Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Caracas (Agenzia Fides) - On 15 August Cardinal Jorge. L. Urosa Savino, Archbishop of Caracas celebrated the 40th anniversary of his priestly ordination and on 22 September he will mark his silver Jubilee as a bishop. To celebrate the event the Church in Caracas decided to celebrate a Jubilee Year with the theme “For a vibrant and united Church starting with a special outdoor mass on 22 September”.
Cardinal Urosa hopes "the occasion will be an opportunity to strengthen people's Catholic identity sometimes put in the background” and he has invited everyone to come to the celebration “to realise the wonderful privilege of being children of God and called to be witness of His love and builders of peace as the family of God ".
In a pastoral letter for the occasion the auxiliary bishops of the archdiocese say "the significance of such anniversaries transcends the simple commemoration or personal evocation of the Archbishop " because "every ordained minister is God's gift to his people and especially when the minister is the one the Lord in his providence has placed at the head of His Church in Caracas". They say these celebrations are a singular opportunity for the laity to "renew their enthusiasm and commitment to be Church and in her to be disciples and missionaries of Christ and his Gospel".
Therefore "as the pilgrim Church in Caracas - the pastoral letter reads - let us share the joy and gratitude of our Archbishop celebrating his configuration with Christ the Good Shepherd for forty years in the priesthood and twenty five as a Bishop". It ends with a call to all the faithful to pray for the Archbishop and show solidarity and adhesion with his ministry.
The Jubilee will open with welcome address and the reading of the Jubilee Pastoral Letter by Bishop Saúl Figueroa. This will be followed by the testimony of five married couples and songs evocative of challenges identified by the recent diocesan Plenary Council. At 11am Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino will preside Mass at which the bishops of Venezuela will concelebrate. The celebration will conclude with a solemn ceremony of Christian commitment with regard to Plenary Council challenges: promote awareness among the faithful what it means to be a lay Catholic; live lay spirituality in the different realities; offer lay people deeper, gradual and ongoing formation in the faith; encourage lay people to help to make the Church a home and a school of communion. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 21/9/2007: righe 34, parole 456)
