Pope Francis appointed Father Alexander Matiz Atencio, priest of the Archdiocese of Cali, as the new Bishop of Buga in Colombia.
According to the Episcopal Conference of Colombia (CEC)the bishop-elect succeeds Bishop José Roberto Ospina Leongómez who, upon turning 75 in 2022 and, in accordance with the Code of Canon Law, had presented his resignation to the Pope.
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“We bless God because he continues to provide his People with Shepherds who guide us along the paths of faith and hope. May the Good Shepherd fill our new Bishop with wisdom and discernment and thus we may continue to grow as the Family of God,” says the Diocese of Buga on Facebook when announcing the appointment.
Who is the new Bishop of Buga?
Bishop Alexander Matiz Atencio, bishop-elect of Buga, was born on August 4, 1960 in Pasto, department of Nariño in Colombia.
He studied Philosophy and Theology at the San Pedro Apóstol Major Seminary in Cali and was ordained a priest on November 25, 1990.
In 1986 he obtained a degree in architecture from the Universidad del Valle. He has specialized in Human Talent Management at Unicatólico; He completed a diploma in Senior Management from the University of Los Andes and studied Liturgy and Sacred Art at the Liturgical Pastoral Center of Barcelona, in Spain.
The CEC highlights that in 1995, the elected bishop, with the endorsement of Bishop Isaías Duarte Cancino, then Archbishop of Cali – assassinated by the FARC in 2002 – and the support of various civil society actors, started the Sergente Foundation, which serves “the most vulnerable people, the inhabitants of and on the street, lacking resources for their self-care and dignified life, in order to assist them, promote them and include them again in society.”
He has held, among others, the following positions: Parish Vicar in Barcelona (1993-1995); parish administrator of Mary Mother of God (1995-1997); director of liturgy of the Archdiocese of Cali (1996); parish priest of Jesús Obrero (1997 – 2003).
He has also been director of the Life Justice and Peace commission (2002-2012), director of Social Pastoral (2002-2012), parish priest of San Juan Evangelista (2004-2010), parish priest of Nuestro Señor de los Cristales (2010-2017 ), parish priest of Mary Immaculate (2017-2024); and Episcopal Vicar of Economy, a position he held until now.
Walter Sánchez Silva
I have been a husband since 2008. My wife and I have three children here and one who went to heaven in 2023, before he was born. Since I joined ACI Prensa in 2005, I have had the opportunity to cover various events of the Catholic Church. Among them, the World Youth Days in Cologne, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro and the apostolic trips of Pope Benedict XVI to Mexico and of Pope Francis to South Korea. I have been sent to the Vatican to cover the Family synods, in 2015; of the Amazon, in 2019 and that of Synodality, in 2023. I closely follow the situation of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, which suffers persecution from the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega, as well as current ecclesiastical events in the region.