The Redemptorist Missionaries of the Pedro Donders Province shared with us the news that on May 4, 2024, in the Santa Cecilia Chapel of the Fray José de la Quintana neighborhood of the capital Corrientes (Argentina), the Eucharistic Celebration took place in which Gonzalo Miguel Sotelo Riquelme C.Ss.R. received the grace of the priestly ordination through the laying on of the hands of Monsignor José Adolfo Larregain OFM, Auxiliary Bishop of Corrientes (Argentina).
The words of the bishop at the beginning of the celebration: “I greet the Provincial Father Javier Machado – who cannot be present at this celebration due to commitments in Central America – represented on this occasion by Fr. Ramón Correa, Councilor of the Region (vocational promoter and first Redemptorist that Gonzalo met). I invite you to give thanks to God for this son, for this day, for his vocation. We entrust Gonzalo’s priestly ministry to Saint Alphonsus, to Saint Edward, so that they intercede for his fidelity to the charism received. May the Virgin of Perpetual Help be consolation and hope especially in difficulties.”
Gonzalo Miguel Sotelo Riquelme C.Ss.R.
Gonzalo, a young man of 35 years old, is the youngest of three brothers, children of Miriam and Roberto; his brothers are Enzo and Sergio. In 2014, after a time of discernment, he decided to enter the formation of the Redemptorist Missionaries in Bella Vista, Buenos Aires. Today he lives this decisive step in his life, illuminated by the motto: “So that he may increase, and I may decrease” (Jn 3.30).
Gonzalo, now a Redemptorist priest, will preside at his first Mass on Sunday 5 May in the chapel of Santa Josefa Rosello, at 6pm.
Regarding his faith journey, Gonzalo recalls that at the age of 10 he received his first communion in the community of Santa Maria Josefa Rosello. In the same community, in the parish of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, at the age of 12 he received the sacrament of Confirmation from the hands of Monsignor Domingo Salvador Castagna, while his godfather was Father Roberto Riquelme.
At the time of the National Eucharistic Congress, in 2004, he began to participate in the musical ministry of the community of Santa Cecilia, where in a few days he will be ordained a deacon of the Church. He soon began helping with catechesis in this same community. It is in this period that the Lord makes his call resonate again in Gonzalo’s heart.
In 2006 he began studying law, but the anxiety about what the Lord was asking of him continued to torment his heart. He continued his search. In 2010 he met the Redemptorist Missionaries of the Province of Buenos Aires and in 2011 he had a vocational experience with other boys, but he felt that his vocation had not yet matured.
In 2014, after a long period of discernment, accompanied by Father Martín González and the brothers of the Congregation (Father Ramón Correa and Father Juan Pablo Roldán), he decided to enter the formation of the Redemptorist Missionaries in Bella Vista, together with three other boys from Salta, Tucumán, and Santiago del Estero.
In 2017 he went to live in Tieté, San Pablo – Brazil, together with 16 other boys from Bolivia, Chile, and Brazil, to carry out the most decisive stage of his religious life journey: the Novitiate. After a year of prayer and discernment, in 2018 he professed temporary vows, before returning to Argentina and continuing his initial training as a Redemptorist religious.
In May 2022, back in Buenos Aires, he gave his “Yes” forever to Jesus the Redeemer and to the Mission, making the perpetual profession of the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience as a Redemptorist Missionary. Last year – 2023 – he was ordained as a deacon on his path to the priesthood.
(Website of the Archdiocese of Corrientes: www.arzcorrientes.org.ar)
You can read the complete homily of Mgr. JOSÉ ADOLFO LARREGAIN at this link:
https://www.arzcorrientes.org.ar/noticias/6013
