Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - On 13 May Pope Benedict XVI will open the 5th General Conference of the Council of Latin American Bishops’ Conferences CELAM at the Marian Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil. Here is an interview on the subject with the late Archbishop Luis Robles Díaz, vice president of the pontifical Commission for Latin America who died suddenly on 7 April in Rome.
CEALM 5 will be held in about a month’s time, what fruits can it be expected to bear for the Church in Latin America?
I feel the principal fruit of the General Conference will be intense renewal of the Church’s pastoral activity. Reflection should focus first of all on pastoral care, which is a necessity for the Church on the continent today. How can we make the Gospel reach more people? How can we spread a culture of life? How can we strengthen our families and transmit to them the model of the Christian family? I believe reflection and discussion among the bishops of the different countries taking part and assistance from lay people and experts invited will produce concrete answers for these and other questions. Latin America, despite its rich cultural diversity and respect for the identity of each country, is strongly united; we are one people with a marked Catholic identity. This must be recognised if we are to provide answers which, after careful consideration of the various problems, are pragmatically feasible and effective. Our duty is to announce the Gospel and to carry on the Church’s mission effectively.
In your opinion on what should this effectiveness be based?
I think we must identify the principal object and to focus all available means in this one direction. Our objective is to announce Christ and help people -Catholics included - to believe and live the Gospel. We must transmit hope based not on human objectives, social, economic etc. This hope must be based on the concrete person of Christ. This may seem obvious but it will do no harm to recall that every bishop must transmit solely the model of Christ. Clearly today especially in countries with serious economic, social and political problems - like many Latin American nations - the Church’s ministry much reach every human sphere and offer concrete answers, but what kind of answers? On what must they be based? When the Church’s mission becomes confused with earthly goals, economic, political or social, the Gospel ceases to be effective. Men cease to be effective!
In your opinion, how will this 5th General Conference differ from the previous four?
To answer the question I would start from another one: what do all our Bishops conferences have in common. We clearly see continuity in the meetings of bishops, from Rio to Santo Domingo. These assemblies have been in response to the promptings of the Spirit of the Second Vatican Council. There is a movement of ongoing renewal in the Church and this has led to these large assemblies because of the necessity to respond to concrete situations today. This renewal is in continuity with the previous teachings, those of the Council especially. I believe - to answer your question- that each General conference has been born in a different and special historical context. In this continuity each in its own way responded to a concrete situation of the Church in every day. Such accumulated and immense richness! I do not think that these times in Latin America call for great proposals at the doctrinal level. In the last 50 years the Magisterium has produced a vast quantity of material, the fruit of profound reflection and acute awareness of the present situation in the Church. It suffices to consider only the teaching of John Paul II on his apostolic journeys to this part of the world. This alone, with the documents of the previous Conferences, presents an infinite number of principles to be applied. I think this 5th Conference must give rise to renewal in action, focussed not on political, economic or social, questions, but centred on Christ, on his Gospel, on our Christian values and our deeply rooted popular piety …
In the context of Latin America and what the Church there has accomplished, in your opinion what are the main challenges to be faced?
I think I referred to the main challenges in the above answer. However I would add another which I consider fundamental: foster vocations. Imagine Christ without disciples, without followers; image Christ without apostles, would this not be absurd? Jesus’ entire person was a call to follow Him. He called and he continues to call his disciples through every Christian and through the bishops in particular. The Church cannot go on without an ongoing vocation apostolate. The Lord himself urges us to urge the people “to ask the master to send workers for the harvest”. However besides praying we must also seek with concrete means. In recent years various ways of fostering vocations have been tried, some successful, others less. Frequently we have noted a loss of confidence in the effectiveness of direct proclamation of the Gospel, of Christ’s calling, and in open and honest defence of what the Church really intends to transmit: that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life. At times we try indirect paths which do not give good results, or we try to dress up the message when what we should do is to present it as it is. If the Gospel in itself were not attractive we would never convince others? On the other hand I think the value of activity of evangelisation can be measured by its vocational fruits. This is why I think the Conference can make an important contribution by initiating renewal in vocation pastoral, closely connected with family pastoral, in order to give rise to an intense campaign to promote the priestly life and the consecrated life as exemplary models. The campaign must be clear and direct and not try to filter through channels offered by the world, it must have its own channel, represented by the testimony of the bishops. (CN/RG) (Agenzia Fides 18/4/2007; righe 79, parole 1.020)
