More than 50,000 Chilean youth make pilgrimage to shrine of St. Teresa of the Andes

Julieta Villar   By Julieta Villar for CNA

October 17, 2024 Catholic News Agency News Briefs 0 Print

 

Pilgrims from different parts of the country walked 17 miles to the shrine of St. Teresa of the Andes, where the archbishop of Santiago, Fernando Chomali, offered the Eucharist. / Credit: Courtesy of the Archdiocese of Santiago, Chile

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Oct 17, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

“With Teresa, Pilgrims of Hope” was the theme that drew more than 50,000 young Chileans to the shrine of St. Teresa of the Andes last weekend in the town of Auco, Chile.

Pilgrims from different parts of the country and from greater Santiago walked 17 miles between old Chacabuco hill and the shrine, where the archbishop of Santiago, Fernando Chomali, offered the Eucharist.

The Oct. 13 pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Teresa of the Andes is a tradition in Chile. It takes place on the second Sunday of October and is organized by the Youth Vicariate with the aim of giving thanks for the blessings the saint has obtained for them as well as to leave their intentions and their hopes with her, with faith placed in her intercession.

In the Mass, concelebrated by the auxiliary bishops of Santiago and by Father Rodrigo Segura, rector of the shrine, and Father Jonathan Muñoz, vicar of the Esperanza Joven, Chomali began his homily with a message asking for forgiveness from the young people: “Forgive us for the world that we have left you.”

“Forgive us because we have not been able to stop the war that kills and does not build. I ask for your forgiveness because we have not been able to stop the corruption that harms us so much. … I also ask for your forgiveness for the abuses of all kinds, even within the Church, that pains us so much,” he said.

In addition, he called on young people to make a journey of prayer, because “those who do not pray have nothing to say to the world.”

“We as a Church cannot allow ourselves to be superficial. Let’s not tolerate being anesthetized. Let us undertake the adventure of a full life dedicated to others. I invite you to reflect, so that we might take life seriously,” he urged.

For his part, Muñoz thanked the communities for their great participation: “We are grateful that today you are leaving renewed in hope, to become hope for the world and for the whole Church.”

Finally, he emphasized: “It is hope that impels us to not believe that our journey ends here” and to be able to say “with Teresa, we are pilgrims of hope.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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Mexican seminarians launch evangelization project for the deaf  

August 26, 2018 CNA Daily News 0

Mexico City, Mexico, Aug 26, 2018 / 04:51 am (ACI Prensa).- Two seminarians in Mexico have launched a project on Facebook to offer evangelization and pastoral ministry tools for the deaf.

The initiative is called EvangeLíSaMe (EvangelizeMe) and was created by seminarians Juan Gómez, age 28, and Edwyn Alvarado, age 25, two months ago.

The capitalized letters in the title stand for “Mexican Sign Language,” Gomez told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish language sister agency. He explained that the goal is to create “an online place for evangelization in Mexican sign language and for the human development of deaf people.”

On the EvangeLíSaMe Facebook page, Gomez and Alvarado share two minute videos each week, offering catechesis or a reflection in Mexican sign language.

They are also putting together a catechesis photo manual “that could be used in parish centers where there are deaf children who want to make their First Communion.”

The seminarians got to know each other through social media, as they both worked in deaf ministry in their respective dioceses.

Gomez has been working in deaf ministry in the Diocese of Irapuato for a year and received training at San Juan de los Lagos in 2013. Alvarado, who is preparing to be a priest in the Missionaries of Saint Charbel order, has been doing work with the deaf for four years.

Gomez said he felt motivated to learn sign language because during his formation period, “they sent me out on mission to a home for people with disabilities, and it was there I got to know about this reality. I saw that [those who were deaf] had many limitations because there were very few people who could communicate with them.”

He said the Facebook initiative originated when the two seminarians “saw the need for sign language interpreters to bring God’s message in the different dioceses in Mexico.” In some areas of the country, there are few resources for deaf people seeking to grow deeper in their faith.

With EvangeLíSaMe, they hope to “eliminate the barriers to communication, so more deaf people may know God.” They also hope that people in other Mexican dioceses will join the project.

Alvarado is scheduled to be ordained a priest in 2020 while Gomez has already completed his formation and is awaiting the date for his priestly ordination.

 

This article was originally published by our sister agency, ACI Prensa. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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