Puerto Rico - Towards a new Pentecost

In order to make 1998 "a great vigil of the Spirit that anticipates a new Pentecost", the Bishops of Puerto Rico have addressed a pastoral exhortation on the Holy Spirit to the nation's ecclesial community. If the pneumatological dimension of the Great Jubilee, looking to the Third Millennium of Christianity, is revealed first of all in the virtue of hope, the bishops want to stress that the Spirit has been a source of hope from the Old Testament onwards. In fact, the Paraclete follows the announcement of creation (Gen 1:2) with the announcement of the Covenant through the patriarchs, priests, prophets and kings, promising what will be narrated by the Gospels. The Spirit who inspires Mary's "fiat", who accomplishes the incarnation and constantly guides the life of Jesus, lays the foundations for today's Church. Starting from Pentecost the Spirit comes down on the Apostles and on Mary so that every believer may "be born of the Spirit" (Jn 3:5) and, through the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, be able to call God "Abba, Father" (Rom 8:15). In addition to the signs of hope in our time that the Pope indicates in TMA, the bishops individuate others, which are clearly manifested in Puerto Rico: in the civil field the development of a new and precious role of women in society, the advance of art, technology, communications, the quest for more effective solutions for safeguarding the environment and the emergence of community projects for economic self-sufficiency. In the nation's ecclesial life, an important sign of hope is the growth of movements, confraternities and apostolic associations of every kind: "Chcos Brothers", "Christian renewal through the Spirit", "John XXIII", Marian groups and meetings for in-depth study. Religious and missionary communities, on their part, continue to have a fundamental role in the history of the nation. Finally, the canonization process of the man who could be the first Puerto Rican Saint, Carlos Rodríguez, encourages them particularly to consolidate the laity's role in a more mature Church, ready to face the great problems that still remain in Puerto Rican society, as well as those that are envisaged for the Third Millennium. The Bishops invite all Christians especially through the sacraments, the gifts and charisms with which the Spirit fills us, to transform the diversity into riches that may lead to justice and unity among Christians, in society and in the Church. But unity, they warn, "will not be reached without prayer and conversion", against the culture of individualism and, above all, without "the boldness of the Spirit". In this regard the situation in Puerto Rica is particular delicate, since 1998 marks the centenary of the North American presence in the nation, an event which will be accompanied by moments of profound reflection, but also of potential division. Therefore they ask even more forcefully for concrete signs of fellowship, hospitality and solidarity, in dialogue, and they recommend that there should be a full return to the practice of the sacraments, so that they may be translated into actions within the changing society.