Dear Friends,
Last weekend, Pope Francis named thirteen people to be Cardinals in the church. They will serve as close advisors to Pope Francis and will be involved in the choosing of the new pope when Francis retires or dies. One of those chosen has a connection with our parish and Archdiocese – the bishop of our sister diocese of Huehuetenango in Guatemala! Our parishioners who have gone on the mission trips have met him.
He was first appointed bishop by Pope John Paul II in 1989. Bishop Alvaro Ramazzini is 72 years old. He was born in Guatemala City and has long been involved in social-justice issues, especially in the area of protecting the rights of indigenous people. In 2011, he received the Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award for his courageous work to empower the poor and marginalized. Previous recipients have included Martin Luther King Jr., Dorothy Day and Mother Teresa. He was Guatemala’s bishops’ conference president from 2006 to 2008 and took part in the 2007 CELAM assembly in Aparecida where Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio played a leading role. Benedict XVI nominated him as bishop of Huehuetenango in 2012, prior to that he had been bishop of San Marcos in Guatemala.
A couple of years ago, when Bishop Ramazzini was visiting the Archdiocese of Omaha, I had the opportunity to have some long talks with him as I drove him around town for different meetings. I asked him if he knew Pope Francis when he was Archbishop in Argentina. He said that he got to know him well during the gathering of Latin American bishops at Aparecida in Brazil. However, he said that the Pope we have come to know is very different from the Bergoglio who was an Archbishop. Bishop Ramazzini said that Francis was very quiet and studious, that he loved to write and read. That he seldom said anything during the meeting, but that he would take copious notes and work on writing the summaries of the meetings. He thought this outgoing, smiling, and engaging Pope was the work of the Holy Spirit. He also thought that if we wanted to understand the theology of Pope Francis, then we need to read the documents that came out of Aparecida since Pope Francis was the primary author of those documents at the bishop’s gathering.
In that document, the Latin American bishops expressed what they believed to be keys to keeping the Gospel message alive and relevant in Latin America:
-helping each Christian have a personal encounter with Christ
-living with the simplicity and humility taught in the Gospel
-a preferential option for the poor and marginalized
-a serious concern for the environment
-prayer, especially popular cultural devotions
Pope Francis encourages all of us to apply what the Holy Spirit was doing at the gathering at Aparecida for our own dioceses and churches. Let me conclude with one of the paragraphs from the document Francis helped write:
The church is called to a deep and profound rethinking of its mission and relaunch it with fidelity and boldness in the new circumstances of Latin America and the world. It cannot retreat in response to those who see only confusion, dangers, and threats, or those who seek to cloak the variety and complexity of situations with a mantle of worn-out ideological slogans, or irresponsible attacks. What is required is confirming, renewing, and revitalizing the newness of the Gospel rooted in our history, out of a personal and community encounter with Jesus Christ that raises up disciples and missionaries. That depends not so much on grand programs and structures, but rather on new men and women who incarnate that tradition and newness, as disciples of Jesus Christ and missionaries of his Kingdom, protagonists of new life for a Latin America that seeks to be rediscovered with the light and power of the Spirit.
We offer our congratulations to Bishop Ramazzini and our prayers of support. He will become a Cardinal on October 5th.
Peace,
Fr. Damian