Since October 3, different confreres from Costa Rica, Haiti, Ecuador, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Argentina and Colombia have been taking the diploma course “New perspectives for formation in the current process of restructuring of Consecrated Life in Latin America and the Caribbean” promoted by the San Alfonso University Foundation, with a total participation of eleven religious, nine in person and two in a virtual manner.
It has been a time of grace, where we have shared experiences that will continue to strengthen and encourage the different formation processes in our Units. The diploma course has been divided into modules as described below:
Module 1 (3-7 October): Theological-spiritual dimension of the religious vocation.
Module 2 (10-14 October): The human-existential dimension of the formator.
Module 3 (17-21 October): Forming the new generations of young people in Latin America.
Module 4 (24-28 October): Training in restructuring environments.
In addition to the study experience, there have been moments of fraternity and recreation through outings to tourist sites such as the Monserrate hill in Bogotá, the Basilica of Our Lady of Chiquinquirá (patron saint of Colombia) and the municipality of Ráquira in Boyacá (typical for its handicrafts).
A nun from the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of Mary Immaculate and Saint Catherine of Siena, better known as “Lauritas”, founded by Mother Laura Montoya Upegui, the first Colombian Saint, has also joined the course.
On behalf of the companions of the diploma course, we thank God, our Units of origin and the Province of Bogotá, represented in the San Alfonso University Foundation and in the community of La Soledad, which welcomed us this month, for the formative space that has been offered to us and which will surely be of great benefit in the process of restructuring that we are living. We encourage and invite more confreres to participate in the next diploma course for formators to be held in Bogotá-Colombia, from April 17 to May 12, 2023. You will learn many new things and life experiences that will strengthen the Redemptorist charism and missionary vocation in the current restructuring process.
Fr. Óscar David Tarazona Trujillo, CSsR (Province of Bogotá)
