Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Tepic (Agenzia Fides) – The 10th National Youth Missionary Congress (CONAJUM) is being celebrated July 23-26 in the Diocese of Tepic. The aim of the Congress is to call the youth of Mexico to an encounter with the Living Christ, in order to become his “Disciples and Missionaries.” The theme for this 10th Congress is: “Youth with Christ, Missionaries for the World.” Nearly 10,000 youth will participate.
“Blessed are those who from South America, Central America, and the United States and, especially, from our beloved Mexico, are present to demonstrate a valiant, daring, and generous youth who want to bring our peoples to Christ, especially the youth,” said Bishop Ricardo Watty Urquidi of Tepic in the Welcome Message of the Congress. He also reminds the youth that “in Aparecida (Brazil), we Bishops, along with the Holy Father, said that we need a new Pentecost.” Thus, this Congress is that new Pentecost, “a Pentecost like that which saw the birth of the Church; here a youth committed with Jesus Christ, full of the Holy Spirit, disciples, missionaries of Jesus.”
Fr. Guillermo Alberto Morales Martinez, National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies of Mexico asked the youth in his opening: “Who is Christ for us? Who is Christ for us? Who is Christ for us? Christ is our Savior, Messiah, the Gospel of the Father; He calls us to be here, with Him we want to be missionaries, we want to be disciples.”
Archbishop Christophe Pierre, Apostolic Nuncio in Mexico, reminded all the youth in his homily during the Opening Mass for the Congress, that “our Catholic identity is a missionary identity. Only if someone is a missionary, is he truly Catholic, because the Church is, by her very nature, missionary. Her members, every disciple, is Catholic in so much as his heart becomes universal.” And thus, he exhorted them all to make a firm commitment and “to be missionary disciples who, in nourishing themselves assiduously on the Eucharist, gather strength to leave behind false securities, comforts, and ambitions and commit themselves to placing the Eucharist and the Word in the center of their lives, giving nourishment to their spirit with personal prayer in adoration in front of the Blessed Sacrament, formation, and in living a dynamic and active missionary spirituality as individuals and as a community.”
The first National Youth Missionary Congress took place in Tepatitlan, Jalisco, in 1982; and since then, there have been 9 Congresses. The other host cities have been Tepatitlán, Ciudad Victoria, Tamps., Durango, Dgo., Veracruz, Ver., Monterrey, N.L., Torreón, Coah., Oaxaca, Oax., Querétaro, Qro., y Guadalajara, Jal. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 24/7/2009)
