Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Ocopa (Agenzia Fides) – The Franciscan Friary of Santa Rosa in Ocopa, a Franciscan Centre in the Andes mountains of Peru recently concluded celebrations to mark the 285th anniversary of the building. For decades the Centre has been a point of reference for missionaries, initially Spanish and later Peruvian, in the activity of evangelising the centre of the country and the Peruvian forest (see Fides 13/04/2010).
A report sent to Fides Agency said the celebrations, held all through the month of April, were well attended. Thousands came to celebrate the 285th anniversary of the building, the Friary and the church, considered by local historian Raul Porras Barrenechea, a "lasting source of Peruvian spirit, an evangelical and miraculous light in the Peruvian Andes.". The anniversary Mass on 18 April was presided by the Archbishop of Huancayo, Mgr Pedro Barreto Jimeno, SJ., and concelebrated by the Franciscan Superior in Peru, Friar Mauro Vallejo, OFM., and the Superior of the Friary, Friar Jorge Cajo Rodríguez, OFM. In his homily, Bishop Barreto said, quoting Aurelio Miro Quesada, Peruvian historian of international fame, that the Friary of Santa Rosa de Ocopa is not only history, it is a centre of Franciscan spirituality which radiates to the world. For his part Friar Vallejo recalled that Ocopa served as the centre for the evangelisation of Peru and the whole of America: here missionaries prepared to go to the furthest corners of the continent, and many perished while on mission, to spread the Christian faith.
One of the Franciscans at the Friary, Friar Dante, told Fides Agency that in the many events for the celebrations, he was struck by the recognition of the importance of this spiritual centre also in the past. In 1943, a Peruvian newspaper, “Mercurio Peruano” printed in Lima, published articles by historian Raul Porras Barrenechea, which demonstrated with many examples that "the greatest missionary endeavour of the 18th century and the most important for Peru was achieved thanks to the missionary friars of Ocopa Friary". José de la Riva Aguero (1885-1929), expert in politics and history, in a conference with the title "the Franciscans in Peru and the Missions of Ocopa", given in Barcelona in 1929, affirmed: “Ocopa, the Mother House of our Missions, represents for Peru the vivid memory of the best of the Spanish colony: the enthusiasm for catechesis and civilisation, the apostolic zeal, which gave such encouragement to its missionaries." (CE) (Agenzia Fides, 07/05/2010)
