Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
San Cristóbal (Agenzia Fides) – On the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple, 2 February, the church of San Cristóbal celebrated the Day of Consecrated Life and 85 years since the foundation of St Thomas Aquinas Seminary in the Diocese of San Cristóbal. According to information received by Fides, during the celebration the Bishop of San Cristóbal, Bishop Mario del Valle Moronta Rodríguez, encouraged the Institutes of consecrated life in the local Church, to become, according to their charisma, “the salt that gives flavour to the Gospel and the light to guide the way.” Bishop Moronta thanked the men and women religious for their work in the local Church and invited them to take part in the Pastoral Plan of the Diocese of San Cristóbal, which focuses on Continental Mission.
During the celebration of the 85th anniversary of St Thomas Aquinas Seminary, the Bishop thanked God for the formation work by this institution and the language teachers and altar servers and some seminarians. “We thank God for our seminary, founded by the first Bishop of San Cristóbal, the Servant of God Antonio Tomás Sanmiguel. The seminary is the Alma Mater of our local Church,” said Bishop Moronta during the Mass. Speaking to the seminarians, the Bishop said he hoped “that they could become Pastors according to God's heart. This implies and requires that while there is the seminary, that they be witnesses to the Lord Jesus, men who are distinguished for their life of faith, hope and charity. To do this, they must have the same sentiments of Jesus and act in his name.” (CE) (Agenzia Fides, 03/02/2011)
