Pope, Salvadoran bishops discuss emigration, violence, poverty

Published: 2008-02-28

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Preaching the Gospel in El Salvador requires concrete efforts to strengthen family life and to fight poverty and injustice, Pope Benedict XVI told the country's bishops. "Increasing violence is the immediate consequence of other, deeper social wounds, such as poverty, the lack of education, the progressive loss of those values that always forged the Salvadoran soul and the breakup of families," the pope said. Pope Benedict met the bishops of El Salvador Feb. 28 at the end of their "ad limina" visits to the Vatican to report on the status of their dioceses. Archbishop Fernando Saenz Lacalle of San Salvador, speaking on behalf of the country's bishops, told the pope that the number of Catholics in the country continues to increase as does the number of vocations to the priesthood. "The phenomenon of the massive emigration of Salvadorans to the United States is a serious worry," he told the pope. Although there is good cooperation with U.S. bishops in providing pastoral care for Salvadorans, the negative impact on young people, on family life and on traditional values is obvious, he said.

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