Pope Francis on March 18, 2022, sent a message of inspiration to those participating in the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress (RECongress), the largest annual gathering of its kind in the world. This four-day event is held at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA, and is sponsored by the Office of Religious Education for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
RECongress began in 1956 as an institute for religious education teachers. Since then, RECongress has grown to include people of all ministries, vocations, and faiths. Our event opens on Thursday with Youth Day – a day-long gathering of high school-aged young people. Youth Day features keynote speakers, workshops, and a Liturgy planned by young people, for young people.
The excitement continues Friday – Sunday when we welcome adult participants from around the globe. Our Adult Days offer hundreds of workshops in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese. Participants also receive access to arena keynotes, the opening ceremony, entertainment, and evening events. Choose from more than a dozen Liturgies that embrace and celebrate the diversity of our faith. Experience the Exhibit Hall – showcasing religious art, music, publishing houses, academic institutions, Catholic apostolate groups, diocesan ministries, and national organizations.
There is the text of the Pope’s video message, provided by the Vatican:
Dear brothers and sisters,
I joyfully greet you, gathered in person in California, and also those of you who are participating virtually, at the beginning of this Religious Education Congress in Los Angeles.
In these days, we are aware that the pandemic continues to invite us to watch over each other. The coronavirus continues to cause social separation and, sadly, the loss of life for many people, and this generates a social crisis. Our hope – we are believers – is placed in the Lord! In this time of fear and uncertainty, Our Lord continues to invite us to go ahead and proclaim our faith in his Mercy, in his Tenderness, and in his tremendous Love: “We have an anchor: in his cross, we were saved. We have a rudder: in his cross, we were redeemed. We have hope: in his cross, we were healed and embraced so that no-one and nothing can separate us from his redeeming love”.
The theme of the Congress, “Living waters of hope”, invites us to constantly renew ourselves in the water and blood that flow from the heart of Jesus, as wellsprings of mercy for the entire world. Without this living water, our mission may be transformed into an internal and painful religiosity… If you are a Christian, you are Church; the Church is outgoing, not inward-looking, and you must reach the existential peripheries with courage and creativity!
This year, you are celebrating a jubilee year in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the 250th anniversary of the Saint Gabriel Mission, the first Church founded by that great Apostle of Mexico and California, Saint Junipero Serra. During his canonization in 2015, I indicated that “he was the embodiment of ‘a Church which goes forth’, a Church which sets out to bring everywhere the reconciling tenderness of God”. May this jubilee be a great opportunity for renewal!
And my prayer for you, as this Congress unfolds, is that Our Lord may fill your hearts with the living waters of his Spirit and renew your zeal as missionary disciples who always “go ahead” in faith, to take his hope to the entire world, not with fine words, but with genuine acts of accompaniment, sharing with everyone the joy of knowing that we are not alone. May God, made man in Jesus, come with us through the day of life, urging us to dream and to walk together towards the Father, transforming history and transforming ourselves.
I entrust you to Mary, Mother of the Church. I give you my blessing, and I pray for you, but I ask you to pray for me too. Thank you.
© Libreria Editrice Vatican
