Basilian Fathers In Colombia

Since their arrival at Cali in 1987, Basilians have touched all facets of the lives of the people they serve. Today, they are present in Cali, Medellin, and Bogotá. In each city, the Basilians work in the poorest, most violent barrios, bringing love, hope, spiritual growth and temporal aid to the people. 

Freddy Viafara, of Cali, is one of several Colombian students currently studying in the U.S. on Basilian scholarships. Freddy says, “The Basilians have done everything for my parish. Before, the people only said they were Catholic; now they live as Catholics. The violence is still there, but for many of us we have a peace inside.”


In Cali (Valle), Fathers Frank Amico, Pedro Medina, and Wally Platt staff Nuestra Señora de la Asunción parish and its missions. Since their 1991 advent, the Basilians have directed the parish school, Instituto Nuestra Señora de la Asunción. The school serves the primary grades through high school, and has become one of the most outstanding schools in the state of Valle. Because of the excellent language skills learned at the school a number of parish youth were chosen to serve as guides during World Youth Day in Rome and in Toronto. 

A hospice for the homeless called "Cristo de la Paz" (Christ of Peace) was built by the Basilians and entrusted to Mother Teresa of Calcutta’s Sisters of Charity. Here, the abandoned poor can finish their days in a loving, caring atmosphere. St. Basil’s Medical Center has an on-site general practitioner of family medicine, a nutritionist and a psychologist in service to the people of the area.

 In 1992, one of the faith-filled lay catechists of the parish, Aldemar Rodriguez Carvajal, was kidnapped and brutally murdered. Today, many in the area consider him a modern Christian martyr and call on him in their prayers.


In Medellin, Fathers Bob Seguin and Juan Carlos Rojas, with the help of William Bran Pardo, Mario Dominguez Castro, Carlos Gutiérrez Zapata, Mario Pulido Carvajal, Jorge Salcedo Naránjo, and Angel Sierra Montañez formerly served the poor at Ecce Homo Parish in Blanquizal, but were forced to relocate to Barrio Olaya by the government.

 Ecce Homo parish was in a remote area of Medellin where the unemployment is over 60% and drugs and violence contribute to the problems of the poor. The tiny chapel which served as the parish Church holds only about a hundred people but on Sundays more than 800 flocked to outdoor Masses. In 2004, the Basilians began construction on a new and larger Church and Community Center in Barrio Olaya. By March 2008, the bell tower was being completed. Major social services of the parish include medical consultants, paralegals, a library and the artisans tallers, or workshops. 
The sale of products from the tallers goes into a communal fund for the parish school, where the Hermanas Escolapieas co-operate with the Basilians in providing an education for children from primary through high school age. Funds from the tallers help to support the school and allow for a small commission for the artists who work there. Juan Orosco, one of the youthful artisans of Taller San Basilio (name of taller) explains, “If not for the taller, I could not afford to go to school.”

There was particular joy in the parish at the announcement that Mother Paula Montal, foundress of the sisters who work with our mission fathers, would be canonized. The cure of a young girl of Ecce Homo parish was one of the miracles accepted for Mother Paula’s canonization.

Many professionals come as volunteers to assist the Basilians in Barrio Olaya. In addition to serving as medical and legal personnel, some volunteers teach classes in other vocational skills. The library, a small room with donated books, benefits the entire area and is sometimes the only diversion for many children and youth of the sector. Adult catechists are trained to work with the children and the Basilians are hoping to open more tallers to encourage the youth to develop their own small businesses.


Bogotá

In 1997, the Basilian Fathers opened a scholasticate in Bogotá. They named it "Casa Annonay" in honor of the French cradle of the order with hopes that the Colombian Annonay would serve as a source for native vocations.

Father Bob Barringer taught at the seminary and university in Bogotá. Father Tom Rosica was one of the main organizers for this year’s World Youth Day activities and arranged for crosses from the tallers in Colombia to be given to the participants of World Youth Day in Canada. This project provided much needed work for 30 single mothers in the Basilian taller. Pedro Mora, one of the Basilian scholastics, said that eventually there were 70 people employed in the project. 

Father Vince Thompson spearheaded a project known as Loaves and Fishes in one of the poorest of the barrios. When poor women from the barrio began appealing to Father Vince for food for their families, he could not turn them down. So he reached in the Basilian cupboard. The numbers requesting food grew and eventually a house was rented from the diocese where today representatives of over 160 families come weekly. They come in small groups to hear a brief talk and receive the bread, milk, and rice that keeps their family from starvation. Local companies donate part of the food; the rest is funded by generous Basilian donors.

A local agronomist friend of the Basilians helped them establish a community garden project. His skills in teaching the people how to compost waste resulted in six lots of poor terrain becoming productive.

Scholastics Pedro Mora Medina and Juan Carlos Rojas Ramos also serve in Bogotá.

Good fruit is being produced from the ripe mission fields of Colombia. Father Rafael Lopera, ordained in 1994, was the first Colombian vocation from the Basilian missions. Father Jose Diocles Delgado, ordained in 2001, was the second.

Basilians in Colombia wear a habit, religious garb designed especially for the priests serving in this country. Not only does it serve as an identifier for our priests, but it was created with the vagaries of the Colombian climate in mind.



“When we speak of the violence here in some ways it is out of context because it appears that nothing else happens outside of, or alongside of, the violence. What is amazing is that against the backdrop of violence people are sowing the seed hoping by the grace of God that it finds good soil in which to grow in the midst of all the weeds and with great hope and divine patience waiting for the promised kingdom in all its fullness.”

- Rev. Bob Seguin, CSB