Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle will participate in the centenary of the first National Missionary Congress from July 5 to 7 at the Church in Colombia.
The cardinal, pro-prefect of the section for the first evangelization and the new particular churches of the Dicastery for Evangelization, will be in charge of giving the first conference entitled The missio ad gentes in the local Church, and of presiding over the closing Mass and missionary sending on Sunday the 7th.
The Episcopal Conference of Colombia (CEC) reported that the commemoration of the centenary will take place within the framework of the XIII National Missionary Congress to be held at the facilities of the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, in Bogotá.
The event is convened by the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMO) and by the Episcopate, and will bring together some 1,200 people including bishops, priests, consecrated persons, seminarians and lay people from all over the country, who will renew “their missionary commitment” and “being protagonists.” in the conception of new and creative ways to continue announcing the Gospel.”
A special moment will be experienced on Friday the 5th when the congress officially begins with the enthronement of the relics of Saint Laura Montoya, the first Colombian saint who encouraged the organization of the 1924 event.
The program of the XIII National Missionary Congress includes presentations, group work sessions, missionary testimonies and days of Eucharistic adoration.
“All of them designed to contribute to the desire of the baptized, formed and lovers of the mission, so that the regions of Colombia go to announce the Lord, or also, to other countries where the message has not yet reached or where more multipliers are needed,” The Episcopate stands out.
Although the places to participate in person are already sold out, the CEC points out that those interested can also join virtually by contributing 40,000 COP or 12 USD. Registration can be done here.
The CEC indicated that the First National Missionary Congress was held from August 15 to 24, 1924 and “was a pioneer worldwide, described as an awakening and Kairos of the Spirit in the Church.”
This event was a preparation “for the missionary exhibition that was held in Rome, on the occasion of the Holy Year 1925.” Subsequently, other countries replicated the Colombian initiative, which is why the motto chosen for this centenary was “In the Missionary Church, Colombia first!”
The Episcopate highlighted that the 1924 congress “projected for Colombia a fruitful path in the transmission of the Gospel, from which great figures of missionary saints and martyrs have emerged, among them, Saint Mother Laura herself, the Venerable Miguel Ángel Builes, the Blessed Father Marianito, the blessed hospital martyrs, Blessed Pedro María Ramírez, Blessed Jesús Emilio Jaramillo Monsalve and Blessed María Berenice Duque Hencker.”
Likewise, “important projects, communities and institutes emerged, with a determined commitment to the mission, among which the Institute of Foreign Missions of Yarumal, the Teresita Missionaries and the Daughters of Mercy stand out.”