia heads:

• Cardinal William Joseph Levada, Prefect of the Congregation of the Faith
• Cardinal Ivan Dias, Prefect of the Congregation of the Evangelizations of Peoples
• Cardinal Francis Arinze, Prefect ... of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
• Monsignor Angelo Amato, Secretary for the Congregation of the Faith

Wow. Levada, Dias, Arinze and Amato in the same room. That's like a mini-conclave right there.

Amy has the scoop:

You might remember that the one of the more recent documents of a similar nature, one which concerned the nature of the Church was released in July without a press conference - perhaps because no one thought that anyone could really care much about this short document from the CDF .. .they were wrong, because it got quite a bit of press - even in the secular media - and I think the failure to introduce the document in a press conference might have inadvertantly encouraged some of the misrepresentations that ran amuk. Of course, misrepresentation of a Church document is bound to run amuk no matter what, but it is interesting to me that this one gets a high-level intro to the world. Very high level.

Let's add some more context:

Dominus Iesus was quintessential Ratzinger, and the document Amy mentions ("Responses to some questions regarding certain aspects of the docrine of the church") reaffirmed and applied that teaching in Pope Benedict's pontificate, in much the same way as the CDF's "Responses to Certain Questions of the USCCB concerning artificial nutrition and hydration" provided a low-level doctrinal backup to the precedent enunciated by Pope John Paul II in his 2004 speech on the same topic to an international congress.

In other words, if recent history is any lesson, Pope Benedict prefers to use official CDF responses to clarify and promulgate particular doctrinal matters with force. This is, of course, exactly as it should be. Count on the ex-head of CDF to understand and employ that. So stay tuned.

update: more details from John Thravis at the CNS News Hub:

Perhaps most interesting is that they’re having a press conference at all. When the doctrinal congregation issued two documents earlier this year — one on the Catholic Church as the one true church, the other on nutrition and hydration issues — no one was there to answer reporters’ questions. Church officials later complained that media reports on the documents were not always accurate. This time around, the Vatican is being more proactive.

The new document is said to be about 18 pages long, and will be released in six languages, including English. All three cardinals at the press conference are English-speaking, but if the usual Vatican format is followed, they’ll be giving their speeches and answering most questions in Italian. When in Rome…