The Church pays tribute to Miguel Woites, pioneer of the Catholic press in Argentina

The president of the Argentine Episcopal Conference, Mons. Oscar Ojea, presided on the morning of Monday, June 10, at a Mass in tribute to Miguel Woites, who for 57 years was director of the Argentine Catholic Information Agency (AICA), and died last November at 95 years old.

The celebration took place in the chapel of the headquarters of the Episcopal Conference, in the city of Buenos Aires, and took place within a triple framework: the anniversary of Woites’ birth and the day of the journalist, two events that coincide on June 7 ; and a new anniversary of the AICA Agency, which is commemorated this Tuesday.

The Eucharist was concelebrated by the Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of La Plata, Mons. Alberto Bochatey; the head of the communication office of the Argentine Episcopal Conference, Father Máximo Jurcinovic; and the undersecretary of the Episcopal Conference, Fr. Matías Taricco.

In his homily, Bishop Ojea referred to the passage of the Gospel that teaches the beatitudes, and assured: “We can live these beatitudes that are ‘happiness’ that the Lord gives us.”

In a brief profile of Miguel Woites, Bishop Ojea remembered him as a “bridge” between the Catholic Church and the world of communication, and recalled his “great spirit of faith, a spirit of deep living, of family values Christian, a sincere desire to be able to communicate and transmit the faith, having as a tool that gift for communication and to keep ourselves aware of everything.”

“We who celebrate his birthday on Journalist’s Day—this birthday on Journalist’s Day is also quite significant—we want to entrust him to him and also entrust ourselves to him for the entire immense task of communication in the Church, for this service in the world of communication, in such a difficult time, to be able to awaken the best and most noble in each person, in each faithful,” he added.

In that sense, he called to “always look for our roots, relying on those who were the pioneers at the beginning of a new task, returning to our roots always helps us to have a true identity.”

For this reason, he asked the Lord that “these brothers of ours who have preceded us and who have worked so hard for the good of the Church, give us the strength to be able to face the realities and challenges of this moment.”

AICA donates a copy of its historical news archive to the Episcopate

After the Mass, AICA staff delivered to the authorities of the Episcopate a copy of the historical collection of the news agency’s bulletins so that it becomes part of the archive of the Catholic Church in Argentina.

It is an archive of news published weekly uninterruptedly from June 11, 1956 to date, and which to date totals 3,500 bulletins, distributed in 183 volumes.

At the delivery ceremony, Eduardo Woites, Miguel’s son and interim director of AICA, highlighted the agency’s trajectory and the tenacity of its founders, as well as the intention to continue bringing good news to feed the spirit of readers. Along these lines, he recalled that the entire path traveled by Miguel Woites always had as its purpose the greater glory of God.

Ana María Woites, Miguel’s daughter and head of the international section of AICA, highlighted the value of the volumes delivered, hoping that they will be useful for historians.