Argentine archbishop says Latin America bears mark of baptism of Jesus

Corrientes, Argentina, Jan 11, 2006 / 22:00 pm

During the celebration of the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Archbishop Domingo Castagna said the peoples of Latin America “are sealed with the Baptism of Jesus,” and he explained that although the region “risks becoming de-Christianized, it maintains a mysterious bond with Christ, and with His Church, that cannot be broken.”

Archbishop Castagna recalled that nothing can erase or wipe out the seal of Baptism which marks each believer upon receiving the sacrament. 

He likewise mentioned the recent message by Pope Benedict XVI for the World Day of Peace, noting that “the truth should be proposed as God proposes it.  Jesus is severe with the hypocrisy of the Pharisees but never with the moral weakness of other sinners.  Pharisees proclaims as truth that which is error and as good that which is evil.  In this attitude lies the ‘sin against the Holy Spirit,’ which cannot be forgiven and influences the pharisaic attitudes and behavior of some people, whether they are baptized or not.”

Archbishop Castagna pointed out that “to recall the Baptism of Jesus is to commemorate our own.  Christians must be mindful of their own baptism and must not disregard it when considering what path to take in the world.  On that mysterious day at the Jordan, Jesus allowed Himself to be identified by the Father before the whole world, as the Saving Messiah.”