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 150th 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.