It is the living word of God, revealed to us in the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is the Good News, the euangellion, those who confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour are to proclaim in all dimensions of their lives. There is a logic in the sequence of the theme chosen for the XII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which recalled John 1:14: And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth, and the emphasis on the new evangelization of this XIII Ordinary General Assembly. Justification in Christ, the proclamation of the Gospel and the call to holiness belong together in the fellowship of believers, members of the one body of Christ (1. Cor.12:12ff).

The Church is built up when people are being transformed by receiving Christ, the incarnate word of God, in the power of the Holy Spirit. People become credible and visible disciples of Christ, celebrating the Holy Eucharist, meditating on biblical texts, and witnessing to the Gospel in their homes and families, on the streets or at the workplace as workers, entrepreneurs, researchers and in so many other professions.

We remember the Second Vatican Council as an extraordinary moment of evangelical renewal of the Catholic Church. This was underlined by the Moderator of the WCC's Central Committee, the Rev. Dr Walter Altmann, in his address to the recent meeting of the Committee in September this year in Crete. We expressed our gratitude and joy that through the Decree on Ecumenism (Unitatis Redintegratio) the Catholic Church opened up to the ecumenical movement and gave new impetus to the search for visible unity. The decree gave hope and inspiration to Christians around the world.

The dogmatic constitutions, statements and decrees of the Council were and continue to be not only highly relevant for the renewal of the Catholic Church, but also ecumenically. The Second Vatican Council was also ecumenical in the positive reception of ecumenical and theological research of the time, including the work of the Faith and Order Commission. Highly significant was the invitation extended to fraternal observers and the opportunities given to them to interact. Today this seems obvious. At the time of Vatican II, however, this was a remarkable sign of openness to Christians of other traditions. Their presence contributed to breaking down the dividing wall of hostility that separated us (Eph 2:14).