Latin American, Caribbean church leaders identify pastoral challenges

Published: 2007-05-22

APARECIDA, Brazil (CNS) -- Looking at their regions "with the eyes of disciples of Jesus Christ," as Colombian Bishop Luis Castro Quiroga of Tunja described it, bishops from Latin America and the Caribbean crafted a seven-point framework for their pastoral work for the coming years. The areas included an analysis of the social, economic, cultural and political situation in the region, what it means to be disciples and missionaries, and how to carry out that life in the world today. The church leaders gathered for the Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean are grappling with the role of Catholics as disciples and missionaries in an increasingly globalized and socially unequal region of the world, and in a church that has far too few ordained ministers to meet the needs of the continent with the largest percentage of Catholics. They face the task of sifting through a vast array of issues and problems -- "everything from global warming to altar servers," commented an observer -- and to develop pastoral guidelines that will serve as a road map for the church for the next 10 to 15 years. Bishop Castro, president of the Colombian bishops' conference, said the framework was based on four major challenges identified at the end of the first week of the May 13-31 conference -- the passage of faith from generation to generation, cultural changes, human dignity and social inequality.

Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .