Pope’s message to missionary congress in Argentina

August 19, 2013 - Pope Francis has sent a message to an important missionary meeting in his native Argentina, urging Christians to go out to the peripheries to proclaim Jesus and his message. The 4th National Missionary Congress, in which over 1000 people participated, and included delegates from 8 other countries, took place in Catamarca, August 17-19. The Pope’s message read at the start of the congress by Bishop Luis Urbanc of Catamarca, hoped that the meeting will help all to grow in the missionary spirit. “I exhort you to go out of yourselves to the geographical and existential peripheries, to proclaim Jesus and make his message known,” the Pope wrote. He wished the Holy Spirit grant them the strength and courage to act fearlessly and with great audacity, and that they may be freed from the temptation of ease and comfort. The Catamarca Congress was in preparation for the 4th American Missionary Congress (CAM4), scheduled for November, in Maracaibo, Venezuela.