Catholic Shrines an Effective way to Evangelize: Vatican Official
August 16, 2011: Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, Holy See’s prefect for the Congregation
for Clergy, stated in a recent letter to all Catholic shrines around the globe that
they provide a crucial opportunity to evangelize the thousands of tourists who visit
them each year. “Shrines maintain an extraordinary attraction for the faithful, shown
by the growing number of pilgrims that go to them,” the cardinal said. “To visit a
shrine can be for them a valuable opportunity to encounter Christ or to rediscover
their sense of baptismal vocation and to hear its saving call.”“Frequently one finds
men and women of every age and condition, with complex human and spiritual situations,
sometimes removed from a sound life of faith,” he added. In an Aug. 12 letter to priests
and rectors of shrines, Cardinal Piacenza first expressed his gratitude for the “attentive
dedication” they give in addressing the pastoral needs of the pilgrims “who approach
the places of worship entrusted to your care in ever greater numbers from every part
of the world.”He then outlined several ways in which shrines become an opportunity
for visitors to be touched by God, specifically through the Scriptures, the sacraments
of Reconciliation and of the Eucharist, adoration, prayer vigils and the intercession
of the Virgin Mary and the saints.