Pope urges Latam bishops to come closer to African Americans

(July 20, 2012) Pope Benedict XVI has encouraged the bishops of Latin America to come closer to African Americans so as to make Christ more relevant to them, especially the marginalized. The Pope’s encouragement came in a letter sent by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone to the 12th Meeting on African American Pastoral Care in Guayaquil, Ecuador, July 16 to 20. In the letter addressed to Auxiliary Bishop Pablo Varela Server of Panama, the president of the department for education and culture of the Latin American Episcopal Council, the Holy Father encouraged the bishops in the meeting "to examine the cultural values, history and traditions of African Americans, with a view to improving the Church's ability to present Jesus Christ as the authentic response to the most profound questions of mankind". In doing this they should allow themselves to be "led by the impulse of the Holy Spirit which came to make all cultures fruitful, 'purifying them, germinating the many seeds which the incarnate Word placed therein, and thus guiding them along the paths of the Gospel". The Pope also invited the bishops and their collaborators "to continue to accompany those beloved peoples, who are often marginalised and ignored". Some 250 delegates from 19 Latin American countries discussed the theme, “African American and Caribbean Pastoral Care and the Aparecida Document. Challenges and Hopes in the Church and in Society".