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Message from the bishops to the people of God

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Message from the bishops to the people of God

114 Plenary Assembly

Bogotá, February 6 to 10, 2023

“Enlarge the space of your store”

(Isaiah 54,2)

“The Church that lives communion and participation” has been the theme during this week of the Plenary Assembly of the Colombian episcopate. The synodal path proposes us to widen the space of our tents (Cfr. Is.54,2) to walk together and broaden the ecclesial horizons. We choose to be a church that listens, discerns and decides, as the People of God, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to be a sign of hope. We are certain that, in Jesus Christ, made one of us, nothing is lost: He has the power to change hearts and create new relationships, moved by justice, brotherhood, forgiveness and love.

1. Migration is a phenomenon that continues to challenge us as a Church.

We have listened to our brother bishops who accompany the migrants in the dioceses that are located on the long border with our neighboring country of Venezuela. There are still many people who leave their homeland looking for better opportunities and living conditions for their families. Despite the fact that the borders have been opened, such measures have not managed to mitigate the suffering of those who migrate and this phenomenon is aggravated by the internal displacement of our compatriots due to violence.

2. We thank God for the work that has been carried out in favor of the Colombian Amazon and Orinoquía. “The urgent challenge of protecting our common home includes the concern to unite the entire human family in the search for sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change” (Pope Francis, Laudato si’, 13). A determined “ecological conversion”, encouraged by our ecclesial communities, can lead us to an integral ecology, which will help us to rediscover our mission of being custodians of the goods given by the Creator, avoiding any exploitative abuse of Colombian biodiversity.

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3. On the path to seek and strengthen peace, there are many challenges; however, we reaffirm the desire to reach out to everyone, with the message of the Gospel and thus broaden the horizon of life, an invaluable gift of God, with respect for the dignity of every person, from conception to natural death. and their fundamental rights. We invite all the Catholic faithful and people who seek the good to read and translate into attitudes and behaviors the guidelines “Towards a pastoral for reconciliation and peace in Colombia.” In these, we conclude that “peace is possible because we have already made progress in this field. It is necessary, because that is what a society tired of war demands. It is everyone’s responsibility, because it is a collective work that implies recognizing past mistakes and assuming commitments in the present” (n. 55).

4. With the presentation of the document “Guidelines for the culture of care” we continue multiplying efforts to make our Church a safe home for our children, adolescents, youth and vulnerable people. With the heart of pastors, we recognize that every case of sexual abuse is a crime, it is a serious sin, it is a crime. We apologize to those who have suffered this scourge and to all our people. We continue to firmly and responsibly assume due attention to the victims and their families. We maintain our commitment so that in each case justice is done and prevention protocols are promoted that make our institutions safe environments and promote the promotion of human dignity and the encounter with God.

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We accept the maternal protection of Our Lady of Rosario de Chiquinquirá, patron saint of Colombia, so that she may take us by the hand and lead us along paths of peace, reconciliation and care for all, especially the smallest and most vulnerable.

Bogota, DC, February 10, 2023

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