GOD CALLS THE LAITY TO RENEWED MISSIONARY DRIVE

VATICAN CITY, NOV 25, 2000 (VIS) - This morning, Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano read a message from the Pope to participants in the Congress of Catholic Laity which is being held in Rome from November 25 to 30 in the "Domus Pacis." The congress is promoted by the Pontifical Council for the Laity.

In the message, dated November 21, the Pope recalls that, as baptized we are all members of the Church. He also calls for an awakening, "in the entire People of God, of the true 'sensus Ecclesiae,' together with the intimate awareness of being Church, mystery and communion.

"At the threshold of the third millennium, God calls believers, especially the laity, to renewed missionary drive. ... Christ must be announced with the witness of life and with the word. Prior to being a strategic and organized commitment, the apostolate comports the glad and joyous communication to all of the gift of encountering Christ."

John Paul II affirms that the Church needs lay people and relies upon them, and he encourages them not to become discouraged in the face of difficulties but "to seek in prayer the source of all apostolic strength; draw from the Gospel the light that guides your steps."

"The participation of the laity in the life and mission of the Church," he writes, "is also expressed and supported by various groups." These are "a significant means to more profound Christian formation and more incisive apostolic activity." He expresses his thanks to movements and associations for their efforts in the field of formation and for their missionary enthusiasm.

The Pope affirms that the role of the laity "is essential in the life of the Church," and highlights: "If faith has not been cancelled from the lives of entire peoples, it is thanks, above all, to the courageous witness of the lay faithful, not infrequently to the point of martyrdom."

"The Christian spring, of which we can already see no small number of signs, may be perceived in the radical choice of faith, in the true sanctity of life and in the extraordinary apostolic zeal of many lay faithful, men and women, young people, adults and the elderly. Thus, it is the present generation's task to carry the Gospel to the humanity of tomorrow."

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