VATICAN CITY, JUL 11, 2007 (VIS) - Made public today was a Letter from Benedict XVI to bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean, in which he authorizes the publication of the final document of the Fifth General Conference of the Episcopate of Latin America and the Caribbean (CELAM). On May 13, during the course of his apostolic trip to Brazil, the Pope inaugurated the conference at the Brazilian shrine of Aparecida.
In his Letter, the Pope calls for the final document "to be a light and a stimulus for fruitful pastoral and evangelizing work in the years to come," observing that the text contains "many useful pastoral indications motivated with rich reflections in the light of the faith and of the current social situation.
"Among them," the Pope adds, "I read with particular appreciation the exhortation for priority to be given, in pastoral programs, to the Eucharist and the sanctification of the Day of the Lord, as well as the expressed wish to strengthen the Christian formation of the faithful in general and of pastoral workers in particular. In this context I was happy to learn of the desire to create a 'Continental Mission,' which episcopal conferences and dioceses are all called to study and put into effect, channeling all their vital energies to this end."
In a separate development, during the inaugural session of the 31st Ordinary CELAM Assembly, which began yesterday in Havana, Cuba, the new leaders of that institution for the next four-year period (2007-2011) were elected. The president is Archbishop Raymundo Damasceno Assis of Aparecida, Brazil, the first vice-president is Baltazar Porras Cardozo of Merida, Venezuela, and the second vice president is Bishop Andres Stanovnik O.F.M. Cap. of Reconquista, Argentina.
BXVI-LETTER/CELAM/... VIS 20070711 (300)
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