Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Santiago de Chile (Agenzia Fides) – Over 70,000 youth participated in the walking pilgrimage to the Shrine of Saint Teresa of the Andes, which took place on October 17, on the eve of Mission Sunday. Having come from all over the country, the youth were committed to being “Light of Christ for the World,” as the slogan of the event reminded them, in accord with the Holy Father Benedict XVI's Message for World Mission Sunday 2009.
During the Mass celebrated in the esplanade of the Shrine, Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa, Archbishop of Santiago, affirmed: “we want to be light of the world through our spirit of service, sowing hope and joy.” And addressing the youth present, the Cardinal added: “You know how many people do not truly live their Christianity to the full, in that they are not joyful and they only show indifference and sadness. Our mission is that they may be light to the world, too, and that is why our job is to lead them to Jesus.”
In the course of the pilgrimage, four young people, in the summit of the “Cuesta Chacabuco,” copied several verses from the New Testament to contribute to the initiative of “The Gospel for Chile” (see Fides 5/10/2009). The Cardinal recalled “the great gift” that the Church wants to give the nation for its bicentennial anniversary. “The gift for Chile is that we become a living Gospel, that this word written by youth may become a word written in our life, in our heart, and in our works. We want to become light to the world, so that the Gospel may come alive in our country and that, once more, the entire culture may become a place of love, hope, justice, peace, and truth,” the Archbishop of Santiago said.
The first pilgrimage to the Shrine of Saint Teresa of the Andes goes back to 1989 and is generally called “From Chacabuco to the Carmel! A path of holiness.” The initiative, organized by the Archdiocesan Office of “Esperanza Joven” (Young Hope) and in collaboration with the Shrine, is a spiritual event mainly geared towards the youth. As Fr. Galo Fernandez, head of the Office, explains, the aim is to “create a spiritual event for the faithful, using the example and holiness of Saint Teresa of the Andes, who encourages them to open their hearts to let the light of the Gospel on Earth transform them.” (GT) (Agenzia Fides 20/10/2009)
