On the feast of St. Clement Hofbauer, March 15, 2022, in Vallegrande, Bolivia, three Redemptorists professed their perpetual vows: Br. Miguel Arcángel Alvarado Suárez and Br. Arnaldo López Gómez from Peru and Br. Sławomir Wardzała from Poland, who belongs to the Warsaw Province and has been in formation first in Argentina and now in Bolivia. Congratulations!
The three confreres prepared themselves for the celebration by making a month of renewal and a retreat, which they did in Paraguay, together with other brothers from all over Latin America.
In his homily, Fr César Edilberto Torres Pantoja CSsR, Superior of the Viceprovince of Peru South, recalled the primacy of God’s initiative in vocations and the need for a personal response to this grace.
Among those who took part in the celebration were the confreres who had come to Vallegrande for the Provincial Chapter which was starting. Despite the constraints of the pandemic, with all the sanitary indications, the faithful filled the church. At the end of the celebration, the representatives of the parish handed to the confreres baskets of traditional food products from Vallegrande and bags characteristic of that area of Bolivia.
Vallegrande is a small but very important town in the diocese of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. For decades, the Redemptorists have ministered in the only Catholic parish here. The first Cardinal of Bolivia, Cardinal Julio Terrazas, also came from here.
We entrust our confreres to the Lord God, who has begun a good work in them and will bring it to its fullness. On Sunday, March 20, Br. Sławomir Wardzała will be ordained deacon.
by Fr. Joseph Smyksy C.Ss.R., Cochabamba, Bolivia
(www.redemptor.pl)
