VATICAN - “Love, nourish and hand on the faith in your families as the most precious heritage! Bear witness to the faith!”: Benedict XVI encourages Peruvian Catholics

Thursday, 19 May 2005

Lima (Fides Service) - The celebration and final lap of the great City Mission “Remar Mar Adentro” which for more than two years has involved more than 10,000 city missionaries mostly lay people in a programme of new evangelisation in the archdiocese of Lima, capital of Peru, will reach its conclusion on 26 May 2006. In the late evening of May 17, concomitantly with celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the Council of Latin American Bishops’ Conferences CELAM, in Lima Cathedral there was a solemn concelebration of the Eucharist with two intentions: opening of celebrations for the 4th centenary of the death of St Toribio de Mogrovejo (1538-1606), second archbishop of Lima, and the entrustment to the patron saint of Latin American Bishops of the work of the 30th ordinary CELAM assembly. At the end of the Mass, presided by Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani, archbishop of Lima and Primate of Peru, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Council for Latin America read a message from Pope Benedict XVI in which the Holy Father assures the Church in Peru of his affection, closeness and encouragement.
The central nucleus of the message from the Supreme Pontiff is the paternal concern with which he calls on Peruvians to love their faith, to nourish it with prayer and the sacraments and careful listening to the word of God. The Pope encourages them to hand on the faith in their families as the most precious heritage: “If a mother and father leave their children with strong faith they leave them the greatest of treasures which will be light for their steps in life”. Remarking that faith is a gift which is not to be lived alone, only inwardly, but which must be witnessed in everyday life, the Holy Father calls on the people to bear witness to their faith so that “faith becomes a bright light which leads to Christ and spreads though the life of each and everyone those Christian and human values which are part of the identity of Peruvians”.
The Cardinal Primate of the Peruvian Church in his homily said that St Toribio de Mogrovejo spent 10 years in Peru and made three pastoral visits filled with love for Christ and an unquenchable desire to save souls. Distinctive traits of the pastoral ministry of this saint included his closeness to God and fidelity to prayer as a fundamental element in his apostolic ministry. In fact “intense prayer does not prevent commitment with history because it opens the heart to God and to love our brothers and sisters and enables us to build history according to God’s plan” said Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani. (RZ) (Agenzia Fides 19/5/2005, righe 31, parole 445)


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