AMERICA - Since the 5th General Conference of the Council of Latin American Bishops’ Conferences will be decidedly missionary it will conclude with the launching of a Great Continental Mission to foster renewed evangelising impulse

Bogotá (Agenzia Fides) - Bishop Andres Stanovnik OFM Cap of the diocese of Reconquista (Argentina) secretary general of the Council of Latin American Bishops’ Conferences CELAM issued a statement as reading key for CEALM 5 Document of Participation: “the conference intends to tackle the urgent new problems facing the Church in Latin America and the Caribbean today, to identify and coordinate pastoral lines to highlight and clarify the Catholic identity of our countries and give new impulse to evangelisation all over the continent”, the Bishop says, adding that CELAM 5 must be lived and understood with faith, "as God’s gift of love for his Church" therefore prayer will be most important "for our work to be spiritually fruitful".
Chapter one attempts to answer basic questions with regard to man’s identity, vocation and mission. Chapter 2 completes the 1st expressing gratitude for the arrival of the Gospel in Latin America and that the number of Jesus’ disciples continues to grow. Chapter 3 "Disciples and missionaries of Jesus Christ" is the main chapter. "The encounter with Jesus Christ is the key to understand what we mean by disciples and missionaries, the main key for understanding the identity, vocation and mission of every person.” Chapter 4 stresses the need to see the reality of the word and the Church in the light of the faith.
With regard to the Great Continental Mission to be launched at the end of CELAM 5 Bishop Andres Stanovnik says the idea is to give new impulse to evangelisation because the theme, “given to us by the Holy Father, refers to the missionary dimension which must distinguish CELAM 5". Although previous general conferences “have been prepared and lived as events oriented toward mission…this will be the first conference to propose a Great Continental Mission". The Bishops hope the mission will “fill our Churches will missionary ardour ". The style of the mission is still to be decided but the intention is to "give the whole continent new impulse for evangelisation ". (RG) (Agenzia Fides 30/3/2007; righe 29, parole 395)