Education and the promotion of a culture of life is of fundamental urgency in the face of the diffusion of a mentality which offends the dignity of the person and neither favours nor protects the institution of marriage and of family life… The Catholic Church is convinced that the light for an adequate solution [to the many challenges facing America] can only come from encounter with the living Christ, which gives rise to attitudes and ways of acting based on love and truth. This is the decisive force which will transform the American continent.
Dear friends, the love of Christ impels us to devote ourselves without reserve to proclaiming his Name throughout America, bringing it freely and enthusiastically to the hearts of all its inhabitants. There is no more rewarding
or beneficial work than this. There is no greater service that we can provide to our brothers and sisters. They are thirsting for God.
Pope Benedict XVI
Message to the International Congress on the Church in America, December 2012
Pope Benedict XVI Header Image CC Pietro Naj-Oleari