AMERICA/PARAGUAY - Plenary Assembly of Bishops: auto-financing the Church, financing seminaries, presentation of “The Illustrated Bible, with Commentaries”

Asuncion (Agenzia Fides) – The Bishops of Paraguay will continue their 184th Ordinary Plenary Assembly until Friday, March 6. In a press conference, they presented the main points from their third session, which was celebrated on Wednesday, March 4. First, they addressed the subject of auto-financing the Church. In regards to this issue, the Bishops reflected on the need to work on deepening the faithful's sense of belonging to the Church and the co-responsibility they have in offering economic support.
Several initiatives exist on a national level, which have taken place with great success in several dioceses: “I am the Church, too” in the Diocese of Misiones and “Give and You Shall Be Given” in the Archdiocese of Asuncion, as well as other initiatives carried out by Catholic movements. It has been observed that the economic part is also integral to the evangelization process and, in this sense, it is hoped that as part of the Mission in Paraguay, the missionary disciples will increase their commitment to their Church.
A large portion of the session on Tuesday was spent listening to reports from the Major Seminary and the Minor Seminaries, where the future priests receive their training. The Church is not immune to the effects of the economic crisis that is affecting the nation. In this sense, they continue being concerned for the costs of formation and support for seminarians. In many of them, campaigns have been held, establishing sponsors or benefactors, promoting acts of solidarity.
There are currently 184 seminarians, of which 31 are in the first part of the pre-seminary program and 31 in the second part. There are 122 in the Major Seminary. In addition, the Theological Institute of the Catholic University has begun classes with 232 students, a tentative number, as registration is still open. The Day of the Bishop, which this year is celebrated on May 3, there will be a national collection in all the parishes in the country. The faithful are invited to “save the date” and help support these future priests in their formation.
As well, during the Assembly a group of representatives from the newspaper “Ultima Hora” presented the Bishops with “The Illustrated Bible, with Commentaries,” which is scheduled to come out this Friday. The material was prepared by the publishing house “El Planeta” and comes in a 16-volume series. The initiative is supported by the Bishops' Conference. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 5/3/2009)