Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Bogotà (Agenzia Fides) - In view of the upcoming Canonisation of Fr Luigi Guanella, Founder of the Order of the Servants of Charity, on 23 October in the Vatican, various initiatives have been organised in Bogotà. On 5 March, men and women religious and laity will share their testimony of Fr Guanella and his saintliness to those who do not of him. According to information sent to Fides, the youth, in particular, will be the main source for their peers in meetings aimed at passing on their knowledge of the Founder and his spirituality, through videos, films and slides. The Servants of Charity have been present in Colombia since 1987. In Bucaramanga they run the Fr Luigi Guanella Centre for Education and Rehabilitation, home this year to 130 disabled children; “The Holy Family” home for 25 elderly people; the parish of Saint Lucy with an adjacent primary and secondary school with 410 students. Since January, the St Lucy's school has also commenced online learning, certified by the Ministry of Education, to enable graduation from high school. On 19 December 2010 the new Latin American Theological Seminary in Bogotà was inaugurated. The Guanellian religious sisters, the Daughters of St Mary of Providence, who have had a certain synergy in the field of pastoral care of vocations, in accompanying the laity and in charismatic inspiration, have been present for more than 40 years in Bogotá with two centres, in Ocaña and Florencia. (AP) (4/3/2011 Agenzia Fides)
