Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Guatemala City (Fides Service) - “The entire life of Pope John Paul II was a life of a Master of mission and a missionary Shepherd who incarnated the cry of St Paul: “Woe to me if I did not preach the Gospel! (1 Cor 9,16)” Bishop Julio Cabrera Ovalle of Jalapa, President of the Missions Commission of the Guatemalan Bishops’ Conference and National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Guatemala Fr Antonio Bernasconi said in a report to Fides in which they underlined the rich missionary teaching of the late Pontiff who “indicated new paths and new fields in which to sow the Gospel”.
Fr. Bernasconi recalled that although John Paul II was unable to be present at the 2nd American Mission Congress held in November 2003 in Guatemala City, he followed it carefully from preparation through to its celebration and conclusion. In the prayer he composed for the event the Pope stressed the need to thank the God of goodness and mercy for the gift of life, and to ask him for the strength to live a life of holiness to reinvigorate the Church in America so that the celebration of CAM 2 would lead everyone to bear witness to the Gospel of Life with their own lives. On Friday 8 April hundreds of people gathered in the Auditorium where CAM 2 was held to pray to the God of Life to grant John Paul II the crown of glory promised to those who love and serve God. The prayer was led by Bishop Mario Enrique Rios Auxiliary of Guatemala. “Thank you Holy Father for being a missionary shepherd and a master of mission! Your name will be inscribed with gratitude on this Hall Missionary Upper Room where CAM 2 was held” the report concluded. (R.Z.) (Agenzia Fides 14/4/2005, righe 22, parole 310)
