NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      PEORIA, 1 (NE) More than forty persons, priests and lay people, gathered last-week end in the diocese of Peoria, United States, in order to promote the sacrament of Reconciliation among the faithful. Members of the Diocesan Pastoral Council 1999 gathered with Bishop John Myers in order to design a strategy so that the Catholics of the diocese learn to know, value, and use the sacrament more frequently.

      "Reconciliation is an important topic which is so much at the center of what we are about as Church," recalled Bishop Myers to participants. The prelate thanked council members for their willingness to "help us value the sacrament" and penetrate "deeper into the mystery of salvation in Jesus Christ."

      Among the main tasks of the Council is that of identifying the obstacles that hold Catholics back from frequent use of the sacrament of reconciliation. Solutions will then be proposed to the bishop to be implemented in the diocese and parishes. Some have been already proposed, such as the promotion of personal and family prayer, specially the rosary, as well as the organization of short retreats, parish missions and holy hours of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. In recent years, these reflections have given important fruits and contributions to the development of the pastoral plan of the diocese.

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