Warns of Secularization in Catholic Agencies
APARECIDA, Brazil, MAY 16, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum says Catholics need to be formed in the faith in order to fight misery in the world, especially in Latin America.
Archbishop Paul Cordes said this Saturday, a day prior to the beginning of the 5th General Conference of the Episcopate of Latin America and the Caribbean, in an address he gave to bishops in Aparecida on some of the fundamental aspects of Benedict XVI's first encyclical "Deus Caritas Est."
Archbishop Cordes underlined that witnessing to God's love "is a value that Latin American Catholics can offer, particularly their pastors."
"Benedict XVI exhorts members of the Church to get involved in the struggle against the world's miseries, to come up with effective goals and bring them to completion," explained the archbishop.
He added: "Faced with a transformed world we must add a second element to these programs and projects: People who witness to God's love in the name of the Church must be formed in the faith.
"The faith formation of volunteers must include that of remedying the world's miseries, in ways that only the Church can offer to humanity."
The Pontifical Council Cor Unum is the Holy See office that promotes and coordinates Catholic aid agencies worldwide.
The 72-year-old archbishop underlined the responsibility of bishops to keep Catholic agencies and volunteers from being conquered by a secularization that eliminates the vision of faith in social and charitable work.
Code: ZE07051601
Date: 2007-05-16