Pope Benedict XVI met on February 28 with bishops from El Salvador, who were concluding their ad limina visits to Rome.The Pontiff encouraged "ambitious and audacious efforts at evangelization" in the Central American country.
The Holy Father said that the culture of El Salvador is marked by "living faith and deep religious sentiment."
He said that the powerful witness of many committed pastors-- mentioned the late Archbishop Oscar Romero specifically-- had helped to bring "abundant fruits of Christian life and sanctity."
At the same time, the Pope continued, El Salvador suffers from the lingering effects of a long civil war.
The violence that has scarred the land remains "your country's most serious problem," the Pope said, adding that violence has aggravated other problems such as poverty, lack of education, emigration, and family breakdown.
To counteract these negative trends, the Pope recognized, the Salvadoran bishops are anxious to address the material needs of their people.
"Yet it must not be forgotten,"he warned, "that man is not just a product of the material and social conditions in which he lives."
"Man needs God, otherwise he remains without hope," the Pope said.
He asked the bishops to help their people "discover the spiritual richness of their Baptism."
Strong efforts at evangelization, he went on, will help the laity "to acquire a strong ecclesial sense of belonging and solid doctrinal formation, especially as concerns the Church's social doctrine where they will find clear criteria and guidance to illuminate the society in which they live." +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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