LETTER ADDRESSED BY JOHN PAUL II TO 150 BISHOPS GATHERED IN VIENNA, AUSTRIA ' 1993

Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate,
Dearest Brothers and Sisters!

        It is a cause of great consolation for me, just a few years since my appeal for a new evangelisation of Europe, to know that you are gathered in Vienna to reflect together upon the fruits of the missionary activity which the priests, itinerants and families of the Neocatechumenal Way are carrying out with a generous impulse and great zeal for the Gospel.
        On the occasion of the opening of the work of the Special Assembly for Europe, on June 5th 1990, I noted with regret that in our continent many people are used to looking upon reality “as if God did not exist”. Within such a perspective, I added, man “becomes the source of the moral law, and only those laws which man gives to himself constitute the measure of his conscience and of his behaviour” (Insegnamenti, vol. XIII, 1, 1990, pp. 1517f). On the other hand, it cannot be denied that the Holy Spirit, by means of the Vatican Council, has raised up valid instruments with which to respond to the questions of contemporary man, and among these is also the Neocatechumenal Way. After various years, having regard to the results which have been achieved, I decided to encourage this experience in writing, in view of the new evangelisation, wishing that this experience be helped and valued by my brothers in the episcopate (cf. letter of the 30th August, 1990).
Many of you are direct witnesses of such results and also protagonists through the help you have given to spreading this new ecclesial reality; therefore your reflection today is particularly important, as was that of the bishops of the American continent during the meeting last year in Santo Domingo.
        The Neocatechumenal Way, in which the itinerants and the family missionaries mature, is able to respond to the challenge of secularism, the diffusion of sects and the shortage of vocations. The reflection upon the word of God and the participation in the Eucharist make possible a gradual initiation into the sacred mysteries, to form living cells of the Church and renew the vitality of the parish by means of mature Christians capable of bearing witness to the truth through a radically lived faith. This Way appears particularly qualified to contribute in dechristianised areas to the necessary reimplantatio ecclesiae, leading man in his moral behaviour towards obedience to revealed truth and even reconstructing the very fabric of society, which has decayed due to a lack of knowledge of God and His love. Already, in some regions, nuclei of missionary families are being formed which can be the light of Christ and an example of life.
        But such a mission would not be possible without presbyters prepared to accompany and sustain with their ordained ministry this work of the new evangelisation I am grateful to the Lord who has willed to raise up numerous vocations and therefore the setting up of the diocesan and missionary seminaries in various countries of Europe, called by the sweet name of the Virgin Mary, "Redemptoris Mater".
        I also place your meeting under her maternal protection and her powerful inspiration, that it may give you further impetus and courage in your apostolic commitment towards contemporary man, who needs the guidance of pastors and of witnesses sent by them, in order to know God, to invoke His name and to receive salvation from Him.
        May the light of the Risen Lord, which we have solemnly celebrated in the Paschal Vigil, continue to shine within you, sustaining you in your mission in the service of the Church and of the whole of humanity.

From the Vatican, 12th April 1993. John Paul II