PRELIMINARY NOTE

In the course of its ninth quinquennial, which has been extended exceptionally by one year due to the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of its foundation, the International Theological Commission has been able to deepen its study of the relationship between the Catholic faith and the sacraments. This study was directed by a specific sub-commission, chaired by the Rev. Fr. Gabino Uríbarri Bilbao, S.J., and composed of the following members: Msgr. Lajos Dolhai, Fr. Peter Dubovský, S.J., Msgr. Krzysztof Góźdź, Fr. Thomas Kollamparampil, C.M.I., Professor Marianne Schlosser, Rev. Oswaldo Martínez Mendoza, Rev. Karl-Heinz Menke, Rev. Terwase Henry Akaabiam, and Fr. Thomas G. Weinandy, O.F.M. Cap. The discussions on the subject in question, on the basis of which the present document has been drafted, have taken place both during the various meetings of the Sub-Commission and in the Plenary Sessions of the same Commission, between the years 2014-2019. This document, entitled Reciprocity between Faith and Sacraments in the Sacramental Economy, was specifically approved by the majority of the members of the International Theological Commission during the Plenary Session of 2019 through a written vote. The document was then submitted for approval to its President, His Eminence Cardinal Luis F. Ladaria Ferrer, S.J., Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, who, after having received the favourable opinion of the Holy Father Pope Francis on 19th December 2019, has authorised its publication.

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1 . FAITH AND SACRAMENTS: RELEVANCE AND ACTUALITY

1 .1 . THE DIVINE SALVIFIC OFFER IS BASED ON THE INTERRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FAITH AND SACRAMENTS

1 . [Starting from Scripture]. “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of the disease” (Mk 5:34). In the midst of the crowd that pressed in on him (Mk 5:24; 31), the haemorrhaging woman touches Jesus with faith and receives a healing, as a symbol of the salvation that Jesus brings to humanity . 1 The case of the haemorrhaging woman shows how faith springs from “the encounter with an event, a Person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.”2 Faith is located in the sphere of interpersonal relationships. Many sick people tried to touch Jesus (cf. Mk 3:10; 6:56), “for out of him came a power that healed them all” (Lk 6:19). However, in Nazareth he did not perform many miracles “because of their lack of faith” (Mt 13:58), nor did he satisfy Herod’s curiosity (Lk 23:8). The humanity of Jesus Christ is the effective channel of God’s salvation. However, this efficacy does not have an automatic character; it requires an adequate contact with it: humble, imploring, open to the gift.3 All these attitudes lead to faith, as the most apt means to receive the offer of salvation. “Faith is first of all a personal adherence of man to God”4 revealed in Jesus Christ. The sacraments of the Church prolong in time the works of Christ during his earthly life. In them is actualised the

1 Cf . Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1116. 2 Pope Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Deus caritas est (25th December 2005), 1: AAS 98 (2006), 217. Quoted again by Pope Francis, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii gaudium (24th November 2013), 7: AAS 105 (2013), 1022. 3 Cf. Origen, In Leviticum hom. IV, 8 (PG 12, 442-443). 4 Catechism of the Catholic Church, 150 . Underlined in the original. 9