Text 33, 64 rader
Skriven 2004-11-16 07:58:52 av Marc Lewis (1:396/45)
Ärende: Vatican Information Service - Press Release
===================================================
Hello All!

              The following press release is Copyrighted by the
                        Vatican Information Service.
              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                               VIS-Press releases

BISHOPS OF INDIAN OCEAN: DIVERSE REALITIES, GREAT DISTANCES

VATICAN CITY, NOV 9, 2004 (VIS) - As they conclude their "ad limina" visit, the
bishops from the Episcopal Conference of the Indian Ocean (CEDOI) were welcomed
today by the Holy Father who, in his talk to them in French, underscored the
need for "authentic spiritual communion" given "the diversity of human and
religious situations of your region" and "also the great distances that
separate your dioceses."

Bishop Gilbert Aubry, president of the conference, pointed out in his address
to the Holy Father that CEDOI is in fact composed of one Islamic republic (the
Comoros Islands), two republics that are part of the Commonwealth (Seychelles
and Mauritius), an overseas French department which is also an ultra-peripheral
region of Europe (La Reunion) and a French territorial community (the island of
Mayotte).

The Pope began his talk by inviting "Christian people to live the just-begun
Year of the Eucharist as an intense time of encounters with Christ," calling it
a time to "discover in this incomparable treasure that Jesus left us the joy
and goodness of the loving presence of the Savior" and a time to "rediscover
the meaning of Sunday and the need to make it holy, notably by regular
participation in Sunday Mass."

Calling the formation of future priests "a challenge" for the Church, John Paul
II encouraged seminary formators "in their precious service" of seeing that
seminaries "become the place of a serious discernment of vocations and an
authentic community formation to the ministerial priesthood." He urged the
bishops to reevaluate the pastoral ministry for vocations and "to make it an
essential concern in your dioceses." Care for your priests in their spiritual
lives, he exhorted, and give them a solid foundation on which to build,
especially "through assiduous prayer life and the sacraments of the Eucharist
and Penance. ... Be close to them through welcoming, listening, and shared
friendship so they do not feel isolated or misunderstood."

The Pope then underlined the importance of having lay people with "a solid
religious formation" whose presence and work in society, "in the presence of
other religions and also with the activity of sects," will communicate the
Christian message and encourage other disciples of Christ to give witness to
their faith. He added that "inculturation of the Gospel message is a task of
great importance," and said that "for people to progress peacefully inter-
religious dialogue is also a necessity."

The Holy Father dedicated closing remarks to the family and to young people.
"Attention to families and to their harmonious development," he said, "is one
of your pastoral priorities," especially because "societal evolutions today
contribute to making family structures fragile." He asked the bishops to insist
on "the value of marriage and the family in God's plan," stating that families
"are the privileged place for forming young people and for transmitting moral
and spiritual values." And, he said, "the human and spiritual formation of
young people is urgent in order to respond to the challenges of witnessing to
the Gospel today."
AL/.../CEDOI VIS 041109 (500)

SUMMARY

--- MPost/386 v1.21
 * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS New Orleans 1-504-897-6006 USR 33.6k (1:396/45)