Pope Francis addressed the Leadership of the Episcopal Conferences of Latin America yesterday and delivered a very detailed and important speech outlining the pastoral goals established at the Aparecida conference and his own discussion of those goals for the pastoral care of the communities in Latin America. In part, he discusses also the barriers challenges, and temptations the Church faces to spreading the Gospel and the danger in the Gospel becoming simply an ideology. Here is a brief excerpt: "Clericalism is also a temptation very present in Latin America. Curiously, in the majority of cases, it has to do with a sinful complicity: the priest clericalizes the lay person and the lay person kindly asks to be clericalized, because deep down it is easier. The phenomenon of clericalism explains, in great part, the lack of maturity and Christian freedom in a good part of the Latin American laity. Either they simply do not grow (the majority), or else they take refuge in forms of ideology like those we have just seen, or in partial and limited ways of belonging. Yet in our countries there does exist a form of freedom of the laity which finds expression in communal experiences: Catholic as community. Here one sees a greater autonomy, which on the whole is a healthy thing, basically expressed through popular piety. The chapter of the Aparecida document on popular piety describes this dimension in detail. The spread of bible study groups, of ecclesial basic communities and of Pastoral Councils is in fact helping to overcome clericalism and to increase lay responsibility. We could continue by describing other temptations against missionary discipleship, but I consider these to be the most important and influential at present for Latin America and the Caribbean."
Posted on: Mon, 29 Jul 2013 19:35:58 +0000
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