AMERICA/MEXICO - 6th World Meeting of Families (5) - Bishops' Meeting with Cardinal Bertone: “the time is ripe for the laity to fully assume its proper vocation in the Church and in society.”

Mexico City (Agenzia Fides) – Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of State and Pontifical Legate of His Holiness Benedict XVI to the 6th World Meeting of Families (WMF) held a private meeting with the over 80 Bishops of the Mexican Bishops' Conference (CEM).
In opening the meeting, Bishop Carlos Aguiar Retes, President of the CEM, gave a welcome address and a brief synopsis of some of the CEM's activities. He began by mentioning the restructuring that has taken place from 2003-2006, in an effort “to discern the intrinsic duties of the Bishops and revitalize the Ecclesial Province through the promotion of communion among the Churches.” Fruit of this work has been the proposal made to the Holy See for the formation of four new provinces, which the Holy Father established in January 2006, and the revision of the statures of the CEM approved in 2008. In addition, the three-year term 2006-2009 has seen the application of the new structure. The Plenary Assemblies held during this time have been focused on the Aparecida Document and the launching of the Continental Mission.
For three years now, the Bishops have been holding an annual week of formation, which has received universal positive feedback. The President of CEM also informed that in light of the observed need for the Church in Mexico to send well-prepared priests to the the Pontifical Ecclesial Academy and prepare for Diplomatic Service for the Holy See, each Archbishop would be responsible for the promotion among the Dioceses in their Ecclesial Province.
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone then gave a brief address to all the Bishops, in which he opened by communicating the greetings of the Holy Father to the Mexican people, encouraging them “so that in the midst of the present difficulties, they may not lose strength in their determination to announce to all men and women the Good News of Salvation, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Then, recalling the most recent Plenary Assembly of the CEM in which the Bishops undertook an in-depth reflection, along with 118 lay men and women from many Mexican dioceses, on the need to promote a renewed courageous involvement on the part of the laity (see Fides 11/11/2008; 14/11/2008), Cardinal Bertone affirmed that “the time is ripe for the laity to fully assume its proper vocation in the Church and in society.” He also mentioned that “the actual circumstances, and the direction of the world in general, is calling for a secular apostolate that is wider and more intense, full of zeal and love of God.” This apostolate should take on priority among the tasks of the laity. In this sense, the Cardinal mentioned two main areas of apostolate for the laity. Firstly, he mentioned the importance of their testimony in the area of politics and culture. “It is necessary to encourage them and offer them all the help they need so that they involve themselves, with coherence of life and with a true spirit of service to their brothers and sisters, in the public shifts of their country.” The Christian vocation of a lay person “does not take him out of the world. Rather, it propels him to take part in the construction of civil society contributing in this way to the common good of the entire nation, to which he belongs by right.”
Secondly, the Cardinal recalled the importance of the apostolate of the laity in the area of marriage and the family, where “Christian spouses are called to give a special testimony of the sanctity of marriage, as well as its importance for society.” In this regards, he made an appeal to work “so that the civil law of a country respects the proper identity of this natural institution, that is at the base of the social structure.” However, good laws are not the only solution; “it is necessary as well to insist on a vast labor of education and formation that helps all, especially young people, to discover and value the beauty and importance of marriage and family.”
Lastly, he encouraged the Bishops in the difficult situation of their country not to “cease to present Christ as the true motive of hope.” In this manner, “Mexico will be capable of overcoming all obstacles and of building a tomorrow that is more just and free for everyone, where an end is put to the social nooses that torment its development, and in a particular way, where the dignity of the person is respected from his conception until his natural death.” (RG) (Agenzia Fides 19/1/2009)