Missionary Experience
The Diocese of Austin established a cooperative relationship with the Diocese of Malaga-Soata, Colombia, as an expression of our solidarity in Christ. In the Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in America (1999), Pope John Paul II encouraged dioceses in all parts of the Americas to establish pastoral initiatives of solidarity and cooperation.
He writes, “This communion, present in the Church and essential to her nature, must be made visible in concrete signs, such as communal prayer for one another, the desire for closer relations between Episcopal Conferences and between Bishops, fraternal ties between dioceses and parishes, and communication among pastoral workers with a view to specific missionary works.” (Ecclesia in America, 33)
In our agreement with the Diocese of Malaga-Soata, they send priests who serve for a limited number of years in our parishes, then return to Colombia. They also send seminarians and deacons, who complete their final phase of preparation with us before being ordained as priests for the Malaga-Soata Diocese. They then serve the first years of their priesthood in the Austin Diocese before returning home to Colombia.
We sent some of our Austin seminarians to Malaga-Soata in the summer of 2007, to study Spanish and to learn about the life of the Church in the cultural context of rural Colombia.
