AMERICA/GUATEMALA - “CHURCH IN AMERICA DO NOT HESITATE TO GO OUT FROM YOUR LAND WITH CHRIST TOWARDS ALL PEOPLES AND ALL CULTURES!”: WITH A NEW CALL FOR MISSION AD GENTES CARDINAL SEPE CONCLUDES CAM 2 AMERICAN MISSION CONGRESS

Monday, 1 December 2003

AMERICA/GUATEMALA

“CHURCH IN AMERICA DO NOT HESITATE TO GO OUT FROM YOUR LAND WITH CHRIST TOWARDS ALL PEOPLES AND ALL CULTURES!”: WITH A NEW CALL FOR MISSION AD GENTES CARDINAL SEPE CONCLUDES CAM 2 AMERICAN MISSION CONGRESS

Guatemala City (Fides Service) – “Church in America, from your littleness, from your poverty, from your martyrdom, from your faith in Jesus Christ, your life is mission! Duc in altum! Church in America, do not be afraid to be holy, do not be afraid to go out from your land with Christ towards all peoples and cultures!”. A heartfelt new appeal to the Church in America to live its missionary vocation with even greater zeal was launched by the Papal Envoy Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, during the closing Mass of 2nd American Mission Congress on Sunday 30 November. At the Mateo Flores sports stadium, where the closing Missionary Feast was held, the Cardinal spoke of “unforgettable days” lived during the Congress, and he voiced deep gratitude to the People of God in Guatemala and all who worked to make that important church event a fruitful occasion.
“The closing of the Congress coincides providentially with the start of the Season of Advent” the Cardinal said and he called on the Church in America to prepare to welcome the Lord “by extending on earth the mission of the Redeemer carrying the fire of his love to all peoples and all cultures ”. Recalling Pope John Paul II’s call to Latin America to change from being an evangelised continent to an evangelising continent towards Europe, Asia and Africa, Cardinal Sepe continued: “Certainly the task is not easy and no few problems and challenges present themselves but the Lord, who calls us to this noble mission also grants us the means necessary to accomplish it”. In particular the Cardinal urged those present to follow the example of America’s many saints; to accompany with prayer the numerous vocations to the priesthood, religious life and to mission ad gentes flourishing in particular Churches all over America; to welcome the consoling realities of lay missionaries, admirable catechists, church movements and new communities.
During the Mass for the closing of CAM2 Cardinal Sepe conferred the missionary mandate on a “new group of apostles of the Gospel”. “Your enthusiasm and your total commitment to the mission of the Redeemer are for all of us an example and a stimulus” said the Cardinal, adding “With you missionaries of America this Assembly of ours will reach the four corners of the earth to announce Christ’s peace and salvation whom the world and every man and woman seeks and awaits”.(S.L.) (Fides Service 1/12/2003; lines 32; words 431)


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