The Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM), Pastoral Care for Children Pastoral da Criança and World Vision International strengthen their cooperation on behalf of children in the Americas
Bogotá, November 19, 2013. Held at the headquarters of the Francisco Palau Spirituality Center in the Colombian capital November 12 – 14, 2013 was the Latin American Meeting entitled Comprehensive Pastoral Care for Children, a proposal for communion among our peoples.
Bringing together over fifty participants from more than 20 countries, the event aimed to consolidate the Centrality of Children Project, agreed upon by three organizations: the Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM), the highest representative body of Catholic bishops in the Americas; the Pastoral da Criança[1] (Brazil), considered the finest, most advanced ministry experience with and for children that the Catholic Church has to offer in our region, which includes outreach in Africa and Asia, and World Vision International, an interfaith Christian organization serving poor children and their families through programmes for human development, emergency relief and public policy advocacy.
The meeting was chaired by CELAM Secretary General Monsignor Santiago Silva Retamales, CELAM Department of Justice and Solidarity Executive Secretary Father Pedro Hughes, Pastoral da Criança Regional Director Dr. Nelson Arns, and World Vision Regional Director of Church Relations and Christian Identity Pastor Harold Segura.
Father Hughes declared: “From the Catholic Church the child, the frail, the weak, evangelizes the adult world. All of our concern over the education of children translates into an urgency to safeguard and guarantee their rights. We must make much more specific efforts to become much more effective.” In turn, Pastor Segura acknowledged that “work with children knows no ecclesiastical bounds and requires ecumenical cooperation among those of us who call ourselves followers of Jesus in a hemisphere suffering violence, injustice and other evils that affect children more directly.”
The Project will have a website at the disposal of all pastoral workers, church leaders, priests, pastors, laity and anyone interested in Christian service to children. This website will be launched on December 12, 2013:
http://www.centralidaddelaninez.org
World Vision expects this initiative to facilitate coordination of the Centrality of Children Programme in a more consistent way so it can serve as a tool for encouragement, consolidation and mobilization of pastoral action on behalf of children.
Information and contacts:
Harold Segura
Regional Director of Church Relations and Christian Identity
World Vision Latin America and Caribbean Regional Office
Camilo Palacios Ávila
Communications Leader
World Vision Colombia
[1] Pastoral Care for Children