Various groups of faithful have extended an invitation to the Pope,
who could visit the country next July, on the occasion of the World
Youth Day in Brazil.
Argentina also wants to
welcome Benedict XVI. It is not an official invitation but originally
came from the people, in one of South America’s most secularised
countries. A group of faithful decided to ask people to sign a petition to try to get the Pope to visit their country in July 2013, before or after the World Youth Day (WYD) event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Colombia, Panama, Chile and Paraguay have followed suit with similar initiatives.
Argentina is home to 45% of the world’s Catholic population. If Peter’s successor visits the region, then all countries will want to receive him. Even countries in which State-Church relations are tense because of their governments.
Argentina’s political and ecclesiastical spheres are going through a tough period. In this context, a group of faithful decided to launch a campaign titled “Benedict, Argentina awaits you”. Lacking resources and institutional help but not willingness, members published a blog entitled “Generación Benedicto XVI” and a Facebook page. It all started thanks to a group of parents who were organising their children’s trips to Brazil for the 2013 WYD.
The most important meeting of Catholic youth from all over the world will return to South America after 26 years. The second WYD conceived by the Blessed John Paul II, took place on 11 and 12 April 1987 in Buenos Aires. This was the first time it was held outside Rome and so it was quite different to today’s WYD events.
The event in Rio which is scheduled to take place between 23 and 28 July 2013 will have international resonance. It is partly for this reason that a number of governments and episcopates in the region have come up with strategies to try to persuade Joseph Ratzinger to visit another Latin American country during his trip to the continent for the WYD celebration. Although some of the Pope’s collaborators in the Vatican are attracted by some of these initiatives, the Pope himself is being cautious and has intimated that he would prefer to stick to Brazil on this occasion, health permitting.
But some continue to insist. In recent weeks, Chile for example, has been particularly active in promoting itself as a papal destination, in the hope of receiving an Apostolic Visit. But this is practically impossible if one considers the distance there is between Rio and Santiago.
Argentineans on the other hand have informed the Bishops’ Conference and Apostolic Nunciature in Buenos Aires of their initiative. They have received no reply from the Conference leader but did receive a warm and encouraging message from the Vatican embassy. Some priests and schools added their signatures to the petition as well. The idea is to take Benedict XVI on a visit of the national shrine of Our Lady of Luján.
Speaking to Vatican Insider about the initiative, one of the organisers, Carlos Colazo Benavidez, said: “Our country is going through a difficult period, the family is coming under attack and there is disregard for human life; strong efforts are being made to merge the Civil and Commercial Codes, which would open the floodgates to all kinds of aberrations: abortion, adoption by same-sex couples, exploitation of embryos and surrogacy. A visit by the Pope to the national shrine could help strengthen the faith of Argentineans and show the people what is going on, from the point of view of the Gospel.”