The Year of Faith

Francisco de Zurbarán 1598 - 1664

Aparición del Apóstol San Pedro a San Pedro Nolasco

The Vision of St Peter to St Peter Nolasco

1629

Oil on canvas

179 cm x 223 cm

Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid

Giovanni Paolo Panini 1691 –  1765

Ruinas con San Pablo predicando

St Paul prophesying amongst the Ruins

1735

Oil on canvas

63 cm x 48 cm

Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid

The announcemnt of "The Year of Faith"  from 11 October 2012, on the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Ecumenical Vatican Council, and ending  on 24 November 2013, the Solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ, Universal King has not attracted much comment. From some circles the silence has been deafening.

It is only the second time that such a year has been called. The first was called in 1967 by Paul VI. It  was called then  to commemorate the martyrdom of Saints Peter and Paul on the 19th centenary of their supreme act of witness.

It is the invitation of the Holy Father to live fully the Year as a special "time of grace." It is a call for renewal of the Faith and its dissemination and transmission

Pope Benedict XVI set out his reasons and aiims for calling the Year in his Apostolic Letter Porta Fidei

He said:

"We want this Year to arouse in every believer the aspiration to profess the faith in fullness and with renewed conviction, with confidence and hope. It will also be a good opportunity to intensify the celebration of the faith in the liturgy, especially in the Eucharist, which is “the summit towards which the activity of the Church is directed; ... and also the source from which all its power flows.”  

At the same time, we make it our prayer that believers’ witness of life may grow in credibility. To rediscover the content of the faith that is professed, celebrated, lived and prayed,and to reflect on the act of faith, is a task that every believer must make his own, especially in the course of this Year."

Central to the preparation for the Year and the Year itself will be The Catechism of the Catholic Church  

which as both the Pope and the Congregation emphasised was the fruit of Vatican II