Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Bogota (Fides Service) – “The Church in Colombia, with her characteristic missionary zeal, prepared with joy and confidence to face the challenges of evangelisation in this new millennium ” Reverend Luis Castano Cardona, National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) in Colombia told Fides. At the beginning of this year the Church in Colombia formed a CAM 2 preparation team for to promote missionary animation events, regional meetings and national and diocesan mission congresses in view of the great all-America mission event. The first initiative was to study the CAM2 Congress basic working paper and to coordinate diocesan animation activity in view of the National Mission Congress in Bogota. Well attended meetings of missionary animation were held in Barranquilla, Medellìn, Cali, Bucaramanga, Bogota, and Villavicencio.
“Various regional missionary animation meetings were organised by the diocesan PMS directors” Reverend Castano, told Fides and he listed the events: 26 to 28 May, Missionary Animation meeting organised by Ibague diocese: “We must go out to the many brothers and sisters in the world who have never met Jesus”; 3 and 4 June the archdiocese of Pamplona e Bucaramanga gathered for a regional missionary animation meeting; 10 to 12 July Medellin and Santa Fe of Antiochia archdiocese held its 2nd regional missionary meeting “We are missionaries for the whole world”. From 29 September to 5 October the Apostolic Vicariate of San Andres e Providencia, and the Leticia-Amazonas Apostolic Vicariate met from 21 to 30 October 2003. Common objectives of all the meetings included, strengthening the PMS, formation of the laity in missionary spirituality and commitment, missionary pastoral as part of ordinary pastoral care....
Diocesan congresses were held in Santa Marta, Girardotta and Antioquia, Pereira. Also these meetings focussed on the ad gentes dimension of mission, new evangelisation, encouragement of pastoral workers
The aim of the 10th National Mission Congress was held in Bogota, was “to increase efforts on the part of Particular Churches to share the universal mission of the Church to strengthen apostolic dynamism within and outside the local Church” PMS National Director told Fides. The national Congress – he said - “offered the opportunity to measure apostolic commitment and to reflect which will lead people to help Churches in need of pastoral workers sending more missionaries for first evangelisation. After almost 600 years of sowing the Gospel the fruits are beginning to appear in many Churches (78) who are showing the apostolic maturity (almost all involved in new evangelisation)” Three recurrences helped to give greater importance to the 10th National Mission Congress Reverend Luis Castano told Fides: Xaverian Missionaries of Yarumal (started in Yarumal, Colombian diocese of Santa Rosa di Osos) marked their 75th anniversary; Capuchin Fathers and Consolata Missionaries marked 50 years of mission in Colombia. (R.Z.) (Fides Service 18/11/2003 – lines 36, words 492).
