Bring message of peace and reconciliation to all people, Pope tells Bishops of Argentina.

(April 30, 2009):“Bring the message of peace and reconciliation to all people with fatherly love, as the Lord Jesus has entrusted you a ministry of great courage and dignity”, Pope Benedict XVI told a group of Argentina’s Bishops on Thursday. The group of some 30 Bishops are in Rome on their ad limina visit. Bishops take such visits every five years to report on their dioceses.The Pope said that “in exercising his Episcopal ministry, a bishop must constantly draw on the example of Jesus, who came to serve and not to be served. Being a Bishop is an honour, when you live with the spirit of service to others, thus participating humbly in the mission of Christ,”he said. The Pope told them that frequent contemplation of the image of the Good Shepherd, would serve as a model in their efforts to spread the Gospel. The Pope encouraged the Bishops to care for the sick and aged, defend the weak and spend their lives in constant dedication to the people of God. Assuring them of his spiritual closeness and constant prayer, the Pope urged the Bishops of Argentine to be true models of the flock by their virtues of good example.