Posted on 01/26/2006 8:12:07 AM PST by NYer
KOENIGSTEIN, Germany, JAN. 25, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Brazil has seen the phenomenon of Catholics who leave the Church to become members of evangelical communities. Now, some evangelicals are coming back, says a prelate.
Bishop Franco Dalla Valle of Juina, in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, shared his view during a recent visit to the headquarters of the charity Aid to the Church in Need.
"When my diocese was erected in 1997, there were just six parishes, now there are 10 and a mission area," said the 60-year-old bishop.
The prelate, an Italian missionary, added: "The number of priests has risen from six to 20, nine of whom are diocesan priests. Currently, five young men are preparing for the priesthood in the Cuiaba seminary. And we also have vocations to the female religious life."
Bishop Dalla Valle explained that violence and drug trafficking are widespread in the region, mainly due to poverty and unemployment.
"In order to give a perspective to young people, I am planning to establish institutions of higher education and professional training," he said.
The prelate also emphasized the importance of Catholic media.
"Our diocesan TV programs do not contain 'telenovelas,' pornography or propaganda," he said. "Therefore, they are popular even among evangelicals, many of whom return to the Catholic faith when they contemplate the mystery of God."
We've got our own media maven, right here in the US of A.
Prayers that in-active Catholics around the world may feel the call and return to the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
I fondly remember her telling of being mobbed in Peru. She has to be considered one of the greatest women of the last century, along with Mother Theresa. What great and diverse gifts they had. What a wonderful Church we have!
Good stuff.
Amen
Sounds like an outstanding Bishop. God bless him.
My family and I met Mother Angelica about 6 years ago. We were on vacation and heading back to Michigan from Florida. We decided to take a little detour through Alabama. We managed to get tickets to the "Mother Angelica Live" program (free, but not always available). She used to come out before each show to say hello to everyone. She's awesome. We named our oldest daughter after her.
Over the last few years, the first place our charitable contributions have gone after pro-life US causes has been genuine Catholic education. But I believe the Lord has put Evangelization south of the border on our hearts and I ask my fellow Catholics with a few dollars to spare to join us in our efforts.
http://www.catholicworldmission.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=48879
Get over it.
"Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude [of the people] also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church." St. Ignatius of Antioch Letter to the Smyrnaeans 107 AD
"Aid to the Church in Need" (cited in the article) is also outstanding. http://www.kirche-in-not.org/index_s.html
Nothing bad could ever come from accepting people's diversity.
I started watching telenovelas to help my Spanish aural comprehension, and I enjoy them immensely. Unlike most American TV, there's a consistent undercurrent of traditional morality that always comes across, namely abortion is evil, life and family are good, prayer to "la virgencita" is good, etc. Telemundo and Univision may not exactly be EWTN but they're way ahead of just about everything else (ESPN and FOXNews, excluded, of course).
If you have not yet done so, read Raymond Arroyo's book on Mother Angelica. I could not put it down! She is beyond amazing! I'm going to post a thread on her.
I don't understand your reply. Do you agree or disagree with what I said?
It has always amazed me how these supposedly Catholic areas in Latin America have almost no Priests even after 500 years of existence. How is this possible? What has the Church heirarchy been doing?
Yes, and that in coming in, they bring All That is Good from the Protestants -- love and knowing of the Lord, knowledge of the Bible, an understanding of orthodox Christianity. There is a mighty wind blowing.
I think there can be terrible things come from accepting diversity. And have come.
So true!
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