Eucharist: The Propositions referred to in Sacramentum Caritatis

The post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis by Pope Benedict XVI at the beginning of this year was a response to the Eleventh Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, held between October 2 and 23 in 2005. Their topic was the Eucharist, as Pope John Paul II had pronounced October 2004 through October 2005 as the "Year of the Eucharist".

The Synod produced several documents, including a lineamenta and an instrumentum laboris, just as it has produced the former (which I've been calling Historia Salutis) for the upcoming Ordinary General Assembly on the Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church, and will eventually produce the latter. As the preface to the present lineamenta explains, "The Ordinary Council, assisted by specialists, will then study this material and present it in an orderly fashion in a second document, traditionally called the Instrumentum Laboris, which will become the agenda of the XII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, to take place -- God willing -- from 5 to 26 October 2008". The fruits of this assembly will be, among other things, a list of Propositions for the Pope to consider putting into practice in the Church at large.

Returning to the previous Synod: if you read the Pope's exhortation, you'll notice it made several references to Propositiones in its footnotes. These Propositions have been released in Italian on the Vatican's web site; but alas, I cannot speak or read Italian. Therefore, I am putting my trust in Zenit's English translation of the Propositions, found on its website, linked for your convenience here:

1. Propositions 1-4
2. Propositions 5-10
3. Propositions 11-5
4. Propositions 16-20
5. Propositions 21-25
6. Propositions 26-30
7. Propositions 31-36
8. Propositions 37-40
9. Propositions 41-45
10. Propositions 46-50

You can also view them as a single MS Word document (117 K, 16pp).

I will eventually get back to these, but I figured it would be helpful to any interested readers to know where to find the Propositions behind the Holy Father's Apostolic Exhortation.