Pope Francis asks the pastoral and social agents in Brazil to serve a “Church that goes out”, not hidden and compares the Church to water. The Holy Father sent a video message to the participants in the 15th Inter-Church Meeting of Base Ecclesial Communities (CEB) which is being held from July 18 to 22 in Rondonópolis, MT, at the Santa Terezinha Events Center, in Brazil.
In the message, the Pontiff urged the more than 1,500 participants to continue working for a “Church that goes out” and compared the Church to water: “If the water does not flow in the river, it stagnates and becomes sick. The Church, when it goes out, walks, feels stronger,” he said in the video published on 20 July, Thursday.
In addition, he sent a greeting to the participants in the meeting expressing that he wanted to be close to the 15th CEB Inter-Church.
The opening of the event was focused on the appreciation of the religious activity of the laity, cultural diversity and criticism of the socioeconomic model centered on the extraction of natural resources, Vatican News reported.
The meeting will last until Saturday and will bring together, in addition to religious men and women, leaders of organizations linked to the Catholic Church, other Christian denominations and spiritual expressions, as well as social and popular movements. Sixty-three bishops participate in the interchurch.