From October 6 to 20, 2024, the great mission in the Diocese of Potosí took place with great faith, devotion and joy of all the faithful of Potosí, commemorating the centenary of the creation of the Diocese, with the motto: “For a synodal Church, Potosí in mission” organized by the Redemptorist Missionaries of the Province of Bolivia Peru. The director of the Redemptorist Missionary Team San Clemente, Fr. Román Oscar Ibarra Aguilar CSsR, led it with the other members of the Team.
The main objective of the mission is the personal encounter with Jesus, building communion, promoting a synodal and missionary Church that makes the Kingdom of God present in today’s Potosi. To continue building a Church close to all, that promotes people and communities in an integral way. Strengthening the option for the poorest and most excluded. The mission emphasized the importance of bringing the disciples to a true encounter with Jesus Christ, which would give rise to an attitude of personal and community conversion.
A Church with a merciful face, which represents God’s relationship with the person, because God is at the center of the life of the small and fragile missionary disciple; a God who bends down to be close to human poverty, who does not look down from above, but goes to meet the fragility and vulnerability of man. A God who becomes the servant of all.
The mission took place in fifteen parishes of the capital Potosí, bringing together twenty-nine missionaries, including priests, religious and lay people, from different parts of Bolivia and Peru. More than 300 lay missionaries from the diocese of Potosí were also present.
It was a special moment, followed by a program that contained doctrinal content and the main aspects of faith that served the participants very well. It was a moment to renew and purify popular religiosity, always encouraging us to walk together in a climate of prayer.
There was a great participation of the people in the Rosary at dawn, in the Eucharistic celebrations, in the celebrations of the Word, in the active participation of the different educational units, both public and private, of the public and private institutions that decided to open their doors to welcome God in their daily activities.
Mass activities were also held, with great participation of people, such as: the youth meeting, where the children discovered the importance of personal encounter with God, despite the various difficulties they encounter along the way and the distractions that prevent them from getting closer to Him. Likewise, the celebration of faith and devotion at the feet of the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Mother, who welcomes and covers with her protective mantle all those who approach Her with a sincere heart. We highlight the participation of the faithful in the commemoration of the deceased, which took place in the general cemetery, where we prayed for all the faithful deceased imploring the Lord in his infinite goodness and mercy to grant them eternal rest.
As a result of the strong time of the mission, more than forty family assemblies have been formed, which form an active part of the parishes, together with the twelve hundred lay missionaries who have committed themselves to continue announcing the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ in the territorial and existential peripheries of Potosí.
Finally, another important moment was the great closing celebration of the mission, where there was a great influx of parishioners with renewed hearts and encouraged to continue evangelization, is the appeal of Monsignor Nicoles Renan Aguilera Arroyo, bishop of the diocese of Potosí.
Christ the Missionary wants us to be Missionaries.
San Clemente, Redemptorist missionary team
