"Resolute pastoral action is necessary to face this serious problem," the pope told bishops belonging to the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, which met in Rome earlier this spring.

The 289 million Catholics in Latin America make up almost a third of the 1 billion Catholics worldwide, according to Vatican statistics. Protestant Pentecostals in Latin America have been attracting large numbers of Catholic converts in recent years.

According to William Taylor of the World Evangelical Fellowship's Missions Commission, the number of evangelicals in Latin America has grown from 50,000 in 1900 to about 64 million in 1997—about three-fourths of whom are Pentecostal or charismatic.

The bishops must face this challenge by "reviewing the pastoral methods employed, reinforcing the structures of communion and mission, and seeking results from the possibility of evangelization," John Paul said.

"You well know how important the presence of evangelizers can be," he said, "because where priests, nuns or laity tied to the apostolate are at work, the sects do not prosper.

"Faith, although being a gift of God, is not aroused or maintained without the mediation of evangelizers."

Christianity Today's Weblog noted another of Pope's recent messages about "sects"—and how difficult it was to get an accurate translation of it online. (This was published before the Vatican's Web site offered an English translation.) ...