Continental Mission for the Church in Latin America and the Caribbean (2009)

What Is the Continental Mission?

Pope Benedict XVI, in his message to CAM 3 (Third American Missionary Congress), put forth the following points:

• Initiated in CAM 3, the Continental Mission will be an opportunity in which the particular churches in Latin America and the Caribbean “will intensify their work” by “combining pastoral efforts and evangelization initiatives” so that the Lord is “better known, loved, followed, and praised in those blessed regions.”
• The Continental Mission is an opportunity to share with all people this treasure: “there is no greater richness than enjoying Christ’s friendship and walking by his side.”
• “The most important service that we can offer our [brothers and sisters] is the clear and humble proclamation of Jesus Christ who came into this world so that we might have life, and have it abundantly (see Jn 10:10).”
• “It is worth the effort to dedicate our best energies to this great task, knowing that divine grace precedes us, sustains us, and accompanies us in the fulfillment of our mission.”
• We pray that the glorious Christ awakens in each baptized person the missionary who lives within, so that “the hesitation or mediocrity that often assails us is overcome.”

Source: Pope Benedict XVI, Message to Cardinal Antonio José González Zumárraga, President of the Central Commission of the Third American Missionary Congress, August 12, 2008 (www.vatican.va)

2008-Annual-Report-Collection-for-the-Church-in-Latin-America.pdf