AMERICA/COLOMBIA - Continental Mission launched in Archdiocese of Popayan: “an integral Permanent Mission that keeps the Church in constant evangelization”

Bogota (Agenzia Fides) – With the presence of numerous faithful from all the parishes, the Archdiocese of Popayan officially launched its Continental Mission on October 12. The celebration was presided by Archbishop Ivan Antonio Marin Lopez of Popayan and concelebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Julio Hernando Garcia of Cali, who spoke to participants on the spirituality of the New Evangelization. The event was also attended by priests, seminarians from the Major Seminary, religious, and over 3,500 lay delegates from the various parish communities.
The central moment of the Mission's launch featured the presentation of the Cross and the brochure of the Continental Missions by the Archbishop to each parish pastor, along with their task of encouraging all the faithful with enthusiasm, audacity, and fervor, in the urgency of the mission and in the spirit of the Pastoral Plan of New Evangelization, which the Archdiocese develops, with the aim of building a community that is evangelized and evangelizing. As information released from the Communications Department of the Colombian Bishops' Conference sent to Fides explains, with the launching of the Continental Mission, “the Archdiocese of Popayan unites its desire to all the Churches of Latin America, not only in declaring a Great Continental Mission as a privileged moment for all Christians to reach out to those who have grown distant or indifferent, an integral Permanent Mission that maintains the Church in constant evangelization.” (GT) (Agenzia Fides 19/10/2009)