Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Puerto Leguízamo-Solano (Agenzia Fides) - "This Vicariate is a young Church, built on February 21, 2013, and therefore continues to grow, although it still accounts a reduced presence of missionary personnel (a local priest, eleven religious priests, eleven religious women, twenty full-time catechists). It is therefore essential to encourage our young people to vocation to priesthood and consecrated life. And, with the collaboration of all the faithful, it is necessary that the feeling of being a church which grows develops among you, becomes independent and therefore matures". This is the exhortation addressed by Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, to the faithful of the Apostolic Vicariate of Puerto Leguízamo-Solano, gathered in the Cathedral dedicated to Nuestra Señora del Carmen, for the Mass he presided yesterday, May 24, as part of his pastoral visit to Colombia (see Fides 19/05/2016).
"You are part of the Church of God - said the Cardinal -. The Holy Father, through my presence, wanted to be close to this Vicariate. Although it is located in an area that may seem geographically far away, it does not stop being in the heart of the Church". This is why he urged to intensify efforts to launch the family apostolate, "urging young people to a Christian life coherent with the principles of the gospel, forming them so that they create authentic Christian families", and to ensure catechists and lay people the opportunity to "have a solid Christian formation, to affirm one’s faith and face, through dialogue, the proselytism of sects".
In the Apostolic Vicariate, which is in the Colombian Amazonia, the Prefect of the Congregation met the catechists of the indigenous communities, mainly Murui and Quichua, visited an indigenous community, and was able to converse with civil and military authorities, as well as with representatives of the ecclesial reality. In his homily, the Cardinal recalled that "the legal status of the vicariate is an intermediate step before becoming diocese". (SL) (Agenzia Fides 25/05/2016)
