VATICAN - Pope tells Bishops of Guatemala: “I encourage you to continue with renewed energy the Church's evangelizing mission in the context of modern cultural movements and globalization, giving fresh vigor to preaching and catechesis”

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “As did my venerated predecessor, John Paul II, in his first visit to your country, I encourage you to continue with renewed energy the Church's evangelizing mission in the context of modern cultural movements and globalization, giving fresh vigor to preaching and catechesis, and proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as the foundation and raison d'etre for all believers.” With this exhortation, the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI addressed the Bishops of Guatemala in their Ad Limina Apostolorum visit on March 6. “The evangelization of cultures is a priority task to ensure that the Word of God remains accessible to everyone and, absorbed into the mind and heart, becomes the light that illuminates those cultures and the water that purifies them with the message of the Gospel which brings salvation for all humankind.”
Addressing the concerns of the Prelates for the increase in violence and poverty that affects large numbers of the population and causes extensive emigration to other countries, with grave repercussions on personal and family life, the Pope urged them to renew their efforts “to show everyone the merciful face of the Lord, of Whom the Church is called to be the image, accompanying and serving with generosity and dedication, especially those who suffer and are most in need.” To respond to the growth of sects, the Pope encouraged them, saying, “firmness in the faith and participation in the Sacraments strengthens your faithful against the risk posed by sects or by supposedly charismatic groups, which create disorientation and can even endanger ecclesial communion.”
In the local cultural traditions, the family is seen as the basic nucleus of existence and of transmission of faith and values, however, given the serious pastoral and human challenges of today, the Church must remain “dedicated ... to the solid formation of people who are preparing for marriage, constantly infusing faith and hope into homes and praying that, with the necessary help, they may fulfil their responsibilities.”
Focusing on the subject of priests, the Bishops’ main collaborators, the Pope reminded them that the priests “should see their Bishop as a true father and teacher, very close to them, in whom they find support in their spiritual and material needs, as well as fitting counsel in their moments of difficulty. They need constant encouragement to continue along the path of true priestly sanctity, to become authentic men of prayer, with the means necessary to increase their human and theological formation.” The Bishops, with their example and pastoral zeal, “should be a living call to the young and to the not-so-young, to offer themselves entirely to the Lord.”
Towards the close of the meeting, the Pope recalled Second American Missionary Congress, held in Guatemala in 2003, and of the Fifth General Conference of the Episcopate of Latin America and the Caribbean, celebrated in Aparecida (Brazil) in 2007, asking that the Bishops commit themselves more intensely to missionary work and the evangelization field in their dioceses.
At the end of his address, Benedict XVI encouraged the Bishops to “continue to guide the People of God” entrusted to them, saying, “Through your word and example, may the Church continue to shine as a sign of hope for all men.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 7/3/2008; righe 43, parole 536)