The devotees of the servant of God Rafael García Herreros lived yesterday a holiday with the consecration of the Church of the Minuto de Dios neighborhood to San Juan Eudes, a temple that was expected for almost 30 years.
The minute neighborhood of God is located in the west of Bogotá, within the Diocese of Engativá. This social work that Fr. García Herreros founded in 1957, had a first temple that was blessed in 1961 and was grazing by the priest until his death in 1992.
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However, two years later it was closed due to problems in its structure and demolished in 1998, beginning the construction of the new Church.
While it is not yet completed one hundred percent – for example, it is necessary to place the cross on the dome – yesterday it was consecrated to San Juan Eudes, founder of the Congregation of Jesus and Mary (Eudistas), to which the servant of God García Herreros belongs.
Fr. Diego Jaramillo Cuartas, president of the Corporation The Minute of Godhe thanked the Lord for the fact that the inauguration has agreed “with the feast of San Juan Eudes, which for all of us is our Father, our model and is the one that really motivates us to work for Christ and for the Church.”
In that sense, he invited those who could not attend the Mass to “arrive at this house”, which has been designated Jubilee Church, “to pray and intimate their relationship with God and Jesus Christ, to ask the Lord Blessings.” “All this is for us a reason for joy,” he said.
For his part, Fr. Camilo Bernal, vice president of the Corporation the minute of God, recalled that Saint John Eudes “wanted our heart to be a bonfire of love, and that this bonfire of love, compassion, mercy, extends to all humanity”, especially serving the poorest.
Be living memory of God’s mercy
The consecration of the temple was in charge of the Bishop of Engativá, Mons. Germán Medina, who recalled the figure of P. García Herreros, whose openness “to the action of the spirit of Jesus Christ” manifested himself in works “that reveal the actuality of the eudist charism and the audacity to embody it in the midst of the challenges that indicate the signs of the times.”
“From his priestly ministry, as a pastor, he consecrated his life to seek the integral development of people, families and communities. The great work of the minute of God, organized in his corporations and foundations, is today a sign of the Kingdom. As the small mustard seed that sown grew to become a tree where even birds make their nest,” he said.
Mons. Medina recalled that he had the opportunity to meet Fr. García Herreros and see his Bible, “completely underlined, colored. Sign of his love for the Word of God.”
Then, the Prelate invited the San Juan Eudes parish to sign fraternity, family and home; Living memory of the Father’s mercy – especially towards the poor, the little ones and the big ones – and “house, meeting store, widened to welcome everyone without exclusions.”
The altar of the new Church contains the relics of San Juan Eudes and the Peruvian martyr María Agustina Rivas López, a religious of the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, who was killed by the Terrorist Group Sendero Luminoso in 1990.
Fr. Rafael García Herreros: a communicator of God
The Servant of God Rafael García Herreros was born in Cúcuta on January 17, 1909. He joined the Congregation of Jesus and Mary in 1932 and was ordered priest in Bogotá on August 19, 1934.
As highlighted in the Website dedicated to your canonization causethe first restlessness of the Colombian priest “was always to love and serve God.”
In 1946 the “La Hora Católica” program began in Cartagena and, four years later, the radial program “The Minute of God”.
“In January 1955, the transmission of ‘The minute of God’ on television began, the oldest current program of Colombian television, through which for 38 years he spoke about God, man and homeland,” says the website.
His love for evangelization through the media led him to found in 1987 the God’s minute station. In addition, from 1955 to 1958, the eudist priest was director of the journal for Cathedra priests.
At the same time with his communicative pastoral, the servant of God began in 1955 a social work to give decent homes to the needy people. The following year “the Minuto de Dios neighborhood began, which the Inter -American Development Bank (IDB) considered poverty eradication model” and where the San Juan Eudes parish is located.
“In 1961 he carried out the first million banquet, ‘the richest and poorest dinner in the world’, to obtain resources and finance social works,” and that is still celebrated.
Fr. García Herreros was called to the father’s house on November 24, 1992, while at the Tequendama Hotel the 32nd Million Banquet was held.
In 2021, the Vatican informed the Congregation of Jesus and Mary that the legal validity of the Diocesan phase of the beatification process of Fr. García Herreros had been recognized.
Fr. Javier Riveros, director of the Minute of God, highlighted the legacy of the servant of God, who understood that the Gospel “transformed the person and transformed the community.”
His dream was “to transform Colombia with the Gospel announced through the media, radio, television, written media and well, today the digital media.”
“That nobody stays without serving,” is one of the phrases of God’s servant Rafael García Herreros, who continues to inspire members of the Work the minute of God.
Eduardo Berdejo
Professional in Social Communication of the National University of San Marcos in Peru, I have more than 20 years of experience in Catholic digital journalism. As part of ACI Press, I have been sent to cover the trips of Pope Francis to Cuba, Mexico, Colombia and Peru, in addition to the Synod of Sinodality in the Vatican in 2023.