The papal altar where Pope Francis celebrated his first Mass in Ecuador will serve a parish church.
According to Fides, the infrastructure used for the Eucharistic Celebration presided over by the Argentine Pontiff during his recent pastoral visit to Guayaquil will be a new parish church center for two districts of the «Piano Casa» Housing Plan.
Since the new church will keep its original design, the city’s archdiocese says it will be a visible memorial of the visit the Pope made there. Pope Francis made an Apostolic Visit to Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay last month from July 5-13. During his time in Ecuador, Pope Francis celebrated Mass in the city’s Semanes Park.
The new church–which will not be far from the Monteverde-El Chorrillo gas pipe which divides the «Piano Casa» in two districts–will stand on an area of 5,500 sq. meters. Klaere Construcciones builders shared this with Fides as they currently work on removing the infrastructure used by Francis so its foundations can be reinforced before putting the church in its new position.
With some 2.69 million people in its metropolitan area, Guayaquil is the largest and most populous city in Ecuador. (D.C.L.)
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On ZENIT’s Web page:
Pope’s 1st Mass in Ecuador in July: http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/pope-in-ecuador-francis-celebrates-first-papal-mass-of-latin-america-trip
