De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

Evangelisation is not a Protestant thing, but part of our task as Christians. The Twelve Apostles of Mexico were twelve hand-picked Franciscan friars who arrived in New Spain in 1524 and become known for their extraordinary dedication and self-sacrificing labors. The local Indians said of the twelve Franciscans after some years "Because they were poor and barefoot, as we are, they eat what we eat, they sit on the ground as we do, they converse in humility with us, they love us as their children, we love and seek them as fathers." It was estimated that 11 years later, they had baptised 5 million new Mexican Christians!!!! This drawing of the friars is from the wall of a early colonial (1535) Franciscan monastery just outside Puebla, Mexico.

On Saturday, the first full day of his Apostolic visit to the country, #‎PopeFrancis‬ addressed the Mexican Bishops admonishing them to: "Introduce your priests into a right understanding of sacred ministry." Using words that can also be taken to heart by the laity, our holy Father said:  “The first face I ask you to guard in your hearts is that of your priests. Do not leave them exposed to loneliness and abandonment, easy prey to a worldliness that devours the heart. Be attentive and learn how to read their expressions so as to rejoice with them when they feel the joy of recounting all that they have “done and taught” (Mk 6:30). Also, do not step back when they feel humiliated and can only cry because they “have denied the Lord” (cf. Lk 22:61-62), and offer your support, in communion with Christ, when one of them, disheartened, goes out with Judas into “the night” (cf. Jn 13:30). As bishops in these situations, your paternal care for your priests must never be ...