Pope stresses family and marriage on Letter for imminent celebrations in honor of Blessed Peter ToRot
On 30 June a letter was made public addressed by Pope Benedict XVI to Cardinal Joseph Zen of Hong Kong, His Special Envoy to the celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Blessed Peter ToRot on 7 July in Rabaul, stressing the importance of the occasion as a chance to reiterate the value of the family and marriage. “The family is the foundation of the human community – the Pope says at the outset of his message – but in our time it is seriously endangered”. Peter ToRot, instead, “who offered is life to Christ as a husband and father of the family, rejected polygamy and defended marriage” was a powerful promoter of renewed evangelization. He proved with his life that God’s laws should not be overturned by men’s laws.
The Pope asks Cardinal Zen in his letter to keep in mind that Rabaul also celebrates this year the 130th anniversary of the arrival of the first Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC) in papua New Guinea and the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the local congregation of the Daughters of Mary Immaculate (FMI) by the same missionaries.
The Cardinal will be officially accompanied in his Mission by His Excellency Mons. Rochus Tatamai MSC, Bishop of Bereina, a grandson of Peter ToRot’s brother Josef, who only recently passed away, and by Rev. Francis Meli, of the Archdiocese of Rabaul, an official of the local ecclesiastical tribunal.
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