TO BISHOPS OF PERU: CONCRETE PASTORAL ACTION FOR NEEDY

VATICAN CITY, JUL 2, 2002 (VIS) - This morning John Paul II received a group of prelates from the Episcopal Conference of Peru who just completed their "ad limina" visit.

The Pope began by saying that "if the lack of means, misunderstandings, differences in opinion or origin in your people or even other difficulties, can cause discouragement, Jesus always comforts us. ... For this reason, it is precisely to become strong in Him, helping to cultivate a true desire for holiness in all believers, to which all of us are called and in which the deepest aspirations of man culminate.

"Peru," he continued, "which has been blessed by God with many fruits of holiness, has countless examples that can illuminate and open great perspectives to the present generations. The role models of St. Toribio of Mogrovejo, St. Rose of Lima, St. Martin de Porre, St. Francis Solano or St. John Macias, among others, should not be forgotten."

The Holy Father spoke about the importance of "stirring up, especially in young people, the passion for the great ideals of the Gospel, in such a way that a growing number of them are attracted to entirely consecrating their life to proclaiming and giving testimony." He indicated that evangelization must be accompanied by "vocational pastoral care, ever more urgent, that opens up new horizons of hope in local churches."

"Careful attention is also important for the formation imparted in the seminaries. In addition to cultivating the human maturity of candidates, ... they must be guided wisely toward a deep spiritual life that prepares them adequately to assume immediately and affectively their future ministry with all its demands."

John Paul II underlined that Peru "needs priests and evangelizers, saints, learned and faithful to their vocation, which cannot be given up for its meager number or for other social and cultural circumstances." And he emphasized the necessity that the dioceses collaborate "in order to facilitate better personal and material means for candidates to the priesthood."

After referring to the distress of bishops due to problems that affect marriage and the family he said: "The complexity of the aspects implicated in this field also require multidisciplinary pastoral action in which the catechetical initiative of the pastors is integrated with the educational action of other lay faithful, mutual support within families and the promotion of those conditions that foster the growth of the love of couples and familial stability."

"Pastors," he affirmed, "must make their voice heard in order to emphasize the importance of the family as the original and fundamental cell of society and its irreplaceable contribution to the common good of all citizens. This is particularly urgent when, for reasons more or less opportunist, anti-life political projects are proposed, the desire for matrimonial fidelity is stifled or the normal development of family life is hindered."

The Pope manifested his joy at the action of the Church in Peru in favor of the poor and encouraged them "to implement concrete pastoral care" in order to confront "the most urgent needs and to build the foundations of harmonious and lasting development based on the spirit of fraternal solidarity."

"In this way," he concluded, "I express my most sincere gratitude to the numerous ecclesiastical institutions that, with great dynamism and presentation, spread the light of the Gospel and fraternal support to the most remote places of the Peruvian land, from the Amazon jungle to the heights of the Andes, from the planes to the coast. It is beautiful to contemplate in this field how strengths are consolidated, differences are dispelled and bonders are overcome."

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