Lima, Peru, Jan 22, 2006 / 22:00 pm
In a special message from Pope Benedict XVI to the participants of the conference “Vatican Council II: Perspectives for the Third Millennium,” the Holy Father renewed his call to promote a correct interpretation of the Council in order to put its numerous fruits into practice.
In the message, sent in the Pontiff’s name by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Pope Benedict XVI sent his cordial greetings to the nearly 800 participants gathered at the “Antonio Raimondi” Hall in Lima, saying he hoped the outcome of the meeting “would help deepen the understanding of the Council’s message, thus bearing forth abundant fruits of renewal and holiness in the Church.”
“In giving thanks to God for the gift of the Council—the most important ecclesial event of the 20th century,” the message continued, “we should find in it the source of an authentic renewal that would make it possible to address the challenges the Church and humanity face in the Third Millennium.”
The message, signed by Cardinal Sodano, noted that the interpretation of the Council needs to be “guided by a correct hermeneutic” and with the conviction, “affirmed by the Council itself, that all renewal in the Church consists essentially in an increase in fidelity to her vocation.”