AMERICA/PARAGUAY - Bishops ask for forgiveness for the sins committed by members of the Church and renew their commitments made in their ordination as Bishops

Asuncion (Agenzia Fides) – The Permanent Council of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Paraguay has issued a statement in regards to the recent news that revealed that the current President Fernando Lugo had a child with a 16 year-old girl while he was still serving as Bishop. The Bishops ask for “forgiveness for the sins committed by members of the Church – both Pastors and faithful.” The Bishops also renew their commitments made in their ordination as Bishops and ask all priests in the country “to place in practice the promises that have recently renewed in the Chrism Mass,” asking the Holy Spirit to send the Church “the grace of profound purification.”
They also ask all the faithful and people of good will to “pray for us, that we may be faithful to our priestly and episcopal mission.” They also call for “prayers for the entire Catholic Church in Paraguay, that the sense of belonging of all the faithful may be ever more founded upon the Risen Lord, His life, His words, and His works.”
“We unite ourselves to the Mother of Our Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary, in her humble desire to act with faith and conviction in our lives, so that we may do 'whatever He tells us,' to continue in her footsteps as missionary disciples, with renewed hope,” the brief statement concludes. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 15/4/2009)