CBCK News
2009-08-27 11:45
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2009 Pastoral Letters of Diocesan Bishops

* 2009 Pastoral Letters of Diocesan Bishops


 


Marking the first week of Advent on November 30, 2008, each diocesan Bishop issued his 2009 pastoral letter and urged the faithful to sanctify their families as a root of the Church and to embody the image of the Church as a servant.


 


Particularly on the occasion of the Pauline Year (from June 28, 2008 to June 29, 2009) the bishops invited the faithful to transform themselves and reborn as protagonists of the world evangelization, following the faith, life and mission of St. Paul the Apostle.


 


In his pastoral letter entitled Family Is a Basis of the Faith, H.E. Nicholas Cardinal Cheong Jinsuk, Archbishop of Seoul, said, If martyrdom of our age is to love your neighbor as yourself, loving our family, which is our closest neighbor, is the very way to participate in the authentic martyrdom. Lets realize the spirit of martyrdom in our families, the basis of our life.


 


The Most Rev. Andreas Choi Chang-mou, Archbishop of Kwangju, designated the year 2009, the second year of the triennial development plan of the Archdiocese, as ‘the Year for the Apostolate Animation’. He invited priests to become a model of apostolate, the religious to be an example of various apostolic activities, and the faithful to bear their own fruits of the Holy Spirit and illuminate the world with the light of Christ.”


 


The Most Rev. John Choi Young-soo, Archbishop of Daegu, proclaimed the year 2009 as ‘the Year of Vision’ and asked his faithful to take the initiative for the preparation of the centennial anniversary of the establishment of the Archdiocese in 2011, for the reform of the archdiocesan structure, for the renewal of pastoral mind, and for the active concern about missionary works.


 

Other diocesan bishops also exhorted the faithful to animate the Basic Ecclesial Communities which revive the spirit of the early Church in these times and to strive for the culture of respect for life to take root in this world. Bishops also underlined that Christians have to be faithful to their sacramental life and formation for re-evangelization so that they can strengthen their own faith.