Brazil: Visit of the pope in April-May 2007
On October 18, Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa, archbishop of Santiago in Chile and president of the ECLAM, announced to the Vatican press the visit of Benedict XVI to the Marian shrine of Aparecida in the State of Sao Paulo, in Brazil, for the 5th General Conference of the Episcopal Council of Latin-America (ECLAM), in April 2007.
As a matter of fact, on October 14 the pope received in audience the Chilean cardinal who was present at the synod, together with Cardinals Claudio Hummes, archbishop of Sao Paulo (Brazil), Jorge Bergoglio, archbishop of Buenos Aires (Argentina), and Pedro Rubiano Saenz, archbishop of Bogotá (Colombia) who handed to him the first preparatory document for the works of the conference. Benedict XVI confirmed his presence, at the end of April 2007, at the opening of the session on the theme "Disciples and missionaries of Christ so that our people may have life in Him".
The theme chosen will aim to bring about a reflection on the mission of the Catholic Church in Latin America in a context of poverty and globalization, added Cardinal Errazuriz Ossa. "In Brazil, the largest Catholic country in the world, there are now two Protestant pastors for every one Catholic priest", stated Cardinal Hummes, acknowledging that the proportion of Catholics in the country has been in regular decline these past 40 years, from 83% in 1991 to 67% today.
