Pope receives final CELAM document for consideration

Vatican City, Jun 12, 2007 / 09:28 am

On Monday the three presidents of the 5th General Conference of the Latin American Bishops’ Council, which took place in Aparecida, Brazil, formally presented Pope Benedict XVI with the “Final Document,” which the Pope will now review before granting approval for official publication.

The document was presented to the Holy Father by Cardinals Francisco Javier Errazuriz of Santiago (Chile), Giovanni Battista Re, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, and Geraldo Magella Agnelo of Salvador (Brazil).

Although the contents of the dialogue between the cardinals and the Pope was not made public, the official website of the 5th General Conference, CELAM.info, reported that the “fundamental objective of the audience was to present the fruit of the 18 days of work that went into the Aparecida document and to share with the Holy Father the goodness of the atmosphere in which the conference was realized. The bishops’ goal was to make help present the physical atmosphere of the Shrine, the climate of communion amongst the bishops, and the presence of the Holy Spirit which all of the participants experienced.”

“We now hope that the Holy Father will approve the document in order to share it with all of the communities that are anxiously awaiting its directives to continue the work of evangelization in this continent of hope.

While awaiting approval, CELAM is preparing for its next ordinary assembly, which will take place in Havana, Cuba, on July 10-13. The assembly will have as one of its fundamental objectives, the laying of the foundation for the development of the Great Continental Mission which will provide continuity for the Aparecida Conference,” the CELAM website indicates.