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Listen, Learn, and Announce! Congress in Quito, Ecuador |
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Monday, 25 August 2008 |
Msgr. Francis Blood is the Director of the Archdiocesan Mission Office in Saint Louis, Missouri. He is a former missionary, serving in La Paz, Bolivia from 1988 to 1993.
 Besides the Olympic Games in Beijing, China, another tremendous experience was taking place in Quito, Ecuador. From August 12 to 17, 2008 over 3,000 Catholics involved in the missionary work of the Church held an awesome international congress called in Spanish: El Congreso Americano Misionero. This was the third such congress. They are held every 4 years. They are convoked by the Latin American Bishops’ Conference (CELAM).
There were six Cardinals, 200 Bishops, 1,000 Priests, 500 Religious Women, and over 1,300 lay men and women who participated as “congresistas” – delegates of the congress.
The language used for the Congress was Spanish, except for an occasional song in Portuguese. Because I am fluent in Spanish, thanks to having been a missionary in La Paz, Bolivia, it was a joy for me to participate fully in all the events of the Congress.
The opening Mass included over 16,000 participants in the enclosed Colliseum on the campus of the Catholic University of Ecuador. Each national delegation wore distinct symbols of their country. During songs, flags were waved by each delegation. There were 54 delegates from the Church in the U.S.A. Some of us had served as missionaries in Latin America, while others are newcomers to Latin America, but promote the missionary work of the universal Church through the Pontifical Mission Societies.
 The overall theme of the Congress was Escucha, Aprende, y Anuncia (Listen, Learn and Announce). The theme song is quite catchy and moving and included actions. Having many of the youth of Ecuador leading the singing and dancing on stage at the Congress was a great way to teach us the song.
The depth of the presentations by the major presenters was quite powerful. Their texts are published and were given to the delegates. The first talk was on Being a Disciple of Jesus and what that means today. It was presented by Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Madanaga, the Cardinal Archbishop of Teguicigalpa, Honduras. The second day’s major address was given by His Excellency, Archbishop Luis Augusto Castro, Archbishop of Tonja, Colombia. His theme was Pentecost: The Community Sent by the Holy Spirit. His talk was the most engaging and delightful of the major presentations. The third day the major address was given by His Excellency, Bishop Erwin Krautler, Bishop of Xingu in Parana, Brazil. His theme was Evangelization: The Missionary Community for Humanity.
Each morning began with singing and morning prayer. Following the major presenters, panelists would respond with their own observations about the presentations, based on their experiences of being missionaries. After lunch there were 16 small group presentations on various themes related to missionary work. The theme I was assigned to was the foreign missions and how to promote them.
 The opening and closing Masses of the Congress were very beautiful and powerful. At the closing Mass a number of volunteers for missionary work were commissioned. One family from Ecuador will work in China as missionaries. Another group of missionaries including a priest, several religious women and a family will work in Vietnam.
In addition, the Bishops who were present from each country in Latin America accepted the launching of “La Gran Mision Continental” – The Great Mission of the Continent. Each Episcopal conference will develop its own way to carry out a new missionary evangelization, with the purpose of reaching out to the unchurched, as well as to sending missionaries from each local Church to the foreign missions.
To be able to share in wonderful conferences, powerful presentations, uplifting discussions with Catholics from various countries in our hemisphere, to dialogue with youths, lay men and women, as well as fellow priests and religious, and to see thousands of fellow Catholics on fire with love for Our Lord and a desire to share the Gospel message by their own testimony, was very inspiring and uplifting.
Trying to write a short summary of such wonderful days is not easy. Please see the following resources for pictures and other input from CAM3.
Remember, “Listen, Learn and Announce!” – that’s the theme of CAM3!
Click here to view my photo gallery from CAM3 in Quito, Ecuador!
RESOURCES
CAM3 website
Click here to listen to the song of CAM3 - "AMERICA WITH CHRIST"!
 Official Prayer for CAM3 111.89 Kb
National Office Prayer for CAM3 110.45 Kb
Wikipedia - Quito, Ecuador
CIA World Factbook - Ecuador
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Archdiocese of St. Louis: Mission Office
20 Archbishop May Drive, Saint Louis, MO 63119 • missions@archstl.org
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