Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Agenzia Fides) – “The great challenge is that large number of people who live in indifference,” Bishop Ausilio Aguilar of Colon-Kuna Yala (Panama) told Agenzia Fides while he was in Rome, participating in a study seminar held by the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, for the 104 recently appointed Bishops of ecclesiastical circumscriptions that depend on the Missionary Dicastery (see Fides 10/9/2008). Bishop Ausilio describes his diocese as “a missionary diocese in which many different groups live and work.” For example “there is a large population of people of African-descent, then there is an area of indigenous people. We also have farmers that live in the outskirts of the city and then there are urban and industrial area populated by foreigners and groups from other places that we have to learn to work with. So, there is a great diversity that we have to take into account when we go about our evangelization effort. There are various perspectives on life, on the Church, etc.”
For the Bishops, one of the main challenges is the large amount of people who live in indifference, “people who are baptized, but have later been led astray by the sects. Many of these even abandon the sects, on account of the lack of interest that they have.” So, this is our great challenge: “trying to draw the people back into the Church and getting Catholics to live their faith with fidelity, so they can be true witnesses for the community.”
Bishop Ausilio also mentioned the celebration of the Year of St. Paul in his diocese and the Great Continental Mission that is taking place in the entire continent, begun with the Encounter in Aparecida. “The Year of St. Paul is a part of the Great Mission. We have mainly focused on forming pastoral ministry workers so that they can be a reflection of Saint Paul in their lives.” The Diocese is also trying to live “what is indicated by the Church, the jubilee in the universal Church, and therefore, in our own diocese. We began the jubilee celebration in the Diocese and what we are most aiming at is to focus on Saint Paul, his mission in the Church and the treasures he has left behind for us.” As far as concrete activities is concerned, during this Year of St. Paul, “we have scheduled several seminars for laity and priests on the figure of St. Paul. We are also organizing an encounter for the closure of the Year.” Above all, the Bishop says, what they are most keen on is “preaching and making the faithful aware of the indulgences and the places where they can be obtained, so they can live this Jubilee Year to the fullest. As I said earlier, I think the most important thing is that the people become more familiar with St. Paul, that they not only know some parts of his writings from Sunday Mass, but that they really know the person of St. Paul and the love that he gave witness to, with all he did.”
As to the Continental Mission, the Diocese is now preparing the missionaries. “The Bishops’ Conference will launch the mission on the First Sunday of Lent (March 1, 2009), because in our country it is an important feast day, that of the National Shrine to Jesus of Nazareth. And that is where we will go to announce and launch the mission. Right now, the lay missionaries that will work on the mission are in training. We are also using the Aparecida Document, which is a great resource for the Church in Latin America and for our Diocese.” (RG) (Agenzia Fides 18/9/2008)
