He Pope Francis called ”defend very strongly” sovereignty in the South Atlantic this Thursday, and in turn highlighted the need to continue “working for peace” in that area of Argentine territory. His request was made within the framework of a private audience that he held with the mayor of the Fuegian city of Río Grande, Martín Pérez.
Through a statement, the Supreme Pontiff highlighted the fundamental role of the region for the “balance of the Common House”, and announced that “he will receive in the coming days the foreign ministers of Argentina and Chile on the 40th anniversary of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between both countries.”
The meeting of Pope Francis with the Fuegian mayor
The meeting was held at the Private Library of the Apostolic Palace of the Vaticanand during it both “addressed concerns about the militarization of the South Atlantic, the impact of global disputes in Antarctica and the need to preserve these territories as zones of peace.”
Furthermore, Francisco expressed a deep interest in the situation in Tierra del Fuegohighlighted its “strategic value” in the current context and highlighted the importance of “building organized hope from local communities as a response to global challenges.”
“When I said that I was the Pope of the End of the World, I did so inspired by an Argentine philosopher, Amelia Podetti. She taught me that things are better understood from the periphery than from the center,” commented Pope Francis.
Finally, he insisted on the need to work intensely so that the South Atlantic is a territory of peace and encouraged the Fuegian people to “continue defending sovereignty very strongly”.
Pope Francis appointed Gustavo Carrara as the new archbishop of La Plata
Monsignor Gustavo Oscar Carraracurrent auxiliary bishop of the city of Buenos Aires, He was appointed by Pope Francis as archbishop of the archdiocese of La Platareported the Argentine Catholic Information Agency (AICA).
Carrara, 51, will assume that position after having recently been elected president of the Episcopal Commission of Cáritas Argentina. In Buenos Aires, he is pastoral vicar for the Emergency Villages, is a member of the team of village priests and was appointed bishop – in November 2017 – by Pope Francis.
The archdiocese of the capital of Buenos Aires includes the parties of Berisso, Ensenada, La Plata, Magdalena and Punta Indiowith an estimated population of 1,059,000 inhabitants, of which 85% profess the Catholic faith.
According to the Pontifical Yearbook, the archdiocese has 77 parishes, 137 priests, 7 permanent deacons, 84 major seminarians, 43 religious men, 350 nuns and 192 educational centers of the Church.
Born on May 24, 1973 in Buenos Aires, Carrara entered the metropolitan seminary Inmaculada Concepción in 1991. He studied at the Faculty of Theology of the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina (UCA) and was ordained as a priest on October 24, 1998.
He developed his pastoral career in vulnerable neighborhoods and Buenos Aires towns. He was vicar and parish priest at Nuestra Señora de Luján de los Patriotas, at the San Cayetano sanctuary, at the Immaculate Conception, at the Immaculate Virgin and at Santa Marí Madre del Pueblo.
In parallel, He was responsible for the archdiocesan commission for Youth Ministry, vice-advisor of the Archdiocesan Council of the Youth area of Argentine Catholic Action, responsible for Pastoral Care in the Emergency Villages, episcopal vicar for the Emergency Villages, member of the Presbyteral Council, and dean of the 20 Soldati Deanery.
On November 20, 2017, Pope Francis appointed him titular bishop of Tasbalta and auxiliary of Buenos Aires. He received episcopal ordination in the Buenos Aires Cathedral, on December 16, 2017, from the then archbishop of the archdiocese, Cardinal Mario Aurelio Poli.
Currently, Carrara serves as vicar general and episcopal vicar for the Pastoral of Villas and Education in Buenos Aires.
Source: Ambito
