Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Agenzia Fides) - From October 6 to 12, the members of the Presidency of the Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM), led by their President, His Exc. Mgr. Carlos Aguiar Retes, Archbishop of Tlalnepantla (Mexico), were in Rome to meet the Holy Father and the responsibles of the different Vatican dicasteries (see Fides 28/9/2011) to whom the pastoral plan for the next 4 years and the main aspects of the life of the Church in Latin America was presented. At the end of the visit, the President of CELAM granted the following interview to Fides.
The Aparecida document proposed the Continental Mission as a guide for the communities across the continent.
How is this commitment considered in the global plan of work for the next 4 years?
Orientations are given by guidelines set last May, some of the main points were proposed for the pastoral plan of our mandate, ie until 2015. As far as the global plan is concerned for the next four years we took as a guide to work with the second part of the slogan of Aparecida: "May our people have life in Him" ("Para que en el pueblo Nuestros, tengan vida"). Since the implementation of the first part of the slogan, "missionary disciples", ie how to make the Christians of our community, true disciples of Christ, has already reached its goal, now we have to "bear witness", because when we give witness of Christ, we can enjoy a full and decent life, in Him and thanks to Him.
We also think of two biblical texts of reference: the parable of the vine and the branches that we find in the Gospel of John, and an expression of the first letter of John, "Everything we have seen, felt, heard... we announce to you, so that our joy may be full ". The missionary disciple cannot remain satisfied with what he has found, but must pass on to others, even more so in adverse circumstances. This was the spirit of the Church of all times, the task of the mission ad gentes, the task of transmitting faith to other cultures: never the desire to proselytize, but only to present the truth, and, with the truth, the way of life, true life.
Currently it is difficult to preach the Gospel in Latin America due to very difficult situations such as increasing violence or armed conflict ... How does the church community react?
Yes, there are very high-risk situations, and the Bishops know them very well. But the people are comforted to see the attitude of their pastors. People sometimes go to authorities, the president of the region, the mayor, to try to solve the most difficult situations, but then the priests give them answers: with their presence, the Church's presence remains. So people stay with them, they do not emigrate, the cities do not depopulate, because the pastor remains, because there are those who celebrate Mass, administer the sacraments, preach and speak of hope, despite the violence and other serious problems. These situations sadden us very much, but spiritually strengthen us. Martyrdom has always enriched the life of the Church, one must not be scared, although we are saddened to see many who have paid a generous service to the Church killed. We must not forget that we are pilgrims in this Church, and the way our earthly life ends should be our last thought, rather we should think of heaven, and with this hope, we must look at these situations, otherwise we will despair. Of course, we always recommend cautiousness, and we invite the priests to wear the clergyman, because even organized crime respect it.
What is the identikit of the Latin American Church, and how does it contribute to these situations?
Starting from Aparecida, the consciousness of being the Church in Latin America has increased among the pastors, priests, bishops and even pastoral workers, there is a need to strengthen the Catholic identity. The Church's contribution cannot be to form an organized army or security groups, it is not part of our job. We have no armed forces but we have such a great moral force that when this sowing begins to grow, as we desire, that is when social peace comes, which brings peace with God, with Christ. For us this is the way, so we are committed to and with the family, for and with life, because that is where the future of our society is.
I want to emphasize that the Church in Latin America is still alive, and despite the difficult situations in different countries, now the Christian communities are autonomous: we have our priests, our facilities, vocations ... It is a Church that is able to live alone with the help of their faithful, and able to respond generously to initiatives such as Mission Sunday (Domund) to help the Mission Ad Gentes. Now Latin America is no longer an area of Mission Ad Gentes, it has become an area of full ecclesial life. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 14/10/2011)
