Posted on 07/17/2023 1:40:09 PM PDT by ebb tide
A few days after headlines announced that Cardinal-elect Américo Aguiar had said that World Youth Day (WYD) does not aim “to convert young people to Christ or the Catholic Church or anything like that at all,” the Portuguese prelate and chief organizer of the upcoming Lisbon gathering sought to quell the controversy that had ensued.
In July 11 comments to ACI Digital, Cardinal-elect Aguiar made clear that World Youth Day (WYD) is “an invitation to all the young people of the world to experience God,” adding that his comment about not converting young people, which was made in a July 6 interview with Portuguese news agency RTP, was in response to a specific question about the participation of adherents of other religions in WYD proceedings.
As Cardinal-elect Aguiar had noted in his original RTP interview, the invitation to WYD has always been extended to all the young people of the world, not exclusively to Catholics. He said the Church “does not impose; it proposes” the Catholic faith to others through witness.
“WYD has never been, is not, nor should it ever be an event for proselytism; on the contrary, it is and should always be an opportunity for us to get to know each other and respect each other as brothers,” he told ACI Digital, adding that “[w]hat never changes is what Jesus asks of us: to welcome the other as brother.”
(Excerpt) Read more at ncregister.com ...
Ping
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.