Cardinal: Latin American bishops stress need to adjust pastoral work

Published: 2007-05-17

APARECIDA, Brazil (CNS) -- The changes which have occurred in Latin America in recent years are so profound that they require fundamental changes in the way the church approaches pastoral work, said a cardinal from Honduras. "We need a pastoral conversion," Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa said. "If these are difficult times, new disciples are needed -- disciples who are able to respond to the difficulty, to resist the cultural storms that we are experiencing." After listening to presidents from Latin American and Caribbean bishops' conferences describe the problems the church is facing in their countries, Cardinal Rodriguez told reporters, "The question is how to respond to the new situations in Latin America." That will be the key issue for bishops participating in the May 13-31 Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean. The second full day of the meeting May 15 featured a seven-minute presentation from each country's bishops' conference.

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