Pope Francis appointed Father Matías Vecino as Auxiliary Bishop of Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz (Argentina), who turns 45 today and becomes the youngest bishop in the country and the second youngest in America, according to data from the site Catholic Hierarchyspecialized in the bishops of the Catholic Church.
The appointment took place on the morning of Wednesday, August 28, the day the Church celebrates Saint Augustine, Father and Doctor of the Church, and was announced simultaneously in Rome and Buenos Aires, the latter through the agency AICA.
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Along with this position, which he will hold in the Archdiocese of the center of the country, Father Vecino has also been named head of Idicra.
Belonging to the clergy of Santa Fe, he currently serves as parish priest of the Sagrada Familia, in the city of Santo Tomé and Episcopal Vicar of Social Pastoral.
He also works as coordinator of the Social Pastoral Council, professor of Theology at the San Juan de Ávila Institutes – Metropolitan Seminary of Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz – and Fray Francisco de Paula Castañeda.
He is a member of the Presbyteral Council, canon of the Venerable Metropolitan Ecclesiastical Chapter; and trustee and chaplain of Casa Juan Diego (belonging to the Large Family of Hogar de Cristo).
An auxiliary bishop after 47 years to reach “everywhere”
In a press conference, the Archbishop of Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz, Mons. Sergio Fenoy, thanked Pope Francis for accepting his request, “justified above all by the size of the archdiocese: it is 30,000 square kilometers, and it is not only territory, but they are people. They are needs, they are difficulties, they are communities, many priests, many schools,” he expressed.
“To me, as they say, I don’t care anymore. I do what I can, but the years have shown me that I do not reach everywhere, in all places and in the communities as I would like,” he said when introducing the auxiliary bishop who will assist him from now on in his pastoral activity.
He also thanked Father Matías, “who accepted that the Lord, as once when he called him to be a priest, will also now change his life, because without a doubt today begins a new stage in Matías’s life,” he anticipated, valuing that the Pope has appointed a son of that archdiocese to Santa Fe, and pointing out that it has not had an auxiliary bishop for 47 years.
“The Tabernacle and the Virgin will never be missing”
“I can’t find a word to define this moment,” said the new bishop. “I am very peaceful. These last two weeks I was recontra highly strung. In fact, in some celebrations I got lost, let’s say, I don’t think they noticed, but I got lost,” he admitted.
“I am convinced that I have no reason to say no to God, let’s say, in this request,” said Father Vecino, and recalled the words that Monsignor Fenoy told him: “The Tabernacle and the Virgin will never help you.” lack. And that really calmed me down,” he acknowledged.
“Beyond the fact that the election for bishop may be bombastic, the choice that Jesus made of me in Baptism and that he makes of me every day, to be able to receive the Eucharist, for me that is the fundamental thing,” he remarked.
“We are called to be a bridge, to be an actor of dialogue, of encounter, to heal wounds, to shorten distances, I believe that this is the mission of the Church today, at least in Argentina, and at least what we have tried in these years in the Social Pastoral”, he assured.
Who is Father Matías Vecino, the youngest bishop in Argentina?
Matías Vecino was born on August 28, 1979 in the city of Santo Tomé, province of Santa Fe.
He entered the Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary of the archdiocese of Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz in 2000, and graduated as Professor of Christian Formation and Philosophy and Professor of Sacred Sciences at the Instituto Superior Particular Incorporated “San Juan de Ávila”.
He was ordained a priest on September 30, 2008.
In 2017, he obtained a Licentiate in Moral Theology at the Pontifical Higher Institute of Moral Theology Academia Alfonsiana (Pontifical Lateran University).
His Episcopal Consecration is scheduled for Monday, September 30, the solemnity of Saint Jerome, Patron of the province and the city of Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz. The celebration will be at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe at 7:00 p.m.
In addition, the Archbishop of Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz, Mons. Sergio Fenoy, will present the new bishop on Sunday, October 20, in the Eucharistic celebration at the Metropolitan Cathedral and Parish of “All Saints” at 10:30 a.m.
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.