Mexico City, Mexico, Nov 15, 2013 / 17:13 pm
A conference and pilgrimage held this weekend at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City will feature Carl Anderson, the Knights of Columbus' Supreme Knight, among its speakers.
"At Guadalupe, Mary's message was one of love and reconciliation, which can be seen echoed in Pope Francis' efforts to reach out to the poor and marginalized, to the fallen-away and those who have never really followed Christ," Anderson said Nov. 15.
"Pope Francis has focused on the New Evangelization with a model that is clearly related to the American model embodied by Our Lady of Guadalupe – a model based on loving outreach, on charity and on concern for the spiritual and physical well-being of all."
"Our Lady of Guadalupe, Star of the New Evangelization," will begin with a video message from Pope Francis on Nov. 16 and will last until Nov. 19, allowing time for both prayer, and discussion of current issues within the Americas.
The event is being led by the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, and is co-sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, the Guadalupe basilica, and the Instituto Superior de Estudios Guadalupanos.
The conference is inspired by John Paul II's 1999 post-synodal apostolic exhortation "Ecclesia in America." Speakers will include Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops and Monsignor Eduardo Chavez, director of the Guadalupe studies institute.
Among the 300 persons who will be attending the meetings are Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia, Cardinal Sean O'Malley, Archbishop of Boston, Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, and Cardinal Oscar Maradiaga, Archbishop of Tegucigalpa.
Themes that will be reflected on include the collaboration and communion of local Churches across the Americas; culture and society; and the reference to Mary as Mother of the Church.