The Archbishop of Asunción (Paraguay), Cardinal Adalberto Martínez Flores, is visiting Argentina, where he is visiting different Paraguayan communities within the framework of a Migrant Pastoral mission.
His tour began on December 6 and will continue until Tuesday the 10th. These days, he visited the Archbishopric of Buenos Aires, the Carlos Mugica neighborhood, and different parishes and sanctuaries dedicated to Our Lady of Miracles of Caacupé.
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Upon his arrival, the Argentine bishops expressed their gratitude in a letter: “Your presence among us, within the framework of the celebrations of the Immaculate Conception, is a reason for hope and a special occasion to strengthen the ties of faith and fraternity between our communities,” they said.
In an interview with Celam DNACardinal Martínez Flores explained that this visit resumes the mission that the Human Mobility Pastoral of the Paraguayan Episcopal Conference (CEP) has been carrying out for many decades and had recently had a pause.
The delegation of missionaries, he specified, “is made up of priests, men and women religious and lay people, always accompanied by a bishop from the CEP.”
“This year it is my responsibility to accompany this mission, although the intention of visiting fellow migrant compatriots in this great nation was already in my plans as a pastor. In fact, for this server, Paraguay does not end within its geographical limits, but is present in all corners of the world, wherever there are Paraguayans,” he assured. That premise previously led him to visit Paraguayan communities in the United States, Brazil and Italy.
“The visit wants to be a sign of fraternity and communion of the Church and the people who are pilgrims in Paraguay with the Paraguayan community and their families, residents of this great city and Province of Buenos Aires,” he summarized.
On Sunday, December 8, Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, Paraguayans celebrated the Virgin of Miracles of Caacupé. In this context, the Cardinal celebrated a Mass in Guaraní (official language in Paraguay, along with Spanish), in the Shrine dedicated to that dedication in the Buenos Aires district of La Matanza. The language, the cardinal explained, “transversals all social strata” and “is an essential part of our identity as Paraguayans.”
This Monday, December 9 at 7:00 p.m., the appointment is at the San Juan Diego Quasi-Parish, of the Diocese of Merlo-Moreno, which celebrates its patron saint. There, Cardinal Martínez Flores will officiate the Eucharist.
Your tour will culminate this Tuesday, December 10, with a visit to the Hogares de Cristo in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Villa Soldati, and to the town of San Fernando, in the Diocese of San Isidro.
Juliet Villar
I am a journalist, with a degree in communication from the National University of La Matanza in Argentina. I have work experience in non-governmental organizations. Since 2016 I have been dedicated to Catholic journalism, first at the Argentine Catholic Information Agency (AICA) and, since 2022, as ACI Prensa correspondent for Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Bolivia.