Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Toledo (Agenzia Fides) - “Our diocese is ever more aware of the importance of mission. Our priests and our people must hear the Lord calling and the world asking to be evangelised although the contrary might appear to be true”: this statement was part of a letter addressed by the Archbishop of Toledo, Cardinal Antonio Cañizares, to the priests in his diocese calling for volunteers for mission in Peru.
“Every day the diocese of Toledo receives requests for missionaries, this is the Lord calling us to mission” said the Cardinal. Lurín e Moyobamba, the two territories entrusted to the diocese of Toledo, “knock on the door asking for more priests”. Although there are many priests there, still more are needed. Lurín - the letter continues- needs at least two more priests for the three dioceses for which Toledo is responsible. Moyobamba needs four more priests because of a scarcity of local priests. Moyobamba also asks for help to form priests to be "men of God and men of the Church". The Cardinal urges his diocese to “answer with generosity ", so priests can be sent to assist “our brother priests who evangelise with generosity”. “I hope - the Cardinal concludes - many priests will come forward in generous response”.
This letter follows a Pastoral Letter 2005-2006, in which the Cardinal said Toledo should become “a missionary diocese”, in a state of mission, calling for a year of intensive evangelisation “to make everything missionary and evangelising”. Various initiatives proposed by the Cardinal included a suggestion that seminarians should spend a month on mission in Peru before their ordination to have basic necessary missionary experience .
In 2004 the archdiocese of Toledo was asked by the Holy See to help the mission needs of the territorial prelature of Moyobamba and the diocese of Lurín, both in Peru. When it was created in the 1940s Moyobamba prelature was entrusted to the Passionist Fathers. Now they are not longer able to do this the area has been entrusted to the archdiocese of Toledo which has a high number of priests and most of them are young. Moyobamba has an area of 51,000sq km, and a population of 800,000, there are 14 diocesan priests, 11 religious, 18 seminarians and numerous communities of women religious. It is a poor region in need of help because some priests have to care for thirty towns and there are provinces where there is not even one priest. Moreover religious sects are a serious threat.
Toledo archdiocese has 155 diocesan missionaries, ( 37 diocesan priests and 118 religious priests) distributed by continent as follows: Europe 9, Asia 9, Africa 25, north America 4, south America 107, Oceania 1. The countries with the highest number of missionaries from Toledo are: Peru 28 including 17 diocesan priests; Argentina 13 including 5 diocesan priests; Mexico 13 including 1 diocesan priest; Venezuela 13 including 3 diocesan priests; Chile 8 including 2 diocesan priests; Brazil 8 including 1 diocesan priest. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 8/6/2006; righe 44, parole 642)
