Vatican reps guide Latin American, Caribbean bishops on many issues

Published: 2007-05-18

APARECIDA, Brazil (CNS) -- Addressing issues ranging from liturgy and formation to the role of laypeople, Vatican representatives provided guidance to Latin American and Caribbean bishops meeting to set directions for the church's future in the region. Speaking at the May 13-31 Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean, representatives of Vatican offices for the clergy, laity, culture, and justice and peace offered their views and encouragement in a series of speeches May 16. "The church in Latin America and the Caribbean must dedicate itself resolutely to being a missionary church in its own land, going in search of Catholics who have distanced themselves and those who know little or nothing of Jesus Christ," said Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes, prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for Clergy. Cardinal Hummes noted the ground gained in recent years by Pentecostal groups in the region and said the Catholic Church does not seek "conflict with the sects," but must ask itself "what we can do to encounter fallen-away Catholics and the poor" on the edges of urban areas "to revitalize their Catholic faith."

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