by Benigna Mezenes*

A day is set aside to study Porta Fidei, the papal letter announcing the Year of Faith (11 October 2012-24 November 2013). Local Churches must start from the Catechism of the Catholic Church to make Christ a “living presence” in the life of the community.

Vijayawada (AsiaNews) - More than 100 priests and men and women religious attended a meeting yesterday to study of Porta Fidei and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The aim, for participants, was to prepare for the Year of Faith and understand its significance for India.

Organised by the local branch of the Conference of Religious India (CRI) in the Diocese of Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh), the meeting was held at the Maris Stella College, a facility run by the Franciscan Sisters. Divided in two sessions, it began with a Eucharistic celebration conducted by Fr Valle Joji Babu and Fr Damala Vijaya Kumar, director of the Prerana Youth Centre.

"In married life, hearts and intellect need to be united to experience bliss," said Fr Babu in the opening session, which he chaired. The same is true "for Christian communities where the hearts need to be united to experience the faith expressed in the celebration of the liturgy, in the reading of the Word of God, in the charitable services to the sick and the needy as well as living as a community to make Christ present."

In the second session of the meeting, Fr Kumar stressed the "importance of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for the local Churches," for it provides a "systematic and organic" synthesis of the ways in which the Church has reflected on faith and doctrine. For the clergyman, adult catechesis is something that all parishes and educational centres must provide.

Christians are more than 10 per cent of Vijayawada's one million people, the city where the meeting was held, served by more than 145 religious communities, with more a thousand consecrated men and women.

The year of Faith will begin on 11 October, 50^th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council and 20^th anniversary of the publication of the Catechism. It will end with the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the Universe, on 24 November 2013.

Benedict Xvi announced the Year of Faith with the Apostolic Letter Porta Fidei, published on 11 October 2011.

*Missionary of the Immaculate, a women's congregation affiliated with the Pontifical Institute of Foreign Missions (PIME).

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