Mexico City, Mexico, Oct 11, 2010 / 20:01 pm
Mexican priests must resist growing efforts to build a society without the guidance of the Gospel, said Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera of Mexico City.
“The Church exists to be the light of the world,” he told an Oct. 5-6 assembly of priests.
There is a temptation for priests to focus only on liturgical, sacramental and internal Church matters, Cardinal Rivera said. But the Church has a duty for the evangelization of all “temporal realities” of Mexican culture and society.
“We have a great responsibility to form others … to imbue our culture with Gospel values,” he said.
He added: “In many places there is no one to bear witness, to strongly defend or to explain with valid arguments so many issues that would help Mexico take a different direction,” he said.
The Church’s witness must include defending human rights and concrete works of charity and social development, Cardinal Rivera said. In addition, the Church must strive to illuminate and transform all areas of society with the “leaven” of the Gospel.