Vatican City, Sep 7, 2012 / 09:55 am
Pope Benedict XVI says that the most newly evangelized parts of the world now have to pass on the gift of Jesus Christ which they have recently received.
"The Church is born of the mission and grows with the mission," the Pope said Sept. 7, adding that "the faith is a gift to be welcomed into our hearts and lives, one for which we must always thank the Lord.
"But faith is donated in order to be shared; it is a talent given that it may bear fruit, a light that must not remain hidden," he stressed.
Pope Benedict was addressing a group of around 100 recently consecrated bishops from parts of the world which are deemed mission territory by the Vatican. Represented among their number were clerics from Africa, Asia, America and Oceania. The gathering at the papal summer residence of Castel Gandolfo was organized by the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.