Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM) congratulates Pope Francis
March 16, 2013: ‘We want to express, in this Year of Faith, our sincere affection
and our loyalty to you’, stated the Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM), in a
letter sent to Pope Francis on his election. The letter was sent after a Meeting of
the Bureau and Directive CELAM with the General Secretaries of twenty-two Bishops'
Conferences of Latin America and the Caribbean in Bogota.
Applauding the election
of Pope Francis, the letter said, ‘This fact has filled us with deep joy and thanksgiving
to God for what it represents for the Universal Church, and especially for the pilgrim
Churches in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Praying for the Pope, they entrusted
him and his petrine ministry in the hands of Mary, Mother of the Church and Star of
the New Evangelization. The bishops concluded their letter with seeking Pope Francis’s
apostolic blessing for the Church in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The letter
is signed by Carlos Aguiar Retes, Arzobispo de Tlalnepantla, México and President
of CELAM; Dimas Lara Barbosa, Arzobispo de Campo Grande, Brasil, Segundo Vice President
of CELAM; Santiago Silva Retamales, Obispo Auxiliar de Valparaíso, Chile Secretary
General of CELAM; and Carlos María Collazzi, SDB, Obispo de Mercedes, Uruguay, President
of the Comité Económico CELAM.