CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO Newspaper of the Archdiocese of San Francisco
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APRIL 19, 2013
$1.00 | VOL. 15 NO. 12
THE ‘GREAT CONTINENTAL MISSION’ GOES GLOBAL
(CNS PHOTO/PAULO WHITAKER, REUTERS)
Worshippers pray in the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady Aparecida in 2007 in Brazil. Since his election in March, Pope Francis has echoed many of the concerns that he and fellow prelates raised in a conference of Latin American bishops six years ago in Aparecida. The conference highlighted evangelization, ministry to the poor and economic, cultural and environmental concerns.
BARBARA J. FRASER CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
LIMA, Peru – In his first weeks as head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis has echoed many of the concerns that he and fellow prelates raised in a conference of Latin American bishops six years ago. Evangelization, ministry to the poor and disenfranchised, the seduction of the global marketplace, cultural changes and the environment were among the issues addressed at the Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean in Aparecida, Brazil, in 2007. Then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, Argentina, headed the commission that drafted the final conference document – more than 160 pages. “He gave everyone a chance to speak and gathered the most important points, developing the road map we were going to follow,” said Archbishop Ricardo Tobon Restrepo of Medellin, Colombia, who served on the commission with the man who is now pope.
“We saw him as a serene man, solid, serious in his work, a man who went to the heart of the matter.” Archbishop Ricardo Ezzati Andrello of Santiago, Chile, who also served on the drafting commission, recalled “the feeling and conviction of coming face to face with a ‘man of God.’ With few words, he invited us to work in an
VOX POP: What inspires you PAGE 2 about Pope Francis? atmosphere of faith and deep spirituality. He called us to trust in God, to discover the action of the Holy Spirit in our work,” he told Catholic News Service in an email message.
‘Great architect of consensus’
“I was struck by the great trust he placed in his collaborators. He ably wove together the contributions from the various study commissions and the work of the members of the draft-
ing commission,” Archbishop Ezzati added. “I found him to be excellent at drawing things together and a great architect of dialogue and consensus.” When the conference began, Cardinal Bergoglio was the runaway choice to head the drafting commission, said Archbishop Pedro Barreto Jimeno of Huancayo, Peru, who served on a subcommission that worked on the section of the final document about the environment. “More than 130 bishops from Latin America and the Caribbean trusted him,” he said. “That trust reflected his simplicity, his lack of desire to stand out. Those things drew everyone’s attention.” The cardinal repaid that trust by working long into the night, encouraging his colleagues who were drafting various chapters of the document and urging them to keep two things in mind – “Christ, the good shepherd ... and the people who were awaiting a word of enlightenment that responded to their needs,” Archbishop Barreto said.
Growing presence demands greater responsibilities, say Latino leaders CAROL GLATZ CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
VATICAN CITY – Aware of the sign of the times, the Catholic Church is reaching out and assigning greater responsibility to the growing Latino Catholic population, said a group of U.S. Catholic Latino leaders. The March 13 election by the College of Cardinals of a pope from Latin America made that task even more evident, three top leaders of the Los Angelesbased Catholic Association of
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‘Personal encounter with Christ, option for the poor, stewardship of creation’ – pope’s priorities echo 2007 Latin American initiative
INDEX On the Street . . . . . . . . .4 National . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Opinion. . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Faith. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Calendar. . . . . . . . . . . .24