Bishops must 'recover the full Catholic identity of the baptized,' charges Argentinean prelate

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Jun 25, 2010 / 15:45 pm

During the ordination of Auxiliary Bishop Nicolas Baisi of La Plata in Argentina, Archbishop Hector Aguer underscored that all bishops should lead nonbelievers to Christ and “recover the full Catholic identity of all the baptized.”

During the Mass celebrated at the Cathedral of La Plata, Archbishop Aguer said, “In response to the dictatorship of relativism, the arrogance of biased thinking, the tyranny of the politically correct,” bishops must challenge the powerful and work to prevent “the de-Christianization of thought and our norms, which leads to the decadence of the culture and a progressive dehumanization.”

“The bishop is charged with keeping the deposit of faith pure and integral by proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ with fidelity and constancy. This task is a grace that is destined to ignite in his heart a sort of holy obsession: recovering the full Catholic identity of all the baptized, showing those who do not believe the path towards the truth through untiring charity, with the irrefutable arguments of effective love,” the archbishop said.

Referring later to the opinion of Swiss dissident Fr. Hans Kung, who has not had the faculties to teach theology since 1980 and has called “on all bishops to rebel against the Pope and demand he change the course of the Church to move in the direction of the progressive lobbyists,” Archbishop Aguer said, “We, on the other hand, manifest our joyful adherence to Benedict XVI, the current successor to Peter, to his enlightening Magisterium and to his guidance as Supreme Pastor of the Church.”

“Each bishop, upon being assumed into the historical and spiritual flow of apostolic succession, is closely linked to the successor of Peter. He can only persevere in the unity of the Church under the authority of the successor of Peter and in obedience to him, with complete fidelity, without division,” he added.