Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Havana (Agenzia Fides) - Fr. Patricio Byrne, Secretary General of the Pontifical Society of Missionary Childhood, visited the various dioceses of Cuba February 25-March 5, according to a statement made to Agenzia Fides by Fr. Raul Rodriguez Dago, National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Cuba. Each one of the visited dioceses has hosted intense Missionary Childhood Days. “Since his arrival to our country, Fr. Patricio has shared in the missionary joy of the little missionaries and their coordinators,” Fr. Raul said.
On the night of the 26th, he visited the Diocese of Pinar del Rio, where the children and young people of three of the city’s groups met in the Diocesan Residence of Our Lady of Loreto. In the afternoon of the 28th, in the Parish of Santa Cruz in Cruces, Diocese of Cienfuegos, missionary children welcomed Fr. Patricio and told their missionary experiences from their own communities.
The city of Camaguey saw a rebirth of this Pontifical Society in Cuba in 1992. It all began in the Parish of Santa Ana, thanks to the efforts of a catechist and four children, with the support of their Bishop Adolfo Rodriguez. Here, Fr. Patricio was received February 29 - March 1. During this visit, there was a meeting held for the National Missionary Childhood Team, with its 11 Diocesan Coordinators, with presentations of the Manuals for Coordinators and for the Missionary Children, and the Missionary Gala in the Parish of Santa Ana. Enrique Cabrera, National Secretary, in mentioning the celebration that took place in Camaguey, says, “When we began this Society in 1992, we prayed that it be extended to all of Cuba. There is even a youth missionary named Nataly, who offered her life and illness for this intention. Our experience this morning is a blessing from the Lord, a fruit of that prayer.”
On March 3, the Cathedral of Santa Clara was filled with over 300 children and youth, all with their Parish Coordinators, from various communities of the diocese. The theater group from the Parish of Quemado de Guines presented the History of the Missionary Childhood, in a work entitled “The Train of Love.” Fr. Patricio presented various children and adolescents with various symbolic missionary objects, according to their levels...the ID card, the missionary handkerchief, the shield, and the cross of being sent as a missionary. He encouraged the children to never tire in announcing Jesus’s message and to remind everyone of the missionary vocation they received in Baptism. Finally, the Secretary General of Missionary Childhood visited the Dioceses of Matanzas and Havana.
Right now, Missionary Childhood is present in all 11 dioceses, with a total of 263 groups of children and adolescent missionaries. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 10/3/2008; righe 35, parole 446)
