Pope encourages Latin American Catholic movements to be missionaries to Gospel message

Vatican City, Mar 9, 2006 / 22:00 pm

As leaders of new Catholic Communities and lay Movements meet in Bogotá, Colombia this week, Pope Benedict XVI has sent a special message--by way of his secretary of state--calling for a missionary spirit among the groups, that aims to reach out to a suffering world who may not knowJesus Christ.

 The Pontifical Council for the Laity is sponsoring the first ever Meeting of Ecclesial Movements and New Communities in Latin America, being held from March 9^th through the 12^th.

Through Cardinal Angelo Sodano’s letter, which was sent to Archbishop Stanislaw Rylko,president of the Pontifical Council, the Holy Father encouraged congress participants"to share fraternally the wealth of their spirituality and experience,with the aim of invigorating Christian life in that part ofthe world, in which the Church lays so much hope."

Calling to mind the theme of the meeting, "Disciples and missionaries today, "the cardinal wrote that "like good disciples, the Movements and Communities are called to be both witnesses to and missionaries of the message they have received.” 

Likewise, he called them to stretch out “a friendly hand to others so that they too may discover Christ”, specifically naming “people who still do not know Him," and those "who live their Christian faith in a superficial manner,”  

He particularly called on the groups to reach out to those “who must be given the support necessary to strengthen their faith daily and form it correctly, against the snares of a secularized mentality or one that promotes religious indifference in many areas of Latin America.”  

"In this task,” Cardinal Sodano wrote,“missionaries do not cease to be disciples and give no more than what they themselves have received and continue to receive, without advancing their own ideas or seeking their own gain.” 

In this vein, he recalled Pope Benedict’s words during last summer’s World Youth Day celebration in Cologne, Germany. There, he said that “The spontaneity of new communities is important,but it is equally important to maintain communion with the Pope and the bishops.”

 He stressed that “It is they who guarantee that it is not individual itineraries that are being sought, but that all continue to live in that great family of God that the Lord founded with the twelve Apostles."

 Using this point to show the importance of ecclesial communion, upon which he said,“the authenticity of all experiences of Christian life and the effectiveness of pastoral initiatives so much depend,”he cited the thoughts of another Pope--John Paul II, who insisted that everyone be humbly integrated into the life of local Churches and within diocesan and parish structures.”

 It is here, the cardinal pointed out, “they can all communicate their different forms of association and expression."