EUROPE/SPAIN - Diocese of Malaga, “faithful to its missionary vocation,” after 56 years of sending missionaries to Venezuela

Malaga (Agenzia Fides) - Sunday, March 7, Spain celebrates Hispano-American Day (see Fides 3/3/2010) and the Diocesan Mission Sunday, in which the Diocese of Malaga (Spain) has been chosen as the focal point, with the slogan "Málaga, Faithful to its Missionary Vocation.” Delegate of the Commission for the Missions of Spanish Dioceses Fr. Lorenzo Orellana sent a letter to all priests, religious, catechists, and faithful, in which he writes: "In this Year for Priests in which we are invited to renew our fidelity, it is good that we remember the missionary vocation of the clergy of Malaga. Soon we will be able to celebrate, thanks to our bishops and priests, 56 years of loyalty to the missionary commitment of serving our sister dioceses."
The memory of this fidelity, is summarized as follows: "From 1954 to 1986, the Bishops of Malaga sent priests to the Venezuelan Dioceses of Ciudad Bolivar, Cumana, Maturin, and Guanare. Since 1986, this aid has shifted towards the Diocesan Mission of Caicara in Orinoco. The sending of priests has been a grace for those dioceses and for all those who have been sent. The Diocesan Mission of Malaga has an area of 45,000 square kilometers (half of Andalusia), and the work done by our priests is very great." (CE) (Agenzia Fides 04/03/2010)