From Aparecida to Lumen Fidei: Women and the New Pastoral Model

The essential role of women in the Church and the prophetic pastoral model for Latin America were the topics that were developed in the discussion “From Aparecida to Lumen Fidei” on Thursday, July 22, in the framework of our journey towards the first Ecclesial Assembly of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Watch the whole event here

Ariana Diaz, coordinator of the Costa Rica Chapter of the Global Catholic Climate Movement, spoke about the role of women in the Church, in the light of the documents of the discussion. “Those who transmit the faith in Latin America are mainly women, especially grandmothers,” she said.

Ariana shared photos of women who are part of the Church and shared her experience working with Marías’ Family project that helps women in vulnerable situations. “We are the family of Mary, the Virgin, and she is our model,” she expressed.

“Which tools and pastoral keys are given from Aparecida to Lumen Fidei?”, is the question with which Óscar Pérez Sayago, Secretary General of the Inter-American Confederation of Catholic Education, began his presentation.

Pérez Sayago explained what it means to have a fulfilling life in the midst of the crisis we are going through, indicating the image of the Good Shepherd. “Encounter is what allows us to reach full life, to listen to each other in order to have hope and to understand what we are living in all areas of our Church,” he said.

“To talk about conversion, we have to talk about listening,” said Oscar, and mentioned that this is the path to conversion. For this reason, he encouraged the participants to the mission and to participate in a “prophetic pastoral.”

Lumen Fidei has been considered the encyclical of the two Popes or the four-handed encyclical, since it was initiated by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and culminated by Pope Francis, as an image also of what happened in Aparecida with the presence of Cardinal Bergoglio and Pope Benedict XVI.

The panelists

Ariana Diaz

Ariana Diaz, coordinator of the National Chapter of the Global Catholic Climate Movement in Costa Rica, has a degree in Theology from the Theological University of Central America and a diploma in Pastoral Education from the Pastoral Theological Institute for Latin America (ITEPAL). She is also co-founder of the Marías’ Family Project for women in vulnerable situations.

Óscar Pérez Sayago

Óscar Pérez Sayago, General Secretary of the Inter-American Confederation of Catholic Education, has a degree in Religious Education and in Philosophy and Letters from De La Salle University, Bogotá; a Master’s degree in Research in Contemporary Social Problems from Central University, Bogotá; a Master’s degree in quality and educational excellence with a specialty in educational coaching from the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. She has worked as a teacher in several Catholic schools and universities in Bogota. His various research exercises and publications focus on the analysis of social reality, children and youth cultures, the family, the Catholic school, the pedagogy of faith, and education in the contemporary and postmodern world. 

He has been an advisor to the department of education and cultures of the Episcopal Conference of Colombia and CELAM; he is director and editor of the magazine Educación Hoy; author and pedagogical reviewer of books for Religious Education; lecturer and advisor to Religious Congregations, Catholic School federations and Catholic-inspired schools.

This series of talks are organized by the Latin American Confederation of Religious, the Latin American Episcopal Council, the Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network, the Latin American Youth Pastoral, the Latin American Confederation of Catholic Education, the University Network for the Care of the Common Home, Churches and Mining and the Ibero-American Leadership Network with the facilitation of the Global Catholic Climate Movement.