Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Lima (Fides Service) - Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne, Archbishop of Lima and Primate of Peru, addressed a Lenten Letter to his priests reminding them that their mission in the Church demands " continual personal conversion" all through life and Lent especially, the Archbishop writes "is an opportunity not to be wasted". The Cardinal calls on priests to reflect deeply on the sense of the Cross. “In our times the Church calls us, priests especially, to bear witness to the cross the ‘sign of contradiction’, to contemplate in this Lenten Season of conversion the crucified Christ. Only in an atmosphere of prayer and penance this can remove the most intimate things from our conscience so we may love Christ crucified better and more deeply."
The Cardinal writes "Let us forget ourselves, our selfish thoughts, our whims, our desire to command others … let us open our whole life to the great embrace of the all merciful Father. Souls are waiting for us in the sacrament of reconciliation!” and concludes by calling priests to face life with sincerity and courage and with eternal hope and this demands conversion because, he warns, "if a priest is focussed on himself he is blind to the reality of eternal life”. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 17/2/2007; righe 17, parole 234)
