ACCIDENT ON A WYD BUS NEAR KOUROU, FRENCH GUIANA: TELEGRAM FROM THE POPE

ACCIDENT ON A WYD BUS NEAR KOUROU, FRENCH GUIANA: TELEGRAM FROM THE POPE

Vatican City, 18 July 2013 (VIS) – Given below is the text of a telegram of condolences sent in the Holy Father's name by Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. to the bishop of Cayenne, in response to news of a serious road accident yesterday near Kourou, French Guiana, involving a bus carrying pilgrims to next week's World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The accident caused one death, and left five other victims seriously injured.

“Pope Francis, informed of the tragic road accident on the road to Saint Laurent du Maroni involving a bus carrying young people participating in World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, wishes to express his heartfelt participation in the mourning of the families of the deceased, and of the group leaders and organisers. The Pope assures them of his prayers and expresses his deepest sympathy with those injured, the rescue workers and all those around them. The Holy Father wishes to impart the comfort of an apostolic blessing on all those touched by this tragedy”.

MODENA: PRAYER VIGIL FOR THE VICTIMS OF MIGRATION, IN COMMUNION WITH POPE FRANCIS' VISIT TO LAMPEDUSA

Vatican City, 18 July 2013 (VIS) – Tonight the Italian city of Modena will hold a prayer vigil in the Church of Pomposa for the victims of migration. The vigil has been organised by the diocese of Modena-Nonantola, “in communion with Pope Francis' visit to Lampedusa”.

During his visit to the island on 8 July, the Holy Father said “we beg forgiveness for our indifference to so many of our brothers and sisters. Father, we ask your pardon for those who are complacent and closed amid comforts which have deadened their hearts; we beg your forgiveness for those who by their decisions on the global level have created situations that lead to these tragedies”.

A communique issued by the archdiocese states: “Welcoming Pope Francis' spirit of forgiveness and compassion, we invite all citizens of Modena, both natives to the city and immigrants, to a moment of prayer for the victims of the crossings of hope in the Mediterranean Sea, and the other routes that are taken by many people seeking refuge from war, persecution, discrimination and environmental disasters”.

FOURTH AMERICAN MISSIONARY CONGRESS: DISCIPLES IN A MULTICULTURAL WORLD

Vatican City, 18 July 2013 (VIS) – The Fourth American Missionary Congress (Ninth Missionary Congress of Latin America) has been convened for this autumn (26 November – 1 December) by the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference and the Pontifical Mission for the archdiocese of Maracaibo, where the meeting will be held. The theme will be "Missionary disciples of Jesus Christ in a secular and multicultural world" and four thousand missionaries from all over the continent are expected to attend.

The American Missionary Congresses, explains the site dedicated to the event, “are marked by the need to provide missionary forces of the continent a favourable space to share and promote reflection, spirituality and missionary experiences. Their purpose is to renew the necessary and permanent commitment of the Church in Latin America, called to fulfil the mission of the Lord beyond geographical, cultural and religious differences”.

With the slogan “Missionary America, share your faith”, twenty-two forums have also been organised, led by experts who will discuss, among other issues: missionary childhood and adolescence, subject and future of the mission; the challenge of youth cultures to the mission of the Church; the inculturation of the liturgy; evangelisation and political ideas; the protection of creation; the missionary challenge of human mobility; the centrality of the Word of God to the mission of the Church; dialogue and proclamation to non-believers; the proclamation of Jesus Christ in Afro-American and indigenous cultures; popular religiosity, a way to evangelisation; evangelising urban cultures: from the temple to the house; and mission and ecumenism.