The Fraternity of Saint Thomas Aquinas Groups (FASTA), born in Argentina and present with its institutions in several countries, held its Plenary Council in the city of Luján (Argentina), in which it re-elected Father César Garcés Rojas as its president .
More than 120 FASTA representatives participated in the council.
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At the end of the vote, the re-elected president express: “Dear brothers, what is coming?: I do not know. Surely there will be more storms, difficult moments, difficult times, but I assure you that there will be wonderful moments that allow us to rest in the Lord. The priest (Fr. Aníbal Fosbery, founder of FASTA) always taught us to dream big and trust in God (..) What is coming will be the story that we can, from a personal and community perspective, continue writing with the help, grace and mercy of God.”
Father César Garcés Rojas is the first successor of Father Fosbery, who died in May 2022. With his re-election, FASTA seeks continuity in the lines of development of the movement.
Those present also approved the lines of development on which FASTA will carry out its evangelizing mission during the coming years, and which are the result of a process of “ecclesial self-awareness” called Let’s Dream Together the Future of the Cityin which members participated through their different communities.
During the council, held from November 16 to 18, FASTA representatives received the Apostolic Nuncio in Argentina, Mons. Miroslaw Adamczyk. The meeting was also accompanied by Fra Alberto Saguier Fonrouge OP, who provided the perspective of the Dominican Order.
The figure and legacy of Father Fosbery were present through videos, speeches and phrases shared during the Council. In this framework, three new works were presented that compile the priest’s writings: Various considerations on education; Various considerations on politics and Social Doctrine of the Church; and Various considerations about the University.
On Wednesday, December 11, the Mass at the beginning of the new management period will be celebrated in the chapel of the FASTA Catherina School in Buenos Aires.
Who is Father César Washington Garcés Rojas?
Father Garcés Rojas was born on November 29, 1965 in the city of San Juan (Argentina). He joined the work of FASTA in 1976, according to the institution’s statement on his re-election.
In 1986, he accompanied Father Fosbery in the Foundation of the priestly fraternity, being one of the first seminarians.
He completed his ecclesiastical studies at the Center for Philosophy and Theology Studies of the Order of Preachers, and was ordained a priest on November 22, 1992.
He was chaplain of FASTA Buenos Aires and Mar del Plata, in Argentina, and in Spain, for 14 years. Returning to Argentina, in 2011 he was appointed Viceregent of the Thomas Aquinas Apostolic Priestly Fraternity. In April 2015 he was appointed Regent of the same Fraternity. Since 2021 he has served as president of FASTA.
What is FASTA?
The Fraternity of Saint Thomas of Aquinas Groups (FASTA) was born on October 7, 1962, the feast of the Virgin of the Rosary, in the Argentine city of Leones, at the initiative of Father Aníbal Ernesto Fosbery, explains its official website.
It was born with the purpose of attending to the comprehensive formation of youth as a lay institution of the Dominican Order. Then it grew and created training centers for children, young people and adults of both sexes in various parts of the country.
In 1990, the Thomas Aquinas Apostolic Priestly Fraternity (FASTA Sacerdotal) was approved and the ordination of priests incardinated to the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires for the apostolic service of the lay fraternity was authorized.
In 1993 FASTA obtained the first diocesan recognition by the Archbishop of Buenos Aires as a private association of faithful, and in 1997 it was recognized as “International Association of Faithful of Pontifical Law” by the Pontifical Council for the Laity.
Today FASTA is a community of lay people, priests and consecrated women who “with a hopeful love for God, for the Church and for the country, seeks to illuminate culture from a life of spiritual formation and daily commitment,” according to what they say on the FASTA website. FASTING.
To do this, it has universities, higher institutes, colleges and different communities, both in Argentina and in Spain, Peru, Ecuador and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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.