VATICAN CITY, 7 FEB 2008 (VIS) - Benedict XVI has sent a Message to Archbishop Geraldo Lyrio Rocha of Mariana, president of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil, for the start yesterday, Ash Wednesday, of the Fraternity Campaign traditionally promoted by the Brazilian Church during Lent. This year the campaign is dedicated to the theme: "Fraternity and defence of life", and its motto is: "Choose, then, life".
In his Message, the Pope makes it clear that "all threats to life must certainly be resisted", and in this context he refers to his "inaugural address at the Fifth General Conference of the Episcopate of Latin America and the Caribbean" in which "I recalled how the paths being followed by a culture without God and without His commandments, or even against God, lead to 'a culture against human beings and against the good of the Latin American people'".
The Holy Father also refers to the final document of the Aparecida conference which, he writes, "shows us how meeting Christ is the starting point from which to oppose these paths of death, and to choose life. Just as it is also the starting point for a full recognition of the sacredness of life and the dignity of human beings.
"In inaugurating this year's Fraternity Campaign", the Pope adds, "I again express the hope that the various institutions of civil society will show their solidarity with the popular will which, in its majority, rejects everything that runs counter to the ethical requirements of justice and of respect for human life, from its beginning to its natural end".
Benedict XVI concludes by invoking the protection of the Lord, "that His charitable hand may reach over all Brazil, and that new life in Christ may reach all human beings in their personal, family, social and cultural dimensions, spreading its gifts of peace and prosperity, and reawakening in all hearts feeling of fraternity and co-operation".
MESS/FRATERNITY CAMPAIGN/BRAZIL VIS 20080207 (330)
In his Message, the Pope makes it clear that "all threats to life must certainly be resisted", and in this context he refers to his "inaugural address at the Fifth General Conference of the Episcopate of Latin America and the Caribbean" in which "I recalled how the paths being followed by a culture without God and without His commandments, or even against God, lead to 'a culture against human beings and against the good of the Latin American people'".
The Holy Father also refers to the final document of the Aparecida conference which, he writes, "shows us how meeting Christ is the starting point from which to oppose these paths of death, and to choose life. Just as it is also the starting point for a full recognition of the sacredness of life and the dignity of human beings.
"In inaugurating this year's Fraternity Campaign", the Pope adds, "I again express the hope that the various institutions of civil society will show their solidarity with the popular will which, in its majority, rejects everything that runs counter to the ethical requirements of justice and of respect for human life, from its beginning to its natural end".
Benedict XVI concludes by invoking the protection of the Lord, "that His charitable hand may reach over all Brazil, and that new life in Christ may reach all human beings in their personal, family, social and cultural dimensions, spreading its gifts of peace and prosperity, and reawakening in all hearts feeling of fraternity and co-operation".
MESS/FRATERNITY CAMPAIGN/BRAZIL VIS 20080207 (330)
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