AMERICA/HONDURAS - "To live as disciples in a multicultural world": the Honduran Church toward the CAM 4

Monday, 7 May 2012

Tegucigalpa (Agenzia Fides) - "The Honduran Church is preparing to live intensely a year of preparation for the CAM 4 (Fourth American Missionary Congress). CAM's dream is to give life to a church where all can live as missionary disciples of Jesus Christ in a secular and multicultural world":these are the words of Mgr. Byron Chevannes, National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) of Honduras, who granted a long interview with the Catholic weekly magazine "Fides ", on the eve of his departure for Rome, where he will participates in the General Assembly of the PMS, which opens today (see Fides 03/05/2012).
In the interview, sent to Fides, Mgr. Byron Chevannes describes the work of the PMS as a "specific action of the Church in the mission field," and stresses that the contribution to the mission formation is now more important than ever to allow "the dioceses and parishes to be able to have a team of missionary formation and itinerant teams of the mission that lay the foundations for the new evangelization."
With regards to the challenges of the new evangelization, the National Director of the PMS replies: "I would say that the principal of all is culture, because there are evils that are generated within the same culture, and we have to face them, such as conformism: there are baptized who do not care to receive the sacraments, who do not care about being in communion with Christ or going to church or join a sect, and this cannot be admitted. Another challenge is mediocrity, the attitude that good things do not matter, but to do things simply because they have to be done. This mentality has also entered the Church, and we cannot live like this. Our Church in Honduras needs a different type of mentality. A third challenge, in my opinion, is the abandonment of the spiritual dimension of the mission, we have as patron Saint Therese of Lisieux, to live the mission in prayer. We must remember the words of the Servant of God John Paul II: 'the true missionary is one who prays and works.' So our whole pastoral service must radiate Christ, and this can only be done if one works in his name, this is what is meant by having a missionary spirituality". (CE) (Agenzia Fides 07/05/2012)


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