Rebuilding in Faith and Hope - A Pastoral Letter-1

FALL RIVER — Explaining its dual purpose to serve both as an expression of his gratitude and as an invitation to join him on “a journey that will lead to the renewal and rebuilding of our Church, the Body of Christ alive in our midst,” Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V., has written a pastoral letter to members of the Fall River Diocese. 

Rebuilding in Faith and Hope: A Pastoral Letter to the Clergy, Religious and Faithful People of the Diocese of Fall River will be available for parishioners at Easter Masses this weekend, April 15-16, at all parishes throughout the Diocese.

The pastoral letter has been published in booklet form in English, Portuguese and Spanish.

Bishop da Cunha’s pastoral comes two-and-one-half-years into his tenure as the leader of the Fall River Diocese, which encompasses Southeastern Massachusetts, Cape Cod and the Islands.

While expressing gratitude to God for the many gifts that have brought the Diocese to this moment in its history and acknowledging the progress made thus far, Bishop da Cunha underscores in the pastoral that “our rebuilding is on-going and not yet completed.”

The bishop then focuses the essence of his pastoral letter on rebuilding in three major areas: parishes, schools and leadership formation.

“I believe that if we can make good progress in each of these areas,” he says, “we will be well-positioned to address all our spiritual and material needs.”

Recalling the words of St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:5-11, Bishop da Cunha reminds the faithful that God “has provided everything we need to cultivate, water and plant the seeds of growth in our Diocese.” In conclusion he writes, “If we do our part, rebuilding in faith, hope and love, we can be confident that God will do the growing!”

Rebuilding in Faith and Hope was published in a special pullout section in last Friday’s issue (April 7, 2017) of the bi-weekly diocesan paper, The Anchor, and it is available on the diocesan website.

Read the pastoral letter here:

Rebuilding in Faith and Hope

Reconstruindo na Fé e na Esperança (in Portuguese)

Reconstruyendo en Fe y Esperanza (in Spanish)

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