Pope Encourages Bishops of Peru to Relaunch Missionary Spirit

The Vatican Information Service reported in its May 16-18 summary that during their ad limina visit, the bishops of Peru had been encouraged by the Pope to relaunch a missionary spirit. The Pope told the bishops

This means relaunching the missionary spirit, not out of fear of the future, but because the Church is a dynamic presence, and the true disciple of Jesus Christ takes pleasure in freely transmitting His divine Word to others and sharing with them the love that flowed from His open side on the cross.

Although it might seem odd for the Pope to be calling for renewed missionary spirit in a highly predominant country in a highly predominant region, this is very much in keeping with previous conferences of bishops in Latin America where concern was expressed over the success of "North American" churches in obtaining converts.