Vatican City, Dec 17, 2007 / 09:48 am
Upon completing their “ad limina” visit with Pope Benedict, a delegation of bishops from Japan are returning to their homeland with the mission of imparting a message of the true hope to Japanese society.
On Saturday, the group of Japanese prelates heard the Pope encourage them to “seek new ways of bringing alive the message of Christ in the cultural setting of modern Japan. Even though Christians form only a small percentage of the population, the faith is a treasure that needs to be shared with the whole of Japanese society." As an example of this evangelistic fervor, Benedict pointed to St. Francis Xavier, who was born 500 years ago this year.
Message of Hope
The Holy Father told the bishops that, “The world is hungry for the message of hope that the Gospel brings. Even in countries as highly developed as yours, many are discovering that economic success and advanced technology are not sufficient in themselves to bring fulfillment to the human heart.