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Skriven 2005-07-05 08:54:34 av Marc Lewis (1:396/45)
Ärende: Vatican Information Service - Press Release
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                The following press release is Copyrighted by the
                          Vatican Information Service.
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                               VIS-Press releases

ZIMBABWEAN BISHOPS: CATECHESIS, PRIESTLY FORMATION

VATICAN CITY, JUL 2, 2005 (VIS) - This morning, the Holy Father received a
group of prelates from the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference, who have just
completed their "ad limina" visit.

In his address, the Pope recalled the recent elections in the country, which
"have laid the basis for what I trust will be a new beginning in the process of
national reconciliation and the moral rebuilding of society." On this subject,
he thanked the bishops for the "significant contribution to the electoral
process" they offered "to the Catholic faithful and to all your
fellow-citizens" with the joint pastoral statement they published last year.
"As you rightly noted, ... responsibility for the common good demands that all
members of the body politic work together in laying firm moral and spiritual
foundations for the future of the nation."

Benedict XVI told the African prelates that in their preaching and teaching
"the faithful should be able to hear the voice of the Lord Himself, a voice
that speaks with authority of what is right and true, of peace and justice, of
love and reconciliation, a voice that can console them in the midst of their
troubles and show them the way forward in hope."

Despite current difficulties, the Holy Father went on, "the Church in Zimbabwe
can rejoice in the presence of so many communities vibrant in faith, a
significant number of vocations to the priesthood and religious life, and the
presence of a committed laity devoted to various works of the apostolate. These
gifts of God's grace are at once a consolation and a challenge to an ever more
profound and integrated catechesis aimed at training the faithful to live fully
their Christian vocation."

After encouraging the prelates "to work together to ensure suitable and
comprehensive catechetical preparation for all the faithful," the Holy Father
stressed the need to help priests "present the fullness of the Catholic faith
in a way which truly addresses and responds to people's difficulties, questions
and problems."

The Pope also referred to the importance of supporting national seminaries "in
their challenging task of providing seminarians with an adequate human,
spiritual, doctrinal and pastoral formation; while the younger clergy would
greatly benefit, in the first years of their priestly ministry, from a program
of spiritual, pastoral and human accompaniment guided by experienced and
exemplary priests."

Benedict XVI concluded by stressing that the bishops' "concern for sound
catechesis and an integral religious education must also extend to the system
of Catholic schools, whose religious identity needs to be strengthened, for the
good not only of their students, but of the entire Catholic community in your
country."
AL/.../ZIMBABWE VIS 050704 (450)

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