A.: The Year of Faith that Pope Benedict XVI has announced is a wonderful event for the whole Church. It is for the whole Church, but in different countries, it would mean different things. But certainly for everyone in the whole Church, the most important thing is to have a relationship with Jesus who is our Saviour. Without Jesus, we are nothing. So, for us to deepen our faith in God, and deepen our relationship with Jesus is the most important thing, a big priority, for the whole Church as an institution, but also for each individual person in the Church.

The Pope gave some specific suggestions about it. One of the most important things is to encourage the publishing and republishing of the Catechism and Catholic literature but especially Catechism. The Pope is asking the Bishops' Conferences all over the world to look at the Catechism of the Catholic Church and to update the Catechism so that people will learn more and more about the faith because it is not just a feeling but also some knowledge. Faith has different components: the head and the heart. This Pope, I think, has the most publications, theological publications. I myself have many books written by the Pope.

"Faith Through Art"

Q.: How did you, Msgr. Russell, write it in English?

A.: When the pope asked for this "Year of Faith", it was on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council and the 20th anniversary of the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC). Several years after the publication of the Catechism, the Compendium of the CCC was published. The "Faith Through Art" is like the compendium of the compendium, a small illustrated catechism. It was only published in Italian. I thought it was very beautiful. Actually, for many years I worked with the Vatican publishing house, La Libreria Editrice Vaticana, to do an English version, not an English translation. So, I did the English version and they published it. They published 10,000 copies. So, I showed it to the Windows Press in Taiwan and we worked together in cooperation with the La Libreria Editrice Vaticana, and we published this Chinese version.

It incorporates short statements of faith, a beautiful work of art, something from the bible and the CCC. So we have something to put in your pocket, something beautiful. And in this book you have all the essentials of your faith such as the Creed, the Sacraments, the 10 Commandments, and the Beatitudes. It has all the essential prayers of the Catholic faith. Everything is about the faith. It is like an abridged Catechism. So you have faith and art together. The art illustrates the faith, and the faith also exposes the art.

Q.: Msgr. Russell, you are from the States, and you have been to many countries as representative of the Holy See. Can you share a bit your experience with book exhibitions in other countries?

A.: I am now in the middle of my fourth year in Taiwan, and I think I have been coming here for the book fair every year. In the other countries where I have served, there have not been any exhibitions. Because most of the countries I have served were rather poor, developing countries. In Nigeria, poverty is very hard and there were no good printing, the quality is so low. The best printer in Nigeria is the Salesians but even the quality of the paper is not so good. And they have no capacity to develop colored photographs inside the publication. So, they have no such thing as book exhibition, they barely have books. When I was in Switzerland, there was also no book exhibition. Germany has a very big one in Frankfurt, the biggest one in the world, but I never had a chance to go there. Before that I was in Turkey, but the Christians in Turkey are just a small minority, maybe 20,000 Catholics and only 100,000 Christians. Before that I was in Ethiopia, which is even poorer than Nigeria. Actually I never had any experience of any book exhibition in the countries I have served or have any dealings with Catholic publishers like I have in Taiwan.

I remember when I was just a small boy, I am from Boston in U.S., and in Boston every year, there was a book fair. I remember even on my first year at school, we took a fieldtrip to this book fair. I always looked forward to that every year because I love books. They are beautiful and interesting. So even as a young boy, that was my first experience of a book fair and up until now that I am in Taiwan, it was my only experience of a book fair.

Q.: The theme of our bookstand is "Jesus, the Healer". What do you think about this? Have you experienced any healing by Jesus, directly or indirectly?

A.: I think as a priest, and every priest has many experiences of this. The sacraments are bringing healing especially the Eucharist bringing forgiveness and healing, and confession bringing forgiveness for our sins which is healing. And then we have the sacrament anointing the sick which is for healing on the spiritual, emotional and physical level. As a priest, having the occasion to give the sacrament of anointing to many, many people, thousands maybe over the years I have been a priest, I see this sacrament as very beautiful. Actually, we should use it more, in my opinion. Celebrate it much more than we do. Some people think it is only for people who are dying. But as a sacrament of healing, it is for the living, and I think that this is important.

I can tell many stories. When I was just ordained, I was in the inner city parish. In this parish, there were 8,000 parishioners, 2,500 families. So, in my diocese in Boston, that is medium size, because in Boston we have 2,000,000 Catholics. Just in our diocese, there was one Cardinal and 5 auxiliary bishops. We had two hospitals. The hospital would call and say: "Father, this patient who is dying is a Catholic. Can you please come for the Sacraments?" So, I would go and would hear confession if they wanted it, and would bring them the Holy Communion. After the Anointing, I would give the Holy Communion. And when I go back home, I would expect a call in the morning usually at 7:00 for the funeral for this person. But that morning, there was no call. I felt it was strange. So, then, the next time I go to the hospital, I go to the Nurse Station and ask: "What about this patient that I had to come to see?" They reply: "Oh, he got better and he got home. He is fine." I don't know if this is anointing, but the thing is that they were really dying. And doctors and nurses think that they had no hope for this person. After the anointing, they got better. I am not saying it is a miracle but it shows that God is working. I am sure other priests have stories to tell like this and we see it happening in other ways.

Human beings can be fragile and we are often open to be hurt, and our hurt can be in different ways. It can be spiritual, emotional, and sometimes physical. So, healing is so important. We see that Jesus in his ministry, he really focused on healing and it was always connected to forgiveness. Healing and forgiveness are usually going hand in hand with Jesus. Sin is something that really keeps us from God, and keeps us from being whole. Sin is a sign of broken human being. If Jesus wants us whole, he wants us healthy, he wants us healed. To be healed is to be whole person and we see this really in the lives of the saints.

Q.: How can one learn, form, and enrich oneself during the Year of Faith?

A.: The Pope talked about this. He is encouraging us to read the bible, and I think the bishops of Taiwan in their pastoral letter for this year also wants us to make time to read the bible, to sit with the bible, to sit with Jesus and to nourish with Jesus. The Pope is also encouraging us to read the Catechism. This book is not something to read from cover to cover. I think it is best to start reading at the beginning and just take a few pages or even one page. When one has enough things to think about, stop, put it aside and think about it. Everyday, read a little bit even just one or a few paragraphs. The head and heart go hand in hand. So, for the Year of Faith, read something more. One of the things mentioned in the pastoral letter of the bishops of Taiwan is to really grow in faith. Maybe we stopped learning after we left school. But we have a lot to learn. The Catholic faith is so deep, we can learn and learn never going to the bottom of it. So, for the Year of Faith, what we all have to do is to get better knowledge, intellectual understanding of our faith. That will help us turn our hearts more and more to Jesus.