Pope John Paul II embraces the crucifix during a liturgy in which he asked forgiveness for past and present sins of Christians. The unprecedented Jubilee " request for pardon " included apologies for sins against Christian unity, use of violence , hostility toward Jews and members of other religions , and marg inalization of women.
'We f o rg ive and we ask f o riveness g '
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By John Thavis
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WASHINGTON (CNS) — Education of priests, seminarians, laity, and parish and diocesan ministers is the key to the Catholic Church adapting to a Hispanic majority, according to a report released March 7. The study, "Hispanic Ministry at the Turn of the New Millennium ," showed that between 1990 and 1996, nearly every region in the United States had a growth in Hispanic population of at least 20 percent. Demographers have long predicted that by early this century Hispanics would make up a majority of the U.S. Catholic Church. The study shows that in many parts of the country, ministry for and by Hispanics has become a major concern. Study results came as no surprise to officials in Archdiocese of San Francisco. "The reality of the Hispanic Catholic growth in the Archdiocese has been with us for a long time," said Office of Ethnic Ministries ' Hispanic Ministry Coordinator Celilia Arias-Rivas "This is nothing new to the Church."
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope John Paul II made an unprecedented apology for the sins of Christians through the ages, the culmination of the Church' s "examination of conscience" for the Jubilee Year. The Pope 's long-awaited "mea culpa" March 12 was echoed in the United States and elsewhere and generally welcomed by non-Catholics around the world. The Pope 's idea of a day of atonement, which met some resistance even inside the Vatican , was designed to acknowledge shortcomings in the Church's past to give Catholics a sense of reconciliation and make future evangelization more credible. "We forg ive and we ask forgiveness!" the Pope said during a historic Lenten liturgy in St. Peter 's Basilica. He and seven top Vatican officials pronounced a "request for pardon " for sins against Christian unity, the use of violence in serving the truth , hostility toward Jews and other religions, the marginalization of women, and wrongs — like abortion — against society 's weakest members. The Pope said the Church has had many saints, but some of its members have shown disobedience to God and inconsistency with the faith — in the past and present. "For the part that each of us, with his behavior, has had in these evils that have disfigured the face of the Church, we humbly ask forg iveness," he said. Pronouncing the apology for Christian intolerance in the past was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which was created more than 450 years ago under a different name to run the Inquisition.
Hispanic Catholics:page 6
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to Holy Land % of f ewer Christians
Study documents Hispanic growth and ministry challenges for U.S. Church By Patricia Zapor