LIMA, Peru, JUNE 14, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Cardinal Franc Rodé, prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, visited Lima over the weekend, and encouraged the religious and ecclesial movements there to be faithful to their founding charism.
Pro Ecclesia Sancta, a Peru-based religious order founded by Jesuit Father Pablo Menor in 1993, invited the cardinal to Lima to celebrate the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the closing of the Year for Priests.
The prefect of the congregation that oversees consecrated life in the Church said he was impressed by the vitality of the new movements in Lima, and during a meeting Saturday with more than 500 men and women religious, he encouraged them to stay faithful to their charism.
«What would the Church be like without the religious?» the cardinal asked, referencing the question St. Teresa of Ávila posed in her time.
«If you keep your identity and live your charism you will continue to fulfill a great role in the Church and in society,» Cardinal Rodé said. «Be faithful to the Gospel, to your charism, to the directives of the magisterium, living in the present conditions, without archaism, thus we will always have a great mission to carry out.»
While in Peru, the cardinal ordained two deacons of Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, a society for apostolic life founded in Peru in 1971 by Luis Fernando Figari, and met with members of his own community, the Congregation of the Mission, which was founded by St. Vincent de Paul in 1625.
On Friday, Cardinal Rodé presided at the Mass for the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which was attended by more than 1,500 faithful.
The Mass was concelebrated by Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani, archbishop of Lima, retired Archbishop Alcides Mendoza of Cuzco, and by the auxiliary bishops of Lima, Raul Chau and Guillermo Abanto, as well as by Father Elias Arribasplat, superior-general of Pro Ecclesia Sancta. Dozens of priests of the diocese joined them for the celebration.
