According to the Statute of the Conference of Bishops of Brazil, the General
Assembly is the maximum organ of the institution
André Cunha
Special Envoy to Aparecida (SP)
The 54th General Assembly of the Bishops of Brazil starts this week, in the Padre Vitor Coelho Centre in Aparecida (SP). About of 320 bishops will take part in the annual meeting of the Brazilian episcopate, promoted by CNBB. [National Conference of Brazilian Bishops]
The conference will be ten days for discussions around the theme: “Christian lay men and women in the Church and in society-salt of the Earth and light of the world”.
For the third time, this same subject returns to the plenary of the General Assembly, but this time with the promise that at the end of the meeting, a document will be presented on the subject.
The Secretary-General of the CNBB, Bishop Leonardo Steiner explained this Tuesday, 5, at a news conference to the press, the reason which led the bishops to resume the discussion on this 54th meeting of the episcopate. Watch:
According to Bishop Leonardo, lay people play an important role in evangelization, and the Church wants to understand how they can better spread the Gospel in society, in its various aspects (cultural, political, economic and etc).
The text for the final document will be presented to the bishops, discussed in groups and the plenary, then voted on, to only then be disclosed to the Church in Brazil.
First day of the Assembly
The Bishops ‘ meeting began at the National Shrine, with the celebration of the mass. Then the official ceremony followed to start the event.
At press time, the Bishops were planning to discuss two important moments. The first: a sociopolitical situation analysis and the presentation of the text “Pensando Brasil”. [Which is a political address to laity about the responsibility to vote and vote as Catholics in national elections. -ed.]
The second gathering, a researcher at the Universidade Rural do Rio de Janeiro, Silvia Fernandes, will lead the bishops to a reflection on the change of religion in Brazil, especially concerning migration between religions, trying to understand how and why it happens.
Brazil’s political scenario
Don Leonardo stated that the possible impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff is not on the agendae of the General Assembly, as defined in October last year. However, according to the bishop, the possible inclusion of this matter will still be considered in the discussions during the next few days.