Pope on popular piety in Latin America

Pope Benedict XVI received the participants in the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America this Friday in the Vatican. The commission was gathered in Rome to discuss the impact of popular piety in the process of evangelization of Latin America – a theme Pope Benedict said directly addresses one of the most important aspects for the missionary task in which Latin American local churches are committed. The Holy Father went on to say that to carry out the new evangelization in Latin America, a process that permeates the whole of the Christian being and doing, the bishops can not leave out displays of popular piety.

Properly executed and accompanied, he said, “displays of popular piety create a fruitful encounter with God, an intense veneration of the Blessed Sacrament, an endearing devotion to the Virgin Mary, a growing affection for the Successor of Peter and an awareness of belonging to the Church.” The Pope went on to say that all this might serve to evangelize, to communicate the faith,to bring the faithful to the sacraments, to strengthen bonds of friendship, family and community, and increase both solidarity and the exercise of charity. “Therefore,” said Pope Benedict, “faith must be the main source of popular piety, so that displays of popular piety not be reduced to a simple cultural expression of a particular region.”

“Moreover,” he continued, “such piety has to be closely linked with the liturgy, which can not be replaced by any other religious expression.”

Listen to Philippa Hitchen's report: