News Archives » Fr. Roberto Carrasco
Gilberto Pauwels, OMI – Defender of Democracy & Social Fighter March 3rd, 2023
(By Fr. Roberto Carrasco, OMI)
Writing about a personality, an Oblate missionary, a social fighter, is writing about someone who has dedicated years to his passions: advocating for indigenous peoples and caring for our Common Home. In the last General Chapter of 2022, the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate emphasized our recognition of the vocation of the Oblate Brother for his equal and complementary responsibility in evangelization (cf. CCRR 7). For this reason, the 37th General Chapter reminds us that as a religious community, we are incomplete without the witnessing of our Oblate Brothers.
“In nature, the fundamental thing is to defend the existing biodiversity; trying to avoid that for secondary reasons, we destroy our diversity. The same could be said about cultures. At the beginning of CEPA (Center of Ecology and Andean Peoples), we defended the originality of the cultures. But now we recognize that not only our culture is important, so we defend the diversity of cultures”.
With these words, we can recognize Brother Gilbert Franz Camiel Pauwels Shootetten, OMI -a Belgian missionary who arrived in Bolivia in 1974-, and who, in 1995, together with the Oblates, Marcos Van Ryckeghem and Christian Dutry, founded CEPA –(Center of Ecology and Andean Peoples)-. This center that the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate founded has been kept alive because
“The first and fundamental duty is to accompany the peoples, the community. We accompany the native peoples foremost by helping them better understand their reality. We help people to understand nature better (the ecosystems where they live), the territories they live in with all their wealth and the threats to their homes. We do it based on research, publications, talks, and workshops, all seeking to empower people through knowledge.
These words perfectly describe this Oblate Brother’s passion for announcing the Kingdom of God working with the native peoples of the Altiplano (Andean highlands) and preaching about the care of the Common Home. The people who know about his passion and love for them call him Gilberto, which is the Spanish equivalent of Gilbert.
Gilberto Pauwels is an Oblate Brother who has dedicated many years to studying Philosophy, Religious Sciences, Missiology, and Social and Cultural Anthropology, which are his favorites. He was also a co-founder of the Diocesan Center for Social Pastoral (CEDIPAS) in the diocese of Oruro in Cochabamba, Bolivia, a Center he directed for almost 20 years.
This last February 8, 2023, through Chamber Resolution No. 010/2022-2023, the Chamber of Senators of the Plurinational Legislative Assembly of Bolivia has granted Brother Gilberto Pauwels, OMI, the recognition “Democracy Award – Juan Carlos Flores Bedregal,” for his activity in defense of democracy and social advocacy.
Julián Arias, a Bolivian theologian who works at CEPA, points out that “this recognition that Brother Gilberto receives is for his fight in favor of democracy during the times of the dictatorship in Bolivia. For this reason, he has the nomination of President for life of the Permanent Assembly of Human Rights in Oruro.”
It is important to remember that in 2010 Brother Gilberto received the “Sebastián Pagador” award in the First Degree National Emblem from former President Evo Morales for his service to the development, prestige, and progress of the state of Oruro.
For the BOLPER (Bolivia-Peru) General Delegation, the witnessing of Gilberto Pauwels as an Oblate Brother is an encouragement for the whole Church. Because it presents the evangelical value of fraternal relationships of equality in the face of the temptation to dominate, seek the best place, or exercise authority as power.
WEBINAR: “Looking for new forms of dialogue in Laudato Si” (LS 14) October 19th, 2020
Following our meetings for Laudato Si, the OMI Central Government
invites you to the Webinar:
Link: bit.ly/2T28hW7
Meeting ID: 883 5984 5648
Passcode: omiwebinar
Aucayacu, PERU: We are building space dedicated exclusively for the treatment of Covid 19 patients June 19th, 2020
by Radio Amistad June 19, 2020
The community which is organized in a Committee from different sectors have come together to support the Aucayacu’s Health Community Center to fight Covid-19. Soon they will deliver to the Health Community Center all the different items they obtained that will help them in the treatment of Covid-19 patients.
Everything is going according to the schedule previously approved and published. The Committee that was created to support Aucayacu’s Health Community Center to fight Covid-19 has begun phase 3 of its plan. The transportation of the different items that were bought was completed thanks to the services of Transportes Céspedes Cargo. Most of the things that were bought are already in the city of Aucayacu, Peru. They arrived yesterday afternoon and were transported to Aucayacu’s Heath Community Center.
The items that were bought are essentials items to help patients to fight Covid-19. Items such as: clinical beds, transport stretchers, pulse oximeter, cabinets, multi-purpose car, serum holders, oxygen concentrator, nebulizers and personal protective equipment for health workers, among others things for the new room that is being built to treat patient with Covid-19.
For the members of the committee that support Aucayacu’s Health Community Center it is a priority to build a new room to treat patients sick of Covid-19. This new room will be 250 mts 2 (2690.9 ft2), this will be located among the corner of street San Martín and Mariscal Cáceres in the city of Aucayacu.
This new room will have a perimeter fence, floor, roof, bathroom, and gardens that will provide a better quality of services to the people of Alto Huallaga. It is important to have in mind that Aucayacu’ Community Health Center also serves people of nearby districts like José Crespo and Castillo. Also, that means people from districts such as La Morada, Pucayacu, Santo Domingo de Anda and Pueblo Nuevo might also come to ask for services.
The multi-district committee is going to give a press conference where they will make the official donation of the items and will offer a detail account of what was bought and explain how the money was spent. The committee thanks everyone that was involved: people of good heart, families, friends, small business owners, entrepreneurs, local authorities, and church entities. We hope to continue receiving more support to reach our goal. Let us remember that the money that we gathered in Selvatón 2020 was about 106 thousand soles [31 thousand and 800 hundred dollars]. Thanks to that donation we are building this new room that will have what is necessary to treat patients affected of Covid-19 during this global pandemic.
Covid-19 won’t go away soon, and we need to learn to live with it. Once we have overcome this global pandemic it is hoped that in the future this room will be used for treatment of senior people and vaccination of children. That is the decision we have reached as a multi-district committee.
Oblate presence at the Special Synod for Amazon 2019 October 10th, 2019
VATICAN
When Pope Francis announced on October 15, 2017 a new Special Synod for the Pan-Amazon Region, the whole process of listening and dialogue with the Amazonian peoples of nine countries (Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guyana) found a push that could only come from those who know these cries and concerns, these proposals and challenges. The Latin American Pope with this Pan-Amazonian Synod invites us to dialogue, to discern, to listen, to ask God in order to find new ways for the Church and for an integral ecology.
The Holy Father has called them to participate as Synod Fathers from October 6 to 27 in Rome, where this important ecclesial event will take place, bringing together more than 250 people. They include bishops, missionaries, lay people, experts and special guests, who for three weeks will have the task of discerning with Pope Francis how to put into practice Evangelium gaudium and Laudate sí.
We transmit this great joy to all belonging to the Mazenodian family that two of our brothers will be participants of the Synod to share their lived testimonies with the Amazonian peoples.
Bishop Jan KOT, Bishop of the Diocese of Zé Doca, a territory of the Brazilian Amazon is one of those bishops who represent the Pan-Amazonian Region. Fr. Roberto CARRASCO, of the General Delegation of Peru, has also been elected as a Synod Father from the list of delegates of the Union of Superiors General.
Bishop Kot is an Oblate missionary from Poland. He was the vicar parish priest in Siedlce, Poland, before he arrived in Brazil in 1994. He then served as parish priest, first in Jussarval and then in Vitória di Santo Antão, Archdiocese of Olinda and Recife. He was also the parish priest of the Parish of the Sacred Heart of Mary in Alegre do Fidalgo, in the diocese of San Raimundo Nonato. Since 2014, he has been serving as the Bishop of the Diocese of Zé Doca, right in the Amazonian region of Brazil.
Fr. Roberto Carrasco is completing a degree in Social Communications at the Salesian Pontifical University in Rome. He
worked for four years in the Mission of Aucayacu, Diocese of Huánuco, as director of Radio Amistad. He then moved to the Mission of Santa Clotilde, Napo River, where for seven years he served as the parish vicar. In the Apostolic Vicariate of St. Joseph of the Amazon he served as coordinator of the Indigenous Pastoral as well. He is currently leading a joint initiative called “Amazonia: Casa Común” a space where various religious congregations, Church organizations and civil society organizations interact digitally in their work with the Amazonian peoples. They have prepared more than one hundred activities that will be carried out with the purpose of accompanying the Synod this October 2019.
Both Fr. Roberto Carrasco and Msgr. Jan Kot, with the spirit and charism of St. Eugene De Mazenod are present for the development of the Pan-Amazonian Synod, living and sharing that collegiality which is nothing but “walking together” for a Church that also has an Amazonian face to it.
Preparing for the 2019 Amazon Synod June 14th, 2019
Fr. Roberto Carrasco, OMI
The Pan-Amazonian Synod will be held in Rome in October 6- 27, 2019. The theme for the Synod is “Amazonia: New Paths for the Church and an Integral Ecology.”
Fr. Roberto Carrasco, OMI, a Peruvian Oblate studying in Rome had an opportunity to participate in the last year’s preparatory event for the synod: https://www.omiworld.org/2018/10/08/beginning-new-ways-for-oblates-to-be-missionaries-peru/ (Originally posted on OMI World)
More documents related to the 2019 Amazon Synod:
Read full Preparatory Document (English)
