AMERICA/CHILE - Marian Dimension of Pastoral Care Symposium in context of new pastoral challenges, the bi-centenary of Chile's independence and the 5th General Conference in Aparecida

Wednesday, 26 September 2007

Maipú (Agenzia Fides) - 'The Marian Dimension of Pastoral Care' is the title of a Symposium organised by the Chilean Bishops' Commission for Shrines and Popular Piety 26 and 27 September at the national Marian Shrine of Maipú, in the context of Chile's National Day of Prayer.
In its letter to present the Symposium the Commission recalls that the Blessed Virgin Mary is present in every corner of the country as "a grace received, a gift to take special care of at this time of great challenges for our work". Among the reasons for the Symposium the Commission mentions the start of the new millennium "is a call to look at present day culture and its historical roots and the significance of the ‘Marian event’; recent cultural changes which pose new pastoral challenges; two hundred years of Chile's independence “invite us to look at the situation from this point of view". In this context and motivated by the 5th General Conference of the Council of Bishops' Conferences of Latin America and the Caribbean in Aparecida the members of the Commission wanted the Symposium "help revive our gaze and offer the fruits of its reflection to the Church as a contribution for future pastoral guidelines”.
Participants at the Symposium will include Marian Shrine pastoral teams, Marian Movements, institutes and congregations and all pastoral workers interested in the subject. The aim is to encourage reflection on Marian Pastoral Care in view of evangelisation in Chile. A specific goal is to identify the principal challenges posed to Marian Pastoral care by modernity and the impact of new technologies, and to indicate how Marian Pastoral can help Chile celebrate its bi-centenary. Conferences will focus on the following subjects: "Historical Look at the Marian Event in Chile"; "How Marian evangelisation helped build the culture of Chile"; "First evangelisation: Mariology of religious congregations and its contribution to the country's Marian"; "The Blessed Virgin Mary and Popular Piety in Aparecida". (RG) (Agenzia Fides 26/9/2007; righe 26, parole 352)


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