Pope challenges bishops to lead renewal of religious life
November 05, 2010
In a November 5 address to visiting bishops from Brazil, Pope Benedict XVI observed frankly that many Catholics today “are asking themselves whether consecrated life continues to be a proposal capable of attracting young men and women.”
But the Pope assured the Brazilian bishops—who were finishing their ad limina visits—that consecrated religious life “can never disappear or die in the Church, for it was decided by Jesus Himself as an irremovable part of His Church.”
The Holy Father said that a renewal of religious life is essential to the health of today’s Church, and urged the bishops to play their part by encouraging that renewal.
Consecrated life, the Pope said, “can be compared to a plant with many branches which sinks its roots into the Gospel and brings forth abundant fruit in every season of the Church's life.”
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