Subject: VISnews 110408
Organization: VIS - Ufficio Stampa della Santa Sede
From: Vatican Information Service - Eng - txt
VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
TWENTY FIRST YEAR - N. 68
ENGLISH
FRIDAY, 8 APRIL 2011
SUMMARY:
- Popular Piety and Evangelisation in Latin America
- The Holy See at XIV Santo Domingo International Book Fair
- Audiences
- Other Pontifical Acts
___________________________________________________________
POPULAR PIETY AND EVANGELISATION IN LATIN AMERICA
VATICAN CITY, 8 APR 2011 (VIS) - This morning Benedict XVI received
participants in the plenary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America,
dedicated to the theme "Impact of popular piety on the process of
evangelisation in Latin America".
The Pope affirmed that the bishops who met at the Fifth General Conference
of the Episcopate of Latin America and the Caribbean held in 2007 in
Aparecida, Brazil, "presented popular piety as a space in which to encounter
Jesus Christ, and a form of expression of the faith of the Church. It
cannot, therefore, be considered as a secondary aspect of Christian life",
and added that "the profound popular religiosity characteristic of the way
faith is experienced among the Latin American people ... constitutes "a
valuable asset of the Catholic Church in Latin America, and must be
protected, promoted and also, where necessary, purified".
"In pursuing the new evangelisation in Latin America", he continued, "one
cannot disregard the many manifestations of popular piety. All these, well
channelled and duly accompanied, help bring about a fruitful encounter with
God, fostering an intense veneration of the Sacrament, a profound devotion
to the Virgin Mary, affection for Peter's Successor and a sense of belonging
to the Church ... Consequently, the faith has to be the principal source of
popular piety, in order that it not be reduced simply to a form of cultural
expression within a given region. Moreover, it must remain in strict
relation with the sacred liturgy, which may not be substituted with any
other form of religious expression".
"Nevertheless, one cannot deny", he remarked, "the existence of certain
deviant forms of popular religiosity which, far from promoting active
participation in the Church, instead create confusion and can give rise to a
superficial religious practice detached from a deep-rooted and inwardly
vital faith ... However, to exclude it would be completely mistaken. Through
popular piety, faith enters into the heart of men, forming a part of their
sentiments, customs, commonly shared ways of feeling and living ...
Certainly, popular piety must be continually purified and orientated, but
deserves our love, as it truly renders us 'People of God'."
The Holy Father concluded by thanking the bishops for their "valuable and
consistent contributions to the protection, promotion and purification of
all that is connected to expressions of popular religiosity in Latin
America" and highlighted that, in order to achieve this aim, it would be
valuable to continue to promote the continental Mission, "with which the
Latin American Episcopate has renewed the process of the new evangelisation
following the conference in Aparecida", and which "has given particular
space to the pastoral field, which constitutes a privileged method for
ensuring that the faith is welcomed into the hearts of the people, touching
their deepest sentiments, and is shown to be strong and flourishing through
divine charity".
AG/ VIS
20110408 (480)
THE HOLY SEE AT XIV SANTO DOMINGO INTERNATIONAL BOOK FAIR
VATICAN CITY, 8 APR 2011 (VIS) - A press conference was held at the Holy See
Press Office this morning to present the cultural activities planned for the
Santo Domingo International Book Fair, to which the Holy See has been
invited as a guest of honour.
Participating in the conference were Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president
of the Pontifical Council for Culture; Victor Manuel Grimaldi Cespedes,
ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the Holy See; Fr. Giuseppe Costa,
S.D.B., director of the Vatican Publishing House; and Fr. Miguel Angel Reyes
Arreguin, director of the Department for Latin America.
The Holy See will participate with a pavilion at this year's fair, which
will be held at the Plaza de la Cultura grounds from 4 to 22 May. The fair
will commemorate the 500th anniversary of the diocese of Santo Domingo, the
first diocese to be erected on the American continent, which was elevated to
the rank of metropolitan archdiocese in 1546.
Cardinal Ravasi explained that "Benedict XVI has received the invitation
with approval. It will be the first time that the Holy See participates as a
guest of honour at an international book fair". Cardinal Ravasi has been
designated as the Holy Father's delegate at the event.
He continued, "A collaboration agreement has been signed by the Holy See
and the Santo Domingo Ministry of Culture, including plans for the
participation of twenty lecturers, art exhibitions, concerts and other
events. The Vatican delegation will donate a considerable amount of books by
Catholic authors which will subsequently be destined for schools and public
libraries in Santo Domingo, in order to promote greater knowledge of
contemporary Catholic literature among newer generations of Santo
Domingans".
The design and construction of the pavilion will be entrusted to the
Pontifical Council for Culture, the Vatican Publishing House, the Vatican
Museums, the Vatican Apostolic Library and the Vatican Secret Archives.
Representatives of various Vatican institutions, such as the Pontifical
Council for Social Communications, the Vatican Internet Office, Vatican
Radio and so on, will present the activities of the Church in the field of
culture.
OP/ VIS
20110408 (360)
AUDIENCES
VATICAN CITY, 8 APR 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate
audiences:
- Bishop Joseph Kunnath, C.M.I., of Adilabad of the Syro-Malabars, India,
on his "ad limina" visit.
- Bishop Vijay Anand Nedumpuram, C.M.I., of Chanda of the Syro-Malabars,
India, on his "ad limina" visit.
- Bishop Simon Stock Palathara, C.M.I., of Jagdalpur, of the Syro-Malabars,
India, on his "ad limina" visit.
- Bishop Jacob Angadiath of Saint Thomas the Apostle of Chicago, of the
Syro-Malabars, USA; apostolic visitor for the faithful of the Syro-Malabar
rite resident in Canada, on his "ad limina" visit.
This afternoon the Holy Father will receive Cardinal William Joseph Levada,
prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
AL:AP/ VIS 20110408
(120)
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
VATICAN CITY, 8 APR 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Fr. Agapitus
Enuyehnyoh Nfon of the clergy of Kumbo, as auxiliary bishop of Bamenda (area
10,000, population 1,261,000, Catholics 303,729, priests 92, religious 296),
Cameroon. The bishop-elect was born in Kumbo, Cameroon, in 1964 and ordained
a priest in 1991.
NEA/ VIS
20110408 (50)
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