Pope Benedict XVI announced a special “Year of Faith” to help Catholics appreciate the gift of faith, deepen their relationship with God and strengthen their commitment to sharing faith with others.

The pope said the Year of Faith would give “renewed energy to the mission of the whole church to lead men and women out of the desert they often are in and toward the place of life: friendship with Christ who gives us fullness of life.”

The observance begins Oct. 11–the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council–and concludes 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.

Margaret Alarilla, director of the Office of Evangelization for the Diocese of Corpus Christi, said the diocese is planning for a number of activities and events in celebration of the Year of Faith.

“We plan to host a Diocesan Wide Ministry Conference in addition to our Inaugural Women’s Conference in the hopes that hundreds will come and rekindle their faith journey,” Alarilla said.

She also said that two Symposiums would be held on the Vatican II Documents since the Year of Faith is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council.

“There is so much excitement in the air about The New Evangelization and the Year of Faith. My prayer is that all the lay faithful of the diocese, along with the clergy and those in consecrated life, take this time to rediscover, renew and recommit themselves to evangelization and catechesis,” Alarilla said.

Pope Benedict explained his intention more fully in “Porta Fidei” (“The Door of Faith”), an apostolic letter 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.

In January, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has published a “note” that helps people live the year “in the most effective and appropriate ways at the service of belief and evangelization.” Its tone is pastoral, rather than doctrinal, giving bishops and Catholic faithful ideas for implementing the pope’s call to deeper faith and greater missionary commitment.

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

Pope Benedict said that in addition to studying the catechism and gaining a greater understanding of the creed, the Year of Faith also must be accompanied with more acts of charity.

Faith helps people recognize the face of Christ in those who are suffering, and “it is his love that impels us to assist him whenever he becomes our neighbor along the journey of life,” the pope wrote.

Pope Benedict said Catholics cannot “grow lazy in the faith.”

“What the world is in particular need of today is the credible witness of people enlightened in mind and heart by the word of the Lord, and capable of opening the hearts and minds of many to the desire for God and for true life, life without end,” he wrote.