VATICAN CITY, OCT 26, 2002 (VIS) - This morning the Holy Father met with prelates from regions 1 through 4 of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil at the end of their "ad limina" visit.
In his speech in Portuguese, the Pope encouraged the bishops to confront the current challenges while dedicating their "best energies, with renewed missionary zeal, to the growth of the Kingdom of God in this world."
After stressing the "religious awakening" of young people in their dioceses, John Paul II urged them to "form the faithful in a firm and coherent faith; only a new and effective discovery of Christ, as the cornerstone upon which the life of all of society is built, will allow them to not fear any type of difficulty. ... An increase in the quality of Christian life is necessary, in order that they bear witness to their faith clearly. ... Let no one feel excluded from this apostolic plan!"
The Pope highlighted that "the Church needs holy priests; holy religious who are distinguished by their exclusive consecration within their specific foundational charism in order to carry out the work of evangelization with generosity and sacrifice in the fundamental mission which has been entrusted to them, following the example of Mother Paulina, foundress of the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, whom I canonized last May. Today more than ever, the Church needs lay saints as well."
Referring to movements, lay associations and new realities in their particular churches, the Holy Father called attention to the "risk of a certain timidity or short-sightedness toward the transcendental value which the group phenomenon takes on today in the life of the Church." And he recalled that "the criteria for being part of the Church, for an adequate inclusion of those new realities, must always be respected and examined by diocesan authority, in accordance with pastoral needs, not only of the particular Church itself but also of the universal Church."
John Paul II urged the bishops to warn the faithful against initiatives that attempt to transform the National Council of the Laity into a conference as a parallel instance to the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil; "an autonomous organism represented by lay people, without reference to the hierarchical communion with the bishops."
"A diligent and attentive pastoral care of young people, called to bear witness to Christian values in the new millennium, is necessary," he added. Joined to the "thorny problem of guiding minors who are deprived of dignity and innocence, are the problems related to insertion into the job force; the increase in juvenile crime, conditioned greatly by endemic poverty and by the lack of family stability, as well as the deleterious activity of some of the mass media; internal migration to big cities in search of better standards of life; the worrying implication of young people in the world of drugs and prostitution. These are all factors that continue to be significant in your pastoral attention."
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