Colombia: Priests of the Diocese of Santa Marta consecrate themselves before the image of the Virgin of Fátima

The priests of the Diocese of Santa Marta (Colombia) were consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary during a ceremony presided over by the Bishop, Mons. José Mario Bacci, and before the 12th pilgrim image of the Virgin of Fátima sent from the sanctuary of Portugal .

The event took place on August 13 at the Marian Diocesan Sanctuary dedicated to Our Lady of Fátima at the end of a meeting of the clergy. Members of the Fátima Colombia Mission, in charge of the pilgrimage that has been traveling through the country since the end of January 2023, were also present at the event.

In statements shared with ACI Prensa, Bishop Bacci explained that the consecration is part of the preparation of the local Church for the 500 years of creation of the diocese, in the year 2033.

“If we are committed to meeting the men and women of our diocese for a renewed proclamation of the person of Jesus Christ and his Gospel, the first step must be the transformation, the conversion to Jesus Christ and his Gospel of the bishop and the pastors. , of the priests of the diocese, so this act of consecration responds to that fundamental motivation,” he stated.

Created in 1533, the diocese is named after the first city founded by the Spanish in South America.

“The Christian faith entered through Santa Marta, it is the moment of the founding evangelization of South America,” the bishop highlighted. In that sense, he stated, “the diocese also intends to live a path of authentic missionary transformation in the spirit of Pope Francis’ invitation at the beginning of his pontificate.”

Bishop José Mario Bacci announced that “a process of missionary transformation of the diocese will be promoted,” for which the first thing is conversion to the Lord. “That is also the centrality of the message of Fatima: conversion to Jesus Christ and the Gospel, prayer with Mary of the Holy Rosary every day,” he recalled.

Regarding the ceremony on August 13, he added that “around 45 or 52 priests were gathered, some could not continue in the meeting, others are sick, but in the name of all the clergy we did this act of consecration.”

He indicated that “the text used was that of the prayer of consecration of the clergy to the Immaculate Conception of Mary, written by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI” and pronounced in Fatima in 2010 during the Year for Priests.

“It is a beautiful prayer that puts us in the school of Mary: to consecrate ourselves to Jesus Christ the Lord,” highlighted the Bishop of Santa Marta. He added that in the invocations “we ask Mary to help us advance in our transformation in Christ and in our service to our brothers.”