Post Synod: Canadian Influence, Part II

Kris Dmytrenko

November 2, 2008
Three of the four CCCB delegates: (from left to right) Bishop Raymond St-Gelais, Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, S.J., and Bishop Luc BouchardBefore I return to Toronto, I would like to highlight one final result of the Synod of Bishops that may result in a national event on the Word of God. Back on October 8th, Bishop Luc Bouchard asked the synod to consider launching an international congress on Scripture, similar to the International Eucharistic Congresses.
The French working group to which the Bishop of Saint-Paul belonged did not ultimately endorse the idea, but instead suggested that forums such as the IEC include more scriptural components in their programs. Yet when the synod fathers' final recommendations for Pope Benedict XVI were realeased, Proposition 45 nevertheless included a request for Episcopal Conferences to "sustain and to promote days geared towards spreading the Bible." Given the source of the initiative, one hopes that a national Congress on the Word of God could soon be held in Canada.
Bishop Raymond St-Gelais of Nicolet, Quebec, delivered his intervention before the synod assembly on the same day. Stressing that the "Word of God" transcends the Bible, Bishop St-Gelais explained that the Word "is above all a person who addresses humanity before it is a text to be studied." Proposition 3 likewise promotes educating the faithful on the analogical senses of the expression "the Word of God", while maintaining that the Scriptures contain the Word "in an entirely unique way".
You can read more about Bishops Bouchard and St-Gelais in my interview with them for last week's Catholic Register.  I also speak with French Canadian synod auditor Sr. Jocelyn Huot S.F.A. and expert Fr. Marc Girard (a friend of Cardinal Marc Ouellet who had a significant role in the formulation of the synod documents).
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Photo courtesy of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops