Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Cochabamba (Agenzia Fides) - The Bolivian Bishop Conference has announced the return to the Father's House of Bishop Roger Aubry, Bishop Emeritus of the Apostolic Vicariate of Reyes. His death occurred on the morning of Wednesday, February 17, in Cochabamba, due to a cardiac arrest.
Bishop Roger Emile Aubry, Redemptorist (C.SS.R.), was born on April 11, 1923 in Montfaucon, the Diocese of Basel, Switzerland. He was ordained on February 24, 1949 and ordained Bishop on September 16, 1973. He was appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Vicariate of Reyes on December 11, 1970, was elected Titular Bishop of Arena and Vicar Apostolic of Reyes on June 14, 1973. His resignation was accepted on May 1, 1999.
"Without a doubt, this is a great loss for the Church in Bolivia and Latin America,” says the statement from the Bishops' Conference. “His passion for the proclamation of the Gospel and his missionary spirit left an impact, no doubt, on all those who knew him or who have read some of his writings." The Bishops' Conference, in extending condolences to his family, the Congregation of the Redemptorist Fathers, the Vicariate of Reyes, and all the Catholic faithful, hoped that "the seed of passion for the proclamation of the Good News that he planted, will bear fruit in abundance in all the baptized, along with the belief that he has proclaimed, that is, that 'there is always something we can give from amidst our poverty.'"
Archbishop Tito Solari of Cochabamba and friend of Bishop Aubry, gave this testimony: "He was a missionary who left his homeland to come to our land in the middle of his life. After he was Provincial of the Redemptorists, he was elected Vicar Apostolic of Reyes. He came with the openness of a missionary, to come into a different world, taking on the culture, sharing life with others, and in order to preach the Gospel with an open heart, always motivated by a deep spirituality and great knowledge of the Magisterium of Church and the guidelines of the Church in the missionary field.
Bishop Roger became better known during the preparation and carrying out of the Conference of the Latin American Bishops in Puebla. At the time, he was the Director of the Department of Missions and prepared the conference in Puebla on this topic. Bishop Roger was a missionary man in the sense that he wanted to give that missionary dimension to the clergy of Bolivia. He always opted for priests with an open heart, that were dedicated totally to others, especially the most needy.
A great missionary has left us, but Bishop Roger has not completely abandoned us, and this is manifested in his choice of life. When he was no longer Bishop of the Vicariate of Reyes, he did not want to return to his homeland and did not even want to live in any way. He made two fundamental decisions that reveal several aspects of his personality: a great love for Bolivia, as he wanted to live and die here, and a great desire for union with God, which is why he moved into the Caramelite Convent (in a small house apartment where he lived alone), but always within a climate of deep spirituality and cloistered life. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 19/02/2010)
