Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Agenzia Fides) - “I am finding this experience most enriching, an opportunity to share views and ideas with almost a hundred bishops for all over the world” Bishop Audilio Aguilar Aguilar, appointed a year ago as Bishop of Colón-Kuna Yala diocese in Panama, one of 98 Bishops in Rome for a Study Seminar for newly ordained bishops organised by the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples.
"I would like to thank the Congregation for this opportunity - said Bishop Aguilar - also for engaging highly qualified speakers to enlighten us about the ministry to which the Church has called us. These are all people with great experience, they understand our needs and they want to help us carry out our mission to the best of our ability ". Colón-Kuna Yala diocese has a population of 260,000 about 60 per cent Catholic, "although the percentage is gradually dropping- the Bishop said - because in the last 20 years we have seen the arrival of many evangelical sects which have broken and formed other sects. This is a major difficulty in our diocese" the Bishop said. Another priority is to give special attention to Indigenous communities and formation for the faithful. "We have 30 priests, 60 women religious and a good number of very active catechists. Not all the priests we have are local men and we need to form more local priests to deal with the problem of sects. Deeper formation in the faith for lay people is another priority". Bishop Aguilar has a dream: to open a Catholic radio station to reach the whole territory and serve to offer formation and build unity ".
Bishop Santiago María García De la Rasilla Domínguez, SJ, Vicar Apostolic of San Franciso Javier o Jaen, Peru, says the most important thing "is meeting and sharing with Bishops from so many different countries. Although we do not all speak the same language, to see in this gathering the universal Church is a wonderful and inspiring experience". Bishop Santiago told Fides - “What I have found most helpful so far, and most encouraging because it is what I am striving to do, is information on the principle task of the bishop, to sanctify his people through the celebration of the Eucharist, the source of holiness. I am deeply distressed to think that in many parts of America and not only in my Vicariate, the Eucharist cannot be celebrated because of the scarcity of priests. A month ago before I came to Rome I visited a forest community and one of the women there, one of the few who spoke Spanish, said: ‘when you go to Rome tell them that we have no one to hear our confession, no one to celebrate Mass’. “In our Vicariate the scarcity of clergy is a great challenge”.
The Apostolic Vicariate of San Francisco Javier is in north east Peru near the border with Ecuador. Some of the territory is forest land which can only be reached by river boat. There are two main cities with a population of about 70,000 and the rest are villages with about 70/80 families. "In the villages - Bishop Santiago explains - our catechists are the ones who keep the faith alive. We have about 1,700 catechists and they are leading members in their respective village. We are working on a pastoral plan to promote the spread of the Catholic Movement Mundo Mejor (Better World). Our aim is to reach all the baptised, even the most remote, to foster ever greater holiness of the people of God in unity". (RG) (Agenzia Fides 20/9/2006; Righe 44 - Parole 671)
