PAPAL MESSAGE TO U.S. HISPANIC CATHOLICS FOR ENCUENTRO 2000

VATICAN CITY, JUL 6, 2000 (VIS) - Made public today was the Holy Father's Message, dated June 16, to Bishop Joseph Fiorenza of Galveston-Houston, U.S.A., president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, on the occasion of Encuentro 2000, the fourth nationwide gathering of the Hispanic Catholic community in the United States. The national celebration starts today in Los Angeles and continues through July 9. There are also local celebrations during those same dates.
The Pope recalled that "the theme, 'Many Faces in God's House,' seeks to be a celebration of the rich cultural, ethnic and linguistic diversity which marks the Catholic Church in the United States.

"It is significant," he wrote, "that Encuentro 2000 is meant to celebrate not only the faith and religious traditions by which Hispanic Catholics enrich the ecclesial life of your country, but also to point to the important contribution which all Catholics together are urged to make to the mission of the Church in the United States."

John Paul II asked those present at Encuentro 2000 "to renew their gratitude for the great gift of faith, ... to ensure that this priceless treasure is passed on in all its vitality," and "to pursue the great task of ecclesial renewal," including "a conscious and persevering promotion of vocations to the priesthood and the consecrated life."

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