The Catholic Church and the Armed Forces in Colombia gave the last goodbye to Mons. Víctor Manuel Ochoa Cadavid, military bishop of the country, who died on Sunday, June 1 at 62.
THE EXEQUIAS MASS It was chaired on Wednesday, June 4 by Cardinal Luis José Ruedio Aparicio, archbishop of Colombia, in the Castrense cathedral of Jesus Christ Redeemer, in the capital of the country.
Receive the main news of ACI Press by WhatsApp and Telegram
It is increasingly difficult to see Catholic news on social networks. Subscribe to our free channels today:
According to the website of the Episcopal Conference of Colombia (CEC), the Eucharist was attended by friends and family, 21 bishops, military and civil, to say goodbye to Mons. Ochoa who “for four years, spiritually accompanied the Armed Forces.”
In his homily, Cardinal Rueda highlighted the spiritual legacy of Bishop Ochoa, remembering him as a “seed of hope” for Colombia. “Monsignor Víctor Manuel was a sowing of the word and the sacraments, a pastor who took root in the hearts of those who grazed,” he said.
His legacy is measured “in the souls he consoled”
In turn, the Minister of Defense, Pedro Sánchez, said that “Monsignor Ochoa reminded us that the dignity of the human being is above the uniform of the hierarchy and weapons. And he taught us that the defense of the homeland without the guide of values, becomes fragile, but that, guided by justice, compassion and peace, it becomes a true guarantee of democracy.”
“His legacy is not measured only in documents or decrees, but in the souls that he comforted in the young people, who ordered, in the mourners he heard, in the fallen he said goodbye,” he added.
The Mass was concelebrated by Mons. José Roberto Ospina Leongómez, appointed by Pope Leo XIV as an Apostolic Administrator Castrense, who said that he saw “Mr. Minister (Sánchez) say that Monsignor Víctor Manuel always prayed for the Armed Forces and National Police. They know that I have already begun to pray for you.
The condolences of Pope Leo XIV by the military bishop of Colombia
Mons. David Paul Charters, secretary of the Apostolic Nunciature in Colombia, read the telegram sent by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, in the name of Pope Leo XIV.
“The Holy Father wishes to make his deepest condolences to the entire ecclesial community of the Ordinariato, as well as the relatives and acquaintances of the deceased,” says the text.
“Pope Leo XIV, while offering votes for the eternal rest of this selfless pastor who with faithfulness gave his life to the service of God and the Church, first in the Holy See, then as auxiliary bishop of Medellín and later as a pastor of the diocese of Malaga-Soatá and the diocese of Cúcuta, entrusts him to the most tender intercession of the blessed Virgin Mary and imparts, with affection, the comforting apostolic blessing as a sign of faith and hope in risen Christ, ”says the message.
The Mass concluded with a military touch in honor of Mons. Ochoa and the delivery of the flag of Colombia to his relatives.
Who was Mons. Víctor Manuel Ochoa Cadavid?
Mons. Víctor Manuel Ochoa Cadavid was a military bishop of Colombia. Born in Bello (Antioquia) on October 18, 1962. He studied at the Medellín Conciliar Seminary and specialized in Philosophy at the Pontifical University of Tomás de Aquino (Angelicum) in Rome, where he also obtained a doctorate.
He was ordained a priest by Pope San Juan Paul II on July 5, 1986, during the visit of the Pontiff to Colombia. He was director of training houses in Rome and collaborator in the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.
On January 24, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him auxiliary bishop of Medellín. On January 24, 2011 he was appointed Bishop of Malaga -Soatá. On July 24, 2015, Pope Francis appointed him Bishop of Cúcuta. He was then a military bishop since 2021.
Walter Sánchez Silva
I am husband since 2008. With my wife we have three children here and one who went to heaven in 2023, before birth. Since I joined ACI Press in 2005, I have had the opportunity to cover various events of the Catholic Church. Among them, the World Youth Days in Colonia, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro and the apostolic trips of Pope Benedict XVI to Mexico and Pope Francis to South Korea. I have been sent to the Vatican to cover the family’s synods, in 2015; of the Amazon, in 2019 and that of Sinodality, in 2023. I follow the situation of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, which suffers the persecution of the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega, as well as the ecclesial news in the region.