Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Caracas (Agenzia Fides) – “The Feast of St Sebastian is a very timely invitation to all of us to decisively resume the Christian commitment to bear witness of Jesus Christ in the reality in which we are immersed”. This is the appeal by Archbishop Ubaldo Santana of Maracaibo, President of the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference, made during the Holy Mass over which he presided in the Cathedral of St Cristóbal on 20 January, on the Feast of St Sebastian. Bishop Mario Moronta of St Cristóbal, Auxiliary Bishop Luis Márquez of Mérida, together with numerous priests of the local Church concelebrated with the Archbishop.
“When we speak of martyrs, we tend to think about those expressions of faith as a thing of the past. Without doubt this is not the case,” said the Archbishop in his homily, sent to Fides by the diocesan social communications office. Archbishop Santana recalled how, according to historical studies, in th 2,000 years of Christianity almost 70,000,000 Christians were martyred for their faith in Jesus Christ, of which 45,500,000 just during the 20th century. “The great majority of today's martyrs were sacrificed for hatred of the Christian faith in different parts of the world and under various regimes: the communist Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, Central and South American military dictatorships, and Mexican anti-clerical governments. Today it occurs in Asia and Africa due to pseudo-religious fundamentalism, fanned by hatred and racial fanaticism.”
Archbishop Santana then turned to the deisions taken by the Second Synod of the local Church, which calls for renewal in spirit and in truth, to be bold witnesses of the Lord, with the strength of the Holy Spirit. “The Church of today needs Christians who are brave witnesses of the Lord,” emphasised the Archbishop, “witnesses who, when confronted with lies, injustice and corruption, can respond to the cry of the young and the poor, who ask the Church, like the psalmist, 'where is your God?'.”
Concluding his homily, Archbishop Santana urged everyone to “take our requirements as Christians seriously” and to “give more strength and dynamism to our life of faith,” because “it is not enough to call ourselves Catholic Christians; we must live as such, and this life must be reflected in our personal, familial, social, economic and political conduct. Our people are hungry and thirsty for God, demanding less talk and more action. The evangelical witness which is expected from us is a more serious and consistent commitment for the small, the poor, the excluded, those who suffer from any kind of abuse and humiliation of body and spirit. More consistent work is awaited towards peace, justice, human rights, fraternal cohabitation, and integral human development.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 22/01/2011)
