Pope Benedict’s address to the Staff and Students of Pontifical College of Latin America

(February 19, 2009) You are inheritors of this rich human and spiritual heritage to be perpetuated and enriched with a serious culture of the churches and the joyful experience of the universality of the Church, said Pope Benedict XVI. He was addressing the Rector, Staff and students of the Pontifical College of Latin America on the occasion of the 150^th Anniversary of its Foundation. It began as a as a valuable training centre, first of seminarians and, from a little over three decades of deacons and priests. Today, more than four thousand students are members of that family. They have all watched this alma mater with endearing affection, as it has distinguished itself since its inception by a climate of simplicity, of hospitality, prayer and fidelity and service of the Church said Holy Father.Here in this city, the Apostles Peter and Paul proclaimed the gospel boldly and put a solid foundation to spread throughout the world, under the mandate of the Master, to proclaim the Good News to the end of times. The Pope the added saying: “the college allows them to share their experience and human brotherhood of priests and offers an opportunity to permanently open to the knowledge of other cultures and expressions of church. This will help them to be authentic disciples of Jesus Christ and his missionaries of the Word, with an open mind and greatness of soul.” This requires said the Holy Father, “Constancy in the study and a thorough investigation, to make further exploration of the mysteries of faith and the truth about man in the light of the Gospel and the tradition of the Church, to encourage the spiritual life rooted in the Word God.” Finally the Pope invited them all to implement the programs for pastoral and catechetical the formation and development of communities and Christian missionaries evangelized that have been initiated in their respective dioceses.