In an unprecedented effort, the Academy of Catholic Leaders has begun a series of training activities in the Amazon region of Peru, specifically in the Vicariates of San José del Amazonas and Pucallpa. This project has the academic support of the Catholic University of Valparaíso and the Finis Terrae University of Chile and seeks to materialize Pope Francis’ message of going out to the existential peripheries.
During this week, the Academy will carry out various training actions in collaboration with local communities, targeting rural sectors where living conditions present both material and spiritual challenges. The initiative seeks to bring the Social Doctrine of the Church to these places, with the hope of becoming an engine of change in the lives of those who participate.
José Antonio Rosas, general director of the Academy, highlights the importance of this milestone, expressing his satisfaction with generating this first training instance. “We are very happy to generate this first training instance, which we hope will be the first of many, an Academy we can reach rural sectors with much precariousness, both material and spiritual, with top-level training, and this training will help bring the Doctrine closer of the Church and for this to be an engine of change in their lives,” commented Rosas, highlighting the institution’s commitment to the positive transformation of communities.
The Academy’s teaching staff also shares their enthusiasm for this new stage. Juan Pablo Faundez, president of the international academic committee, describes the experience as a wonderful mission.” We value the sensitivity of the academy to be concerned not only with extending to urban areas, but also to these rural areas, responding to Pope Francis’ call to decentralize the Church and focus on the peripheries” he stated.
Professor Mariano de la Maza, former dean of philosophy at the Catholic University of Chile, expressed his desire to contribute to the religious, evangelical and social formation of people. “Today we are in Iquitos, and what I would like is to get to know the city, get to know its people, and be able to contribute to the religious, evangelical, and social formation of the people that I hope to meet, that I still do not know, but who will surely be people who will not only receive our training, but who will also teach us their own life experiences, and we will be able to share them in these days”.
Ana Infante, member of the National Commission for Family Pastoral Care of the Episcopal Conference of Chile, anticipates her participation in the Iquitos School Academy, highlighting the importance of bringing a joyful message of Jesus Christ to young people in situations of great poverty. “I am very happy because I know that they are young, boys, in a situation of great poverty. And that they need a joyful announcement of Jesus Christ, who comes into their lives, to transform them, to give them meaning.”
Luis Ernesto Gutiérrez, member of the IBO International Educators Network, appreciates the arrival of volunteers from the School of Catholic Leaders, who demonstrate a spirit of evangelization and life. “We are grateful that volunteers from the School of Catholic Leaders have arrived from Chile, demonstrating that spirit of evangelization and life. We are in the middle of the Amazon jungle, here in Iquitos, where we are going to collaborate in the training of teachers, directors and people who are around the schools served by the Apostolic Vicariate of Amazonas. I feel very enthusiastic. I see the missionaries also very enthusiastic about getting to know these places of so much economic need, but also so much need for God.”
The International Academy of Catholic Leaders, with a presence in 40 dioceses in Latin America, the United States and Spain, has already trained more than 35 thousand alumni through in-person and virtual programs. This new step in the Amazon reflects its continuous commitment to comprehensive formation and the dissemination of the Social Doctrine of the Church in different pastoral realities.
