At the same celebration, in an atmosphere of joy and faith, I also closed the National Eucharistic-Marian Congress. The atmosphere continued into the afternoon when I visited the new cathedral of Managua, dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, the country's patroness. In that modern church I spoke to the priests, religious and committed laity, urging them to work generously for the Church, the Bride of Christ without spot or wrinkle. I was welcomed with great enthusiasm by the country which bears his name, El Salvador, a land torn apart in the recent past by violent conflicts between opposing ideological factions. The Church has played a decisive role in the resumption of dialogue and the return of peace, paying a very high price in blood, especially that of her Pastors among whom Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero, killed in 1980, is widely revered.
True peace is inseparable from justice.
Then when the Gospel of the Beatitudes was read in front of the cathedral where the mortal remains of Archbishops Chavez, Romero and Rivera Damas are buried, the moving memory of three beloved Pastors and their witness revived in everyone the will to work together to build a more human world. The second part of the journey brought me, as you know, to Venezuela, a country I had already visited in 1985 and which is unfortunately marked at the moment by a severe economic and social crisis. On my way from the airport to the capital, Caracas, I wanted to pause at a large penitentiary to bless the prisoners and leave them a message of hope, based on God's faithful love for every human person. I then went to the National Shrine of Coromoto, the Venezuelans' ancient centre of Marian devotion. On the site of the apparition in 1652 a modern and impressive shrine has been built in recent years, which I had the joy of officially inaugurating.