Pope Francis received in the Vatican, yesterday, Feb. 20, for almost three hours, the bishops of Chile, who are in Rome on their ad Limina visit.
Monsignor Fernando Ramos, Auxiliary Bishop of Santiago and Secretary of the Episcopal Conference, told ZENIT minutes after the audience: “We had a meeting with the Holy Father, and talked for almost three hours with him.”
It was, he added, “a very lovely experience of ecclesial communion, with a Pope who listened to us and encouraged us in our mission, in a spirit of dialogue, of mutual understanding, of stimulation to evangelization and to the mission of the Church and I believe we all came out very happy.”
Asked about the Pontiff’s particular concerns regarding pastoral care in Chile, Monsignor Ramos said that they “are in the line of how to improve evangelization, ecclesial communion, foster better service to the most neglected persons of society, a subject that is in the Holy Father’s heart and that, in this line, the Church in Chile has a very long itinerary.”
In regard to a visit of the Pope to the Andean country, the Secretary of the Episcopal Conference said “we spoke a bit about it, the Pope would like it, but many things have to be conciliated; there was nothing concrete or definitive.”
Monsignor Ramos concluded saying that “the Pope received many expressions of affection from the dioceses, which were transmitted by the Bishops and at the end we finished with a moment of prayer and a blessing for all of us.”
List of the Bishops on ad Limina Visit, given by the Holy See Press Office
H.E. Monsignor Guillermo Patricio Vera Soto, Bishop of Iquique;
H.E. Monsignor Oscar Hernan Blanco Martinez, O.M.D., Bishop of San Juan Bautista de Calama;
H.E. Monsignor Moises Carlos Atisha Contreras, Bishop of San Marcos de Arica;
H.E. Monsignor Fernando Natalio Chomali Garib, Metropolitan Archbishop of Concepcion;
H.E. Monsignor Carlos Eduardo Pellegrin Barrera, S.V.D., Bishop of Chillan;
H.E. Monsignor Pedro Felipe Bacarreza Rodriguez, Bishop of Santa Marta de los Angeles;
H.E. Monsignor Hector Eduardo Vargas Bastidas, S.D.B., Bishop of Temuco;
H.E. Monsignor Ignacio Francisco Decasse Medina, Bishop of Valdivia;
H.E. Monsignor Francisco Javier Stegmeier Schmidlin, Bishop of Villarica;
H.E. Monsignor Rene Osvaldo Rebolledo Salinas, Archbishop of La Serena;
H.E. Monsignor Celestino Aos Braco, O.F.M. Cap., Bishop of Copiapo;
H.E. Monsignor Jorge Patricio Vega Velasco, S.V.D., Prelate of Illapel;
H.E. Monsignor Cristian Caro Cordero, Archbishop of Puerto Montt;
H.E. Monsignor Juan de la Cruz Barros Madrid, Bishop of Osorno;
H.E. Monsignor Bernardo Miguel Bastres Florence, S.D.B., Bishop of Punta Arenas;
H.E. Monsignor Juan Maria Agurto Munoz, O.S.M., Bishop of San Carlos de Ancud;
H.E. Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati Andrello, S.D.B., Archbishop of Santiago de Chile
Auxiliary Bishops:
H.E. Monsignor Luis Fernando Ramos Perez, Titular Bishop of Tetci;
H.E. Monsignor Pedro Mario Ossandon Buljevic, Titular Bishop of La Imperial;
H.E. Monsignor Galo Fernandez Villaseca, Titular Bishop of Simingi;
H.E. Monsignor Jorge Enrique Concha Cayuqueo, O.F.M., Titular Bishop of Carpi;
H.E. Monsignor Tomislav Koljatic Maroevic, Bishop of Linares;
H.E. Monsingor Cristian Contreras Villarroel, Bishop of Melipilla;
H.E. Monsignor Alejandro Goic Karmelic, Bishop of Rancagua;
H.E. Monsignor Juan Ignacio Gonzalez Errazuriz, Bishop of San Bernardo;
H.E. Monsignor Cristian Enrique Contreras Molina, O. of M., Bishop of San Felipe;
H.E. Monsignor Horacio del Carmen Valenzuela Abarca, Bishop of Talca;
H.E. Monsignor Gonzalo Duarte Garcia de Cortazar, SS.CC., Bishop of Valparaiso;
H.E. Monsignor Santiago Jaime Silva Retamales, Military Ordinary;
H.E. Monsignor Luigi Infanti Della Mora, O.S.M., Titular Bishop of Cartenna, Apostolic Vicar of Aysen.
