(10 Nov 08 - RV) Pope Benedict received the Bishops of Bolivia who are in Rome on
theirs Ad Limina visits. We have this report...
In his speech to the Bishops
of Bolivia, Pope Benedict addressed the challenges facing the Church in the country.
The
Pope told the Bishops that the Church in Bolivia needs to cultivate and fortify the
faith especially when he said, signs of a certain weakening of Christian life by
factors of diverse origin are perceived, and when superficiality leads people to
be dazzled by empty promises.
To confront these challenges, Pope Benedict
said, the Church has the precious treasure of powerful popular devotion, accumulated
during centuries thanks to the work of audacious missionaries and maintained with
affectionate fidelity by generations of Bolivian families.
The Pope continued,
by saying it is a gift that certainly should be guarded and promoted today, through
a systematic catechesis.
The Holy Father also stressed the importance of education
that can nurture and provide a foundation for faith.
During his address Pope
Benedict praised the work of the Bishops in offering seminarians a solid pastoral,
intellectual, spiritual, and human formation, which he said was necessary to guarantee
the continuing education of the clergy.
In conclusion, the Pope turned to the
recent Assembly of the Synod of the Bishops which looked at the Word of God in the
Life of the Church.
He urged the Bishops to work hard to spread the Word of
God in their homilies, catechesis and parish celebrations so that communities become
Towns of God with a “heart that speaks”.