Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Santiago (Fides Service) - On the occasion of 25th anniversary of the 3rd General Conference of the Latin American Bishops in 1979 at Puebla (Mexico), a recurrence which coincides with the 25th year of the pontificate of Pope John Paul II and his first meeting with the Church in Latin America only a few weeks after the beginning of his pontificate Fides asked Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz, Archishop of Santiago of Chile and President of the Council of Latin American Bishops’ Conferences for a contribution on this theme.
Cardinal Errazuriz’s contribution, entitled “John Paul II and Latin America, starting with Puebla”, consists of 8 sections (“an incomparable gift”, “the first meeting”, “the dimension of pastoral activity”, “major initiatives”, “pastoral and evangelical pedagogy”, “the Great Jubilee prophecy of the future”, “that they may life in abundance”, “Conclusion”) which highlight the salient points of meetings with Pope John Paul II, his initiatives, his teaching, calls, exhortations which have greatly influenced the journey of the Latin American Church.
Cardinal Errazuriz stresses with regard to the activity of Pope John Paul II: “if the Church in Latin America had not been enriched by his pastoral ministry it would not be working to overcome its weaknesses, (referred to by Paul VI at the end of the Council), it would not be so united in missionary activity and in building a more reconciled society more in keeping in every way with the Will of God”. John Paul II has devoted admirable efforts to this local Church because “the Pope wanted this portion of the People of God not organically weak but strong instead and therefore he made every effort to reinforce and reanimate Catholic life so that the truth about Christ and the truth about mankind could penetrate more profoundly every sector of society and transform it”.
One clear, courageous and crucial message which is particularly recalled by Cardinal Errazuriz, is the one which John Paul II addressed to the third Conference of CELAM encouraging it and corrects its deviations: “ ‘re-readings’ of the Gospel which are not an authentic meditation on the Word of God, re-reading which distort the image of the Church and above all the image of Jesus Christ hiding his divinity and presenting him as a man of ‘politics’, a ‘revolutionary’ involved in the class struggle”. The Pope powerfully exhorted CELAM “to live and actuate in conformity with its Christian identity, with no addition of ideologies contrary to Christology, ecclesiology and Christian anthropology”. The Pope’s incisive and courageous words resounded in a Continent agitated by much tension caused by social injustice and captivated by Marxism and its social analysis and methods of liberating struggle as the only effective way to defeat oppression and affirm equality among all men.
Nevertheless - the President of CELAM says - “it would be mistaken to think that that pruning, so necessary and so good for the Church, demanded the building of a solely spiritualist Church”. “The secular and temporal task of the Church, the building of the earthly city is something which the Pope has always had at heart. In fact he never tires of reawakening the social commitment of the faith because it is part of the Church’s evangelising mission and part of the Christian message”. It is clear that the Pope was not against the social commitment of the Church in Latin America or its preferential option for the poor which he proclaimed “a stable and unavoidable option firm”... “His struggle was to ensure that the voice and the light of Christ would reach people with no reduction or maiming of revealed Truth”. (R.Z) (Agenzia Fides 27/2/2004; righe 41 - parole 567)
