Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Agenzia Fides) – His Excellency Lorenzo Voltolini Esti, who has been Archbishop of Portoviejo (Ecuador) since August 6, 2007, was among the new Archbishops who were conferred the pallium by the Holy Father on Sunday, June 29. Archbishop Lorenzo Voltolini, who is also President of the Bishops’ Liturgical Committee, is originally from the Diocese of Brescia (Italia), where he was ordained a priest. He left Brescia in 1979, as a Fidei Donum missionary sent to Ecuador. In an interview with Agenzia Fides, we asked him about some of the main aspects of his Archdiocese and the country of Ecuador.
What significance does receiving the pallium from the Holy Father have for you?
The Pope himself has given it a great significance and the prayers that accompany the ceremony of the conferring of the pallium help to understand its significance. It is a sign of the yoke, of the cross that one carries on his shoulders. It is a sign of the work that the Lord gives us of being evangelizers not only with our words, but also with our example and in carrying Christ’s Cross.
It is also the symbol of the pastor who carries the sheep on his shoulders. He carries all the sheep, not just the lost one. This is the meaning behind the wool of the pallium that is placed on the shoulders of the Archbishop.
It also signifies the unity of the service of each Bishop in his Diocese with the Holy Father. Before the palliums are placed on the shoulders of the Archbishops, they are laid on Saint Peter’s tomb for one night, as a sign of this unity between the universal Church and the diocesan Church.
How would you describe your Archdiocese of Portoviejo, in general?
The coast of Ecuador, where Portoviejo is located, is more disposed to community life and dialogue than the area of the “sierra,” where I was working in my first years as a missionary in Ecuador. The people are more accepting of others, which is a virtue that one should know how to make the best of, translating it into to authentic generosity, in capacity of self-donation and service because a person may have an open spirit and yet not be very generous, and this is a challenge for us all. Unfortunately, volunteer work is almost impossible because of the laws. It is not allowed, as there is a labor law that says that workers’ rights cannot be renounced or denied. Not even the worker himself can renounce payment for a job he does. If he does it free of charge, later on others can charge for the work done. This is why there is always suspicion whenever volunteer work is asked for in the community. I hope that hot only the laws, but also the criteria behind them will change and that there may be more generosity among the Christians in Ecuador. Solidarity is part of the Christian community.
What challenges do you face on a local level?
Rigth now, one of the main challenges is preparing the laity for the lay mission. Many of them are asking us for formation courses. The problem is that we do not have a specific place for them. For now, they go to the seminary or various places in the Archdiocese. I think that in the future, we will have to find a concrete place for them to have their own site for formation.
Ecuador is currently discussing the new constitution and one of the most crucial points refers specifically to abortion. How is the Church responding?
I think that right now, the Church is more in resonance with the people than the government. The government representatives have been elected by the people, but they are ignoring them. They are not listening to them. 80% of Ecuadorians are against abortion. At least 70% of Ecuadorians are against approving homosexual unions as marriages. However, it seems that the representatives in government are following principles being dictated to them from outside. The are more obedient to the slogans and money that come in from the outside, than they are to the common good and the wishes of the Ecuadorian people.
In a little over a month, Ecuador will host the Third American Missionary Congress (CAM 3), which is a great event for the entire Church in Latin America. What fruits are expected to come out of this Congress, for Ecuador and for the entire continent?
For some time now, there has been talk of the fact that Latin America must learn to give from its poverty. It seems to me that Ecuador has given very little up till now, very little. In our diocese, we are now trying to form a group called Fidei Donum. We want our church to realize that they will not be truly mature as a Church until they begin to give out of their poverty. This group that is being formed will not only include members who wish to go to Africa or other places, but it must be formed by all those who have a missionary sense of their lives so that, from there, from that group can come those 2,3,or 4 people who can be sent on behalf of the Church of Manabi of Portoviejo. We want to send people, but we also want to behave like responsible parents. We want to send missionaries and support them in their mission with prayer and economic support so that they are not forced to have to return home for lack of support from their local Church, the diocese where they were nourished, matured in their faith, and later sent from.
At the end of the Missionary Congress, there will also be a launching of the Great Continental Mission. We need it, because as Church in Latin America, we need renewal. We cannot be members of the Church without the awareness that we are missionaries. The Church is essentially missionary. We are not only in need of this mission right now because we are in danger of extinction, but because the Church is missionary in her very essence. It is not just a mission for a few years. It is a mission without end. We should start realizing that the mission of the Church in Lain America should be forever.
Lastly, Your Excellency, you went to Ecuador as a Fidei Donum missionary many years ago. Do you continue considering yourself a missionary even today?
I continue to think of myself above all as a priest and then, I have never stopped being a missionary because I was sent by the Church and I want to continue being a missionary now as Archbishop. I think that the Bishop should be the first missionary of the diocese. We should all be missionaries. A Bishop’s responsibility is not confined to the borders of his diocese, but reaches out to the ends of the earth, because he is successor to the apostles who were sent by Jesus to the entire world. When I was ordained a priest, I immediately presented myself to the Bishop to be sent wherever he needed me. Four years later, I was sent to Ecuador. I think that this desire to be missionary that I received in my priestly ordination has not faded away with my ordination as Bishop. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 2/7/2008)
