Intervention of Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, the 50th Anniversary of the Encyclical Pacem in Terris and the 2013 WYD in Rio de Janeiro

Tuesday, September 24 2013

(CCCB – Ottawa)… The second day of the Plenary Assembly of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) was marked by the visit of His Eminence Oscar Cardinal Rodriguez Maradiaga, S.D.B., Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and President of Caritas Internationalis. The Cardinal addressed the Plenary Assembly on “The role of the Bishop and the Episcopal Conferences in justice, peace and caritas”. His intervention was followed by a presentation on how Caritas Internationalis is organized throughout the world, which was given by its Secretary General Mr. Michel Roy. In the afternoon, the CCCB Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace led a pastoral reflection on Pacem in Terris. This year is the 50th anniversary of the Encyclical by Blessed John XXIII on establishing universal peace in truth, justice, charity and liberty.

The visit of Cardinal Rodriguez Maradiaga was also the occasion for a special session during which the Bishops of Canada reflected with the Cardinal on the Holy Father’s vision for the governance of the universal Church. Cardinal Maradiaga is a member, and the coordinator, of a group of Cardinals whom Pope Francis has asked to advise him on the revision of Pastor Bonus, the Apostolic Constitution on the organization and work of the Roman Curia.

50th anniversary of Pacem in Terris

In 1963, Blessed John XXIII issued his Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris. Bishop François Lapierre, P.M.É., Archbishop Anthony Mancini and Bishop Donald Bolen talked on the spiritual, pastoral and ecumenical implications of the Encyclical, while Bishop Noël Simard presented a written synthesis. In addition to this input by the four members of the Commission, the members of the Conference participated in buzz groups to reflect on the encyclical’s implications for contemporary pastoral ministry.

2013 WYD in Rio de Janeiro

The 28th World Youth Day was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 23-28, 2013. In addition to 1,153 youth pilgrims, eight Bishops were part of the Canadian delegation, including CCCB President Archbishop Richard Smith. Father Thomas Rosica, C.S.B, CEO of Salt + Light Television, and the CEO and National Director for the 2002 World Youth Day in Toronto, was the CCCB coordinator for the Canadian delegation to Brazil. An informal exchange on WYD 2013 was held Tuesday evening. In addition to the  information exchanged by some of the  Bishops who had been present in Rio de Janeiro as well as by Father Rosica, Salt + Light TV showed videos of the  celebration as well as  a documentary on the  Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization that took place in October 2012. The Bishops participating in the evening session also watched a documentary on the work of Caritas Internationalis.