Salzburg delegation visited partner diocese in Bolivia
Salzburg/Sucre, August 17, 2022 (KAP) A delegation from the Archdiocese of Salzburg headed by Auxiliary Bishop Hansjörg Hofer visited the partner diocese of San Ignacio de Velasco in Bolivia. The partnership between the two dioceses has existed for 54 years. The reason for the visit was the universal church synodal process, according to a broadcast by the Archdiocese of Salzburg on Wednesday. “My heart rises when I see the joy with which people celebrate, pray and sing,” Hofer said, expressing the joy of the faith of the people in the South American diocese.
“Even more important than the churches is the community of living stones – and we are all baptized,” said the auxiliary bishop with conviction. The small group, which also included the head of the Salzburg pastoral care office, Lucia Greiner, was welcomed by the bishop of the Bolivian diocese, Robert Flock. “It’s a special friendship,” he assured the guests from Austria. He asked how Christians could walk together, be brothers and sisters, “if we don’t know each other?” The visit of the Salzburg group is helping to change that. The diocesan partnership is alive when there are encounters.
When visiting the Bolivian diocese, which is two and a half times the size of Austria and in which almost 90 percent of the people are Catholic, the program includes not only visiting important church sites but also participating in the patron saint’s festival in San Ignacio, which is for the whole region every year is of particular importance: it is free of work and after the service and the procession with the statue of the patron saint, celebrations begin in the plaza in front of the cathedral.
In a greeting to the Ignatius Festival, Auxiliary Bishop Hofer emphasized the importance of the transcontinental diocesan partnership. Listening to the Holy Spirit, but also to the others, is an important element in the synodal process. They want to do this by visiting the partner dioceses. “We have liberated a lot of life in your parishes. We exchanged ideas and strengthened our common hope. After all, as the Church of Jesus Christ, we are on the move together,” said the auxiliary bishop.
Partnership on three continents
Since 1968, the Archdiocese of Salzburg has maintained partnerships with three dioceses on three continents: Daegu (South Korea), Bokungu-Ikela (Democratic Republic of the Congo) and San Ignacio de Velasco (Bolivia). The initial impetus for this came at the 1968 diocesan synod, in which the resolutions of the Second Vatican Council were to be implemented at the local church level. The aim was to make the fresh wind for the local church in Salzburg concrete and fruitful. At that time, the first diocesan synod in the German-speaking area after the Council took place in Salzburg. Since then, there have been many points of contact – in recent years, above all, youth encounters between Salzburg and Daegu or bridges in the areas of music and school with San Ignacio de Velasco. In addition, priests from South Korea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo continue to study in Salzburg.