Pontifical Commission for Latin America and Knights of Columbus to
Co-Sponsor Conference at the Vatican on the Church in America
Pope Benedict XVI will address attendees after the opening Mass
on Dec. 9
ROME, Dec. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The
history and future of the Church in America will be the topic of a
conference held at the Vatican next week, co-sponsored by the
Pontifical Commission for Latin
America and the Knights of Columbus, with assistance from
the Institute for Guadalupan Studies in Mexico City.
The conference will run from December 9
to 12, with the Pope addressing the conference at a private
audience on the 9th – the feast of St. Juan Diego. Speakers at the
conference will include: Cardinal Marc
Ouellet, President of the Pontifical Commission for
Latin America; Cardinal Sean
O'Malley, Archbishop of Boston;
Archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria, S.J., Secretary of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; Prof. Guzman Carriquiry, Secretary of the Commission
for Latin America; Supreme Knight
Carl Anderson of the Knights of Columbus; and Monsignor
Eduardo Chavez, postulator of the
cause for sainthood of St. Juan Diego.
Members of the hierarchy from Latin
America, the United States
and Canada will lead working
groups that's will discuss various aspects of the Church in
America, including such topics as: the New Evangelization, the
Church's role in education, the Church's role in charity and its
preferential option for the poor, and the role of the Virgin Mary
in leading Christians in America to Christ.
Fifteen years after Pope John Paul II held the Synod for America
to discuss the future of the Church in North, Central and
South America, the conference will
bring together a diverse group from throughout the United States, Canada, Latin
America, the Vatican, Europe and beyond to discuss the history,
present situation and future work of the Church on the American
continent – defined as from Alaska
in the North to Argentina in the
South.
According to Prof. Guzman
Carriquiry, Secretary of the Pontifical Commission for
Latin America, "We must remember
that more than 50 percent of the world's Catholics live in the
Americas – a percentage that will grow in the coming decades. The
fact that this conference is taking place at the center of
Catholicism, with all our American churches present, in communion
with the Holy Father, is especially significant for us."
Supreme Knight Carl Anderson noted: "It is a tremendous blessing
for the Church in America that the Vatican and the pope have taken
such a strong interest in the faith in our hemisphere. America is
truly the Christian continent. Each country in our hemisphere has a
shared history of having had the good news of Jesus Christ take root there. In America,
especially compared to many other parts of the world, the faith is
vibrant – the legacy of the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and of the hard work of many
missionaries, including St. Juan Diego." He added, "This conference
will explore particularly how Our Lady of Guadalupe's example, and that of St. Juan
Diego, can be guides for us in engaging in a New Evangelization of
our continent, and in bringing the good news of Jesus Christ to those who may have forgotten or
lost interest in it."
The conference can be followed on twitter by following
@GuadalupeEvent .
Daily updates and photos will be available at kofc.org and at
facebook.com/knightsofcolumbus
SOURCE Knights of Columbus