Joint Session of the Central Government and the Latin American Region (CIAL)
21-28 August 2023
Day 2 – Tuesday, August 22
Day 2 of the joint session of the Latin American Region and the Central Government began with Morning Prayer, in which we reflected on the theme of pilgrims.
During the first morning session, the Missions of Baja California and Venezuela presented their reports. This concluded the presentation of the unit reports.
Afterward, Frs. Jorge ALBERGATI, Councillor for Latin America, and Jim BROBST, Councillor for the Canada-USA Region, presented the report of the Central Government, which focussed mainly on the recent fraternal visits to the units of the Region.
The second part of the morning was dedicated to the presentation of reports by the various committees of the area, that is, Formation, Brothers, JPIC, Lay Associates, Mission with Youth and Vocations Ministry.
Dr. Ramiro Alfonso Gonzalez, a Mexican professor of philosophy, presented an analysis of the contemporary socio-cultural context of Latin America. In his presentation, he highlighted the changes brought about in society by what is often referred to as “postmodernity” and how these changes have an impact on how human beings think of what is human, who God is, and how these have a significant impact for the Church and for us as missionaries. This is the context in which we live and minister.
Fr. Roberto CARRASCO, Delegation Superior of BOLPER, presided at the Mass while Fr. Guillermo SILES preached the homily. We were blessed with some rain during the afternoon and evening. After supper, we met for an hour to continue the dialogue with Dr. Gonzalez.
