Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Aparecida (Agenzia Fides) - The first week of 5th General Conference of the Bishops' Conferences of Latin America and the Caribbean was marked by fraternal communion with reflects not only the special ecclesial atmosphere but also the common confidence of the bishops and all those present that the Holy Spirit will help them identify the challenges facing the continent today and the relative pastoral responses.
Leading members of the Roma Curia addressed the Conference. Cardinal Claudio Hummes, OFM, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy said that in the present economic, social, political and religious situation on the continent the "the Church in Latin America and the Caribbean must be resolutely missionary and go out in search of lost Catholics and all those who know little or nothing about Jesus Christ and His Kingdom". This Conference should give rise to “a great permanent continental mission", in which the priests and permanent deacons will be the fundamental and indispensable agents in parishes and the different areas of society. "They will be decisive for success of the mission. Formation in our seminaries and ongoing formation of the clergy must address the urgent task of reawakening a spirit of mission ", the Cardinal said.
In his intervention Archbishop Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, said “today more than ever there is need of authentic Christian formation, a strong sense of community membership, acute discernment in the light of the faith and competent, consistent and courageous commitment in public life on the part of the lay faithful". He also said it was important to bear in mind “the necessity of new and more consistent and incisive presence of lay faithful in cultural forums, on the political scene where the life of the nations develops". The Archbishop recalled that also in Latin America since the 1980s new Church Movements and ecclesial communities have spread: “From them much can be learned regarding methods, paths and schools of formation and accompaniment of the Lord's disciples and missionaries. I regard the new communities which have sprung up with the power of the Holy Spirit in these lands of Latin America a great sign of hope. They have given Latin America strong missionary impulse and rich missionary imagination for presenting the message of Christ and in formation in the faith, co-operating faithfully with the mission of the Church, not only in Latin America but throughout the world".
Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family in his intervention illustrated the main "unprecedented dangers and challenges", facing the family in this part of the world, and said he wondered to what extent people are aware of this great challenge. We witness “false definitions of the family and life- the Cardinal said - which imprison the truth in new ideologies". He said that bishops have the duty to “safeguard the Truth and be heralds of hope". This situation calls for family policies "to protect and sustain poor families who suffer because of inhuman economy in the world and in our countries".
Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace said "certain Latin America countries have the highest ratings of social inequality in the world. This means the problem of the integral development of the individual and the whole population has yet to be solved and in some countries has become more serious". He recalled that the Church, by nature missionary, is called to accompany these changes at times dramatic with the grace of the announcement of the Gospel remembering that "evangelisation is only complete if it keeps in mind mutual interpellation of the Gospel and the concrete, personal and social life of every person". However announcing the Christian message is closely connected with human promotion, commitment for justice, peace and solidarity, and for this the Church relies on an essential channel for her mission, Catholic Social Doctrine. "This teaching is part of her mission and it is a means of evangelisation because it illuminates the concrete experience of our faith". Cardinal Martino said CELAM 5 "is an opportunity to consolidate the "new impulse" experienced by Catholic Social Doctrine in Latin America" and he presented a series of proposals: give adequate space to Social Doctrine in the formation of candidates to the priesthood and the consecrated life, of catechists and active lay Catholics; increase formative initiatives on Social Doctrine in communities; consolidate - or institute where they do not exist - structures for the study of Social Doctrine at the university level with a rigorously scientific character; make Social Doctrine an essential preference for pastoral to form lay Catholics for participation at the social and political level.
Cardinal Paul Poupard, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture and the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, gave five points for pastoral care of culture in view of authentic inculturated evangelisation. "To live and communicate friendship with Christ - he said - is to evangelise culture with the zeal proper to the apostle, imbuing the family, education, communications, public life, migration, rural cultures, indigenous and Afro-American cultures, new city cultures with the experience of faith in the Risen Lord". (RG) (Agenzia Fides 18/5/2007; righe 69, parole 950)
