"The realisation of the huge problems that hinder your pastoral mission" should not make you lose heart, but should help you more strongly promote "your evangelising work": it was said this morning by Benedict XVI as he received in audience the bishops of Honduras, on their visit ad limina until Saturday. Actually, even if the country "stands out for its deep religious spirit, which is proven by the many, deeply-rooted traditions of people’s devotion, which, duly purged of any element alien to faith, must be an effective system for announcing the Gospel", "the spreading of secularism, as well as the proselytism of the cults, is a source of confusion for many devotees and in addition it makes them lose their sense of belonging to the Church". Then, the Pope invited the bishops to take special care of priests and seminarians, by "always giving to their seminaries the best teachers and adequate material means so that the future priests may acquire that human, spiritual and priestly maturity the congregation needs and is entitled to expect of their pastors". Even if "callings have increased in the last few years", there is still the problem of the "scarcity" of priests, which must be responded to with more efforts, to "drive the young to the callings".
