04 july, 2007
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The International Pilgrimage on the 90th Anniversary of the third apparition of Our Lady in Fatima was presided over by Archbishop Jorge Ortiga, of Braga.
Theme: Jesus Christ, the Face of Mercy
“Be compassionate, as your Father is compassionate’ (Lk.6,36) In his homily, during the celebration of Holy Mass on July 13, the Archbishop of Braga and President of the Conference of Bishops of Portugal, His Excellency José Ortiga, remarked: ‘The mercy of God consists in His faithfulness, His eternal determination to lead man to the plenitude of life which is the Alliance of Love for the communion with Himself. God is tireless, His patience is infinite, and He is always disposed to give us another chance”. He asked the pilgrims to be makers of “justice, equality and brotherhood”, explaining that “the logic of justice and mercy is this: you received freely, freely give; there is more joy in giving than in receiving; as God has forgiven you, so too you must forgive; who practices mercy must do it cheerfully”. He also appealed to the pilgrims to grow “in faith and charity” and get inspiration for “a social intervention commensurate with the challenges of our time and with proposals in accordance with the doctrine of the Church”. The prelate is of opinion that we are currently noticing “a rapid turnaround towards a certain secularism which, openly or covertly, seeks to remove God from man’s history and life and from the traditional course of our country; therefore, all Christians must engage all efforts in the affirmation of the primacy of God and of Evangelic values, in order to build a more just society, with more dignifying life conditions for all our citizens”. |
