Urges Prelates at Brazil Meeting to Fix Gaze on Jesus

APARECIDA, Brazil, MAY 15, 2007, Zenit.org - Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re urged prelates gathered in the 5th General Conference of the Episcopate of Latin America and the Caribbean to put Christ at the center of their assembly.

Cardinal Re, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, made these comments during his homily at the Mass that began the meetings of the continent's bishops Monday. The general conference is being held near the shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida through May.

"We must let ourselves be illuminated by his light. We must follow him," Cardinal Re said. "Christ is the center of the divine plan of our salvation.

"We must place Christ at the center of our conference, to be his true disciples and to bring him to the heart of the Latin American people."

The cardinal said the bishops should work over the next 18 days with their gaze fixed on Christ, in their desire to serve the men and women of Latin America.

Just and humane

The 73-year-old prefect said that the more Christians live their faith, "the more they will be able to cooperate with other men and women of good will to promote a more just and humane world."

"We need to work for a religious revitalization of Latin America," Cardinal Re asserted, adding that the key to a successful response to today's challenges in Latin America is beginning from the very heart of Christianity, from Christ.

"May our hearts be open in these days to all men and women, our brothers and sisters, in particular to the poorest and weakest members of society, to all those who suffer," he said. "In this way, the disciple of Christ becomes a builder of a society of love that is inspired by the Gospel and based on justice, truth, freedom and peace."

The first day of the conference continued with a spiritual retreat on the Eucharist, preached by retired Archbishop Estanislao Esteban Karlic of Parana, Argentina.

Code: ZE07051501

Date: 2007-05-15