AMERICA/MEXICO - Bishops: "driven by hope. Let us continue to fight for peace, justice, tolerance, solidarity and dialogue"

Monday, 2 May 2022 episcopal conferences   social situation   missionary animation   synodality   human rights   poverty   pandemic  

Cuautitlán Izcalli (Agenzia Fides) - "Now it is up to all of us, God's people (pastors and flock), to continue the mission of the Risen One, listening to the voice of the Spirit, discerning what God shows us and asks of us through the signs of the times, to find together the paths that make it possible to experience "the hope that does not disappoint". Hope that drives us that, in the face of what threatens human dignity and the values of the family, life, freedom of expression, democracy, education and hospitality in solidarity, and in the midst of violence, injustice and the prevailing impunity, and that above all affect the poor, migrants, women and the weakest, let us continue fighting for peace, justice, tolerance, solidarity and dialogue".
This is the exhortation of the Mexican Episcopal Conference, published in a message at the end of its plenary assembly, which ended on April 29. With the same desire for Peace with which the risen Jesus addressed his disciples, "Peace be with you," the bishops greet the Mexican people. "The presence of Christ, the Crucified-Risen One, always instills confidence and hope" they underline, inviting us to "discover hope beyond the characteristics of our times of change". Despite the fact that the primacy of the human being and his dignity has been lost, and that an overvaluation of the individual to the detriment of the collective is strongly emerging, which forgets the construction of the common good and polarizes society, the bishops say, "with our gaze on the Risen One, that neither the culture of death, nor violence, nor lies, nor evil, will have the last word". This hope "emerges from the deep cultural and religious roots that give us identity as a Mexican people," the fruit of the consistent testimony of many missionary disciples throughout five hundred years of evangelization, and of the presence of Mary of Guadalupe, the bishops underline, who thank all those who "as a family of God", gave reason for their hope in the midst of the pandemic and its consequences, living with trust in God and with fraternal solidarity. During the Plenary Assembly, the Bishops of Mexico also renewed their commitment to "a new missionary Pentecost" according to the guidelines of the latest continental ecclesial meetings and in line with the Synod of Bishops convened by Pope Francis.
"In this way, laity, consecrated life and pastors, we prepare ourselves for the celebration for the 2000 years of redemption and the 500 years of the Guadalupe Event, guided by the Global Pastoral Plan, to continue shaping ourselves as a more fraternal, supportive, united, participatory and missionary Church".
In the final part of the message, the Episcopal Conference asks "to avoid making unilateral readings of the times we live in, which contribute to polarization" and recommends: "Faced with complex times, a new audacity and the lucidity of believers are necessary, fix your gaze on the Prince of Peace. Now more than ever, the commitment of the "blessed who work for peace and justice" is necessary, who neither condemn the past out of hand, nor obsessively disqualify the present, but rather discern, from the criteria of the Gospel, all events". Before entrusting themselves to the intercession of the Virgin of Guadalupe, the bishops reiterate their evangelical commitment "for preferential service to the most vulnerable in society, which we recognize today in the faces of migrants, women, children, youth and the elderly who suffer, as well as in that of the relatives of the disappeared persons". And they conclude by saying: "Faced with these realities that hurt us so much, we commit ourselves to being a more synodal and supportive Church, which announces and defends human dignity and collaborates in the reconstruction of the social fabric from the encounter with the Crucified and Risen Christ". (SL) (Agenzia Fides, 2/5/2022)


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