The Year of Faith

The Year of Faith The pope said the observance would begin October 11, 2012 the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council and conclude Nov. 24, 2013 the feast of Christ the King.

"It will be a moment of grace and commitment to an ever fuller conversion to God, to reinforce our faith in him and to proclaim him with joy to the people of our time," the pope said in his homily. Pope Benedict explained his intention more fully in "Porta Fidei" ("The Door of Faith"), an apostolic letter released Oct. 17 to formally announce the special year. "Faith grows when it is lived as an experience of love received and when it is communicated as an experience of grace and joy," the pope wrote. He said the Catechism of the Catholic Church, first published in 1992, should serve as the handbook for helping Catholics rediscover the truths of faith and deepen their understanding of church teaching. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he said, will publish a "note" to help people live the year "in the most effective and appropriate ways at the service of belief and evangelization."

In his apostolic letter, the pope said the year's focus will be on Jesus Christ because "in him, all the anguish and all the longing of the human heart finds fulfillment."