Letter
Letter to CELAM Regarding First Latin American Meeting on Pastoral Concern for Human Rights, February 2, 1994
February 2, 1994
Most Reverend Miguel Irizar Campos, C.P.
Coadjutor Bishop of Callao
President, CELAM Department of Social Concerns
Apartado 363
Lima 1
Peru
Dear Bishop Irizar,
On the occasion of the First Latin American Meeting on Pastoral Concern for Human Rights, sponsored by the Department of Social Concerns of the Latin American Bishops' Council and with the support of the Peruvian Bishops' Social Action Commission, I have the pleasure of sending greetings to you in the name of the United States Catholic Conference.
The Church in Latin America has, in recent years, provided a model of evangelical service to the poor and solidarity with the oppressed in its exemplary defense of human rights. From the early days of the Vicariate of Solidarity in Chile to the most recent defense of peasant and indigenous rights in Chiapas--and including the outstanding work of the Peruvian Comision Episcopal de Accion Social--the Church in Latin America has offered living testimony of the relation between preaching the Gospel and defending the basic rights of the human person, created in the image of God.
At the IV General Conference in Santo Domingo, the bishops of Latin America resolved to promote human rights more effectively and courageously than even before (#168). May this First Latin American Meeting on Pastoral Concern for Human Rights provide strength and encouragement for all those engaged in this necessary and noble pastoral task.
Asking you to convey my greetings to the participants in the meeting, I remain
Fraternally yours in Christ,
Most Reverend Daniel P. Reilly
Bishop of Norwich
Chairman, USCC Committee on International Policy