Acta Francisci Pp. 1417

NUNTII TELEVISIFICI

I

Ad Sodales Conventus Generalis Coetus Episcoporum Foederatarum Civitatum Americae Septentrionalis.****1

Dear Brother Bishops,

I am pleased to have this opportunity to speak to you. Just a year ago,

I was with you during my Pastoral Visit to the United States. There I was

impressed by the vitality and diversity of the Catholic community. Through-

out its history, the Church in your country has welcomed and integrated

new waves of immigrants. In the rich variety of their languages and cultural

traditions, they have shaped the changing face of the American Church.

In this context, I would commend the coming Fifth National Hispanic

Pastoral Encuentro. The celebration of this Fifth Encuentro will begin in

your Dioceses in this coming January and conclude with a national cele-

bration in September 2018.

In continuity with its predecessors, the Encuentro seeks to acknowl-

edge and value the specific gifts that Hispanic Catholics have offered, and

continue to offer, to the Church in your country. But it is more than that.

It is part of a greater process of renewal and missionary outreach, one to

which all of your local Churches are called.

Our great challenge is to create a culture of encounter, which encour-

ages individuals and groups to share the richness of their traditions and

experiences, to break down walls and to build bridges. The Church in

America, as elsewhere, is called to "go out" from its comfort zone and to

be a leaven of communion. Communion among ourselves, with our fellow

Christians, and with all who seek a future of hope.

We need to become ever more fully a community of missionary disciples,

filled with love of the Lord Jesus and enthusiasm for the spread of the

Gospel. The Christian community is meant to be a sign and prophecy of

God's plan for the entire human family. We are called to be bearers of good

* Die 15 Novembris 2016.