Combat secularization, help families, Pope tells Colombian prelates

September 10, 2012

During a September 9 meeting with visiting bishops from Colombia, Pope Benedict XVI said that “tireless defense and promotion of the institution of the family” should be a top priority for the hierarchy of that Latin American country. "The history of Colombia is indelibly marked by the profound Catholic faith of its people,” the Pope said. But today that heritage is endangered by “the devastating effects of increasing secularization, which is affecting people's lifestyles and upsetting their scale of values, undermining the very foundation of Catholic faith, of marriage, the family and Christian morals.”

Pope Benedict praised the Colombian bishops for their efforts to end years of civil warfare in the country, but encouraged them to continue the work, noting that "violence continues to bring suffering, solitude, death and injustice to many of our brothers and sisters in Colombia.”

 

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Further information:

• Colombia: Sow the Gospel to Reap Reconciliation (VIS)