Aide: Bishops Need to Be Conquered by Christ

Bishops need to be conquered by the love of Christ so that they can be teachers of holiness, says Benedict XVI's secretary of state.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone affirmed this Friday at the episcopal consecration of Archbishops Bernardito Auza and Piergiuseppe Vacchelli, who have both received new posts in the Church.

According to Vatican Radio, the cardinal said in his homily that "on the foundation of the Apostles, the Church is 'one, holy, apostolic and catholic,' the Church of all peoples, that does not identify with any one nation, or any one culture, or any one state, but is always the Church of all, called to gather humanity together beyond any border, so that, amid the divisions of this world, the peace of God and the reconciling force of his love will be possible."

Archbishop Auza was named the new nuncio in Haiti, while Archbishop Vacchelli was appointed associate secretary of the Congregations for the Evangelization of Peoples and president of the Pontifical Mission Societies.

"Especially in our time it is important that bishops be witnesses and teachers of holiness, capable of transmitting faithfully, by example and words, those truths that illumine man's heart and lead him to eternal life," Cardinal Bertone affirmed.

"For this to occur, it is necessary, in the first place, that you be conquered, as the Apostle Paul says, by Christ, and that you show all those you meet the way that leads to him.

"In this way the bishop becomes a witness of the hope of Christ. In store for the bishop, therefore, is the task of prophet, witness and servant of hope, with the duty to instill and proclaim before the world the reasons for Christian hope."
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