This interview of Bishop Aguiar took place three days before Pope Francis announced the creation of 21 new cardinals, including the auxiliary bishop of Lisbon. In this interview, the bishop stated that in his opinion, the intention of WYD is to have young people journey together, respecting their diversity.
For the cardinal-designate, the goal is to allow each young person to say: “’I think differently, I feel differently, I organize my life in a different way, but we are brothers and we go together to build the future.’ This is the main message of this encounter with the living Christ that the Pope wants to provide to young people.”
Bishop Aguiar then stated, “We don’t want to convert the young people to Christ or to the Catholic Church or anything like that at all.” He continued:
“We want it to be normal for a young Catholic Christian to say and bear witness to who he is, or for a young Muslim, Jew, or of another religion to also have no problem saying who he is and bearing witness to it, and for a young person who has no religion to feel welcome and to perhaps not to feel strange for thinking in a different way.”
The prelate stressed that it is important “that we all understand that differences are a richness and that the world will be objectively better if we are capable to placing in the hearts of all young people this certainty of Fratelli Tutti, brothers all, that the Pope has made an enormous effort so that this enters the hearts of all.”
The red color worn by the cardinals is related to martyrdom: these men called princes of the Church, who are responsible for the election of the Supreme Pontiff and who form his Senate, must be ready to give their blood for Christ and for the sheep of Christ.
But how can a man want to shed his blood if he is not thirsty to conquer the most souls for Christ and His Bride the Church? How can they want to establish a fraternity that is not based on Christ and on unity with His Father? This is the only true fraternity in this world, of which others are only pale images.
Bishop Américo Aguiar does not want to convert to Christ: this is the denial of the very essence of the Church, which wishes to unite all men within her, but by plunging them into the Passion and the Resurrection. This is the cry that springs from the heart of St. Paul. “For if I preach the Gospel, it is no glory to me, for a necessity lieth upon me: for woe is unto me if I preach not the Gospel” (1 Cor 9:16).
Américo Aguiar, Auxiliary Bishop of Lisbon, responsible for World Youth Day which will take place from August 1 to 6 in Portugal, will be created cardinal by Pope Francis in September. He made a rather strange statement during an interview with RTP Noticias on July 6.