Vatican City, Apr 7, 2008 / 08:26 am
The bishops from the group of islands in the Caribbean known as the Antilles met with the Holy Father this morning and received from him the challenge to “stand tall as heralds of hope!” and combat the destructive social trends in their country.
Addressing the bishops in English, the Holy Father recalled how "your shores have been battered by negative aspects of the entertainment industry, exploitative tourism and the scourge of the arms and drugs trade; influences which not only undermine family life and unsettle the foundations of traditional cultural values, but tend to affect negatively local politics".
In the face of this situation, Pope Benedict called on the bishops to "stand tall as heralds of hope! Be audacious witnesses to the light of Christ, which gives families direction and purpose, and be bold preachers of the power of the Gospel, which must permeate their way of thinking, standards of judgment, and norms of behavior.”
The Holy Father told the bishops that he is “confident that your lived testimony to God’s extraordinary "yes" to humanity (cf. 2 Cor 1:20) will encourage your peoples to reject destructive social trends and to seek ‘faith in action’, embracing all that begets the new life of Pentecost!