"The Church's job is to reflect the point of view of her head and founder: Jesus Christ," Cardinal Gerhard Müller said in Chile earlier this month.

The cardinal was speaking at a Mass during a plenary assembly of Chile's bishops' conference.

"The Lord did not follow the world's ‘marketing' plan with all its loud and annoying methods," Cardinal Müller said.

"He did not write a book, rather he founded a community, the Church, which is his body."

"Jesus never wrote a book, neither did he leave any object related with his person.

"Rather, he directed his teachings to his disciples, specifically to twelve regular men of his day, and he told them to evangelise the whole world."

"Much confidence is required to understand how such an improbably method could have succeeded," the cardinal said.

He then addressed the issue of the shrinking proportion of Catholics in Chile, down from 70 per cent of the population in 2002 to only 55 per cent in 2015.

"Today, a painful purification is in course," he said, "but it is the same as when Jesus overturned the tables."

"Purification is painful and disquieting. May it do its work. Let us remain faithful and not become discouraged. Some left, but we must remain faithful in dialogue with Jesus in his Church."

Meanwhile, Pope Francis told Slovakia's bishops that youth are tempted to "hedonism, mediocrity and instant success".

The Pope told the bishops visiting Rome for their ad limina visit that "young people need to have from you clear instructions about doctrine and morals, to build, in the city of man, the city of God".

"In our day, it is even more necessary to illuminate the path of people with Christian principles, seizing the opportunity the current situation offers to develop a new evangelisation, which, with a new language, makes it easier to understand Christ's message," he added.

Sources

• Vatican Radio
• Catholic World News
• Image: Mumbai Laity

In a conference at a Colombian university, Bishop Juan Vicente Córdoba of Fontibón said there is no explicit rejection of homosexuality in the Bible.

"We don't know if one of Jesus' disciples" had a same-sex orientation, he said.

"We don't know either if Mary Magdalene was a lesbian."

Bishop Córdoba said parts of the New Testament might suggest otherwise, as far as Mary Magdalene is concerned, but "we don't know".

According to a report in Crux, Colombia is currently debating same-sex marriage and adoption rights.

Bishop Cordoba, who heads the Colombian Episcopal Conference's Commission on Life, told the conference the Catholic Church does not oppose same-sex couples making a life together.

He also said that: "No one chooses to be gay or straight - one simply feels, loves, experiments, is attracted, and no attraction is bad".

During the conference, he reportedly also used a pejorative term in Spanish for a gay man, which some in the audience found offensive.

The next day he apologised for his "unfortunate colloquial expressions".

Bishop Córdoba stated that his words were not intended to modify the "solid and unchangeable moral position of the Church".

Rather, they were to express respect in a gathering which, according to the prelate, was mostly composed of leaders and members of the LGBT community.

He said in a clarification published by the Colombian Bishops' Conference: "Even if homosexuality as an inclination doesn't constitute a sin, it's regarded as a disordered conduct."

The bishop stated he only used colloquial expressions because of the academic and dialogic context of the encounter, adding that they had no theological or moral value.

At the conference, Bishop Córdoba reiterated Church teaching that marriage is a union between a man and a woman, permanent, and open to children.

He also said that children have the right to be raised by a mother and a father.

Sources

• Crux
• Crux
• Daily Mail
• Image: Imagejuicy

In his homily on the WYD theme, "Go and make disciples of all nations", local Archbishop Orani Joao Tempesta invited the young people to be missionaries.

"This week Rio has become the centre of the Church, its heart both youthful and vibrant," he said. "You have come from all over the world to share together in the faith and the joy of being disciples and missionaries in all nations."

Though Copacabana is better known for hosting millions of revellers during the annual New Year's Eve celebrations, the archbishop compared it to the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

"The sea, the sand, the beach and the crowd remind us of the call of the other disciples,"
he said, and Christ "invites us for a swim in deep waters, the waters of our baptism".

Archbishop Tempesta encouraged the pilgrims to participate in their communities "with enthusiasm", making it an opportunity of "coexisting with our brothers and sisters, witnessing that another world is possible".

At dusk, the large stage dominated by a blue cross was lit up with the colours of the Brazilian flag. Silence greeted the arrival of the WYD Cross and an image of the Virgin Mary, carried in procession by young people from the five continents.

The huge congregation assembled despite heavy winter rains that swept through Rio and a breakdown in the city's subway system that led to serious traffic jams.

As is customary, Pope Francis did not participate in the opening ceremony, but a Vatican spokesman confirmed that he watched the event on television and was impressed by the size of the congregation braving the rain.

The WYD gathering will include catechetical presentations by 250 different bishops, drawn from all around the world, in a score of languages.

Sources:

Catholic News Agency

Vatican Information Service

Image: KQED

The next WYD will be held earlier than normal, leaving two years for preparations. This is due to Rio hosting the football World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games two years later.

"Even now, let us ask the Lord to assist all those who will organise it and to ease the journey there of young people from all over the world, so that they will be able to join me in that beautiful city of Brazil," the Pope said.

The 2011 Madrid event clearly left a strong impact on Benedict. At his audience at Castel Gandolfo, the Pope Benedict called WYD 2011 "a precious event".

They were "extraordinary days," and it was "a very moving church event," the pontiff said.

"I thank God for this precious gift, which gives hope for the future of the church."

Sources

• Vatican Radio
• CNS
• Image: Diocese of Westminster