The Holy Father underscored that "some today view Christianity as weighed down by structures and failing to respond to people's spiritual needs. Yet, far from being something merely institutional, the living center of your preaching of the Gospel is the encounter with our Lord himself."
The Pope then exhorted the bishops: "It is clear then that all your activities must be directed towards the proclamation of Christ. Indeed, your duty of personal integrity renders contradictory any separation between mission and life.”
“I urge you therefore to be close to your priests and people”, said the Pope. “Inspired by the great Pastors who have gone before us, like Saint Charles Borromeo, your visiting and careful listening to your brother priests and the faithful, and your direct contact with the marginalized, will be 'quasi anima episcopalis regiminis'."
John Paul II noted that "in the wake of increasing secularism and fragmentation of knowledge, 'new forms of poverty' have arisen, particularly in cultures which enjoy material well-being, that reflect a 'despair at the lack of meaning in life'.”
“Distrust of the human being's great capacity for knowledge, the acceptance of 'partial and provisional truths', and the senseless pursuit of novelty, all point to the ever more difficult task of conveying to people - especially the young - an understanding of the very foundation and purpose of human life," said the Pope.
Pointing to "the wondrous array of charisms" proper to Religious Institutes, he said that their commitment to "the apostolate of 'intellectual charity," that is, "promotion of excellence in schools, commitment to scholarship, and articulation of the relationship between faith and culture" is "particularly important in cultures undermined by secularism."