Pope Francis to Church in Americas: bring the balm of
Christ's presence
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis
has sent a Video
Message to the Church in the Americas, to mark the Jubilee of the
Americas, organized by the Bishops’ Conference of Latin America (CELAM) and the
Pontifical Commission for Latin America.
Scheduled to take place in
Bogota, Colombia, from the 27th to the 30th of
August, the theme of the continental Jubilee celebration is taken from Pope
Francis’ homily at Mass on May 2nd, 2015, at the Pontifical North
American College in Rome, where he had gone to visit as part of preparations
for the canonization of St. Junipero Serra: “May a powerful gust of holiness
sweep through all the Americas during the coming Extraordinary Jubilee of
Mercy!”
Along with the bishops,
priests, religious men and women, and laity of the 22 Latin American and
Caribbean countries, delegates from Canada and the United States and
representatives of the Holy See are taking part in the Jubilee celebration,
which seeks to turn the “Spirit of mercy” that animates this Jubilee Year into
genuine and concrete help especially for all those who, in the words of Pope
Francis, live on the “existential peripheries” of life.
In his Message, Pope Francis
says, “All of us are aware, all of us know that we live in a society that is
hurting: no one doubts this. We live in a society that is bleeding, and
the price of its wounds normally ends up being paid by the most vulnerable. But
it is precisely to this society, to this culture, that the Lord sends us. He
sends us and urges us to bring the balm of His presence.”
The schedule of events over
the three-day celebration includes a penitential liturgy including time for
personal confessions, a reflection on the legacy of holiness found in the
American saints, a full day dedicated to Works of Mercy on the American
continent, and a public conversation on mercy as the soul of a culture of
encounter.
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