Comments on Benedict XVI's Message to Latin American Bishops
VATICAN CITY, MAY 27, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI showed that the responsibility for colonizers' crimes in Latin America must not be confused with the richness of the encounter between indigenous cultures and the Gospel, says an aide.
Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, explained this in the most recent episode of the Vatican television program "Octava Dies."
The Vatican spokesman commented that Benedict XVI left a central message to the 5th General Conference of the Episcopate of Latin America and the Caribbean: "It is love that gives life."
The Pope, said Father Lombardi, left the assembly of bishops gathered in Brazil "the perspective of the encyclical 'Deus Caritas Est' -- 'God is Love.'"
"He himself said this once again at the general audience after his trip in concluding his usual reflections on his travels, proposing a synthetic and effective formula: 'It is love that gives life,'" said the priest.
In his analysis the Vatican spokesman added: "In this sense [Benedict XVI] re-proposes John Paul II's call for an evangelization that is 'new in its ardor, in its methods, and in its expression.'
"These reflections are truly precious because they give the Pope another occasion to enrich and complete what he already said in his addresses during his trip."
Father Lombardi continued: "Thus, on the delicate theme of the relationship between evangelization and pre-Columbian culture, the Pope has shown that the responsibility for the deplorable crimes committed during the course of colonialization must not be in any way confused with the richness of the dynamic synthesis -- purifying, enriching and diversifying -- between those cultures and the Gospel.
"This is a synthesis that is still fundamental for confronting the new problems of the modern world and of globalization itself with the guidance of Christian social doctrine."
The Pope said in Brazil that "God's presence, friendship with the Son of God incarnate, the light of his word -- are always basic conditions for the presence and effectiveness of justice and love in our society."
Father Lombardi asserted that the Pope's words are certainly valid for Latin America, "but they of course, have a universal validity as well."
Code: ZE07052701
Date: 2007-05-27