The Permanent Commission held its 268th meeting on 26 and 27 September at the headquarters of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE), in Madrid.
Vocations Congress, 7-9 February 2025
One of the topics on the agenda was the National Vocations Congress, “Who am I for? Assembly of those called to the mission”, which will be held in Madrid from 7 to 9 February. With this meeting, the CEE closes the cycle of the 2021-2025 pastoral plan.
The president of the CEE, Monsignor Luis Argüello, as head of the Vocations Pastoral Service, has provided some details on the preparation of this Congress, which aims to be a “great celebration” of the Church to revive the desire and need for vocations in the People of God. An invitation to discover the value of each vocation and to promote the “spirituality of vocation”.
For participation in the Congress, some places have been assigned per diocese. The presence of consecrated life, movements, and associations of national scope will also be counted on. In total, some 3,500 participants will meet these days in the Madrid Arena pavilion and the Satellite pavilion, in the Casa de Campo in Madrid.
On the Congress website (https://paraquiensoy.com/) the Congress materials are being updated, and the resources offered for these previous months of preparation are now available: the working document and four sheets for discernment.
Ecumenical celebration on the occasion of the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea
The Permanent Commission has approved the proposal of the Episcopal Commission for the Doctrine of the Faith to organize an ecumenical celebration on the occasion of the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. This celebration, based on the Creed, will take place in November 2025.
It has also approved the publication of a note from this same Commission on “intergenerational healing”.
Marriage Week
The director of the secretariat of the Episcopal Subcommission for the Family and the Defense of Life, Miguel Garrigós, and the director of the secretariat of the Episcopal Commission for Social Communications, José Gabriel Vera, have presented the balance of the communication campaign, focused especially on social networks, on the occasion of Marriage Week 2024. The objective of this Week, which for the third consecutive year was celebrated in the week of St. Valentine, from February 14 to 19, is to make visible the greatness and dignity of Christian marriage and show society its beauty.
In addition, the Permanent Commission, at the request of the Episcopal Subcommission for the Family and the Defense of Life, has renewed the budget for next year’s communication campaign and has agreed that this Marriage Week be an ordinary campaign of the Church, in the month of February.
Other items on the agenda
Also speaking was the president of the Regulatory Compliance Body, Alfredo Dagnino, to present the first phase of the work which, following the planned schedule, has already been completed. The Compliance system for the Spanish Episcopal Conference was approved at the Plenary Assembly in November 2022.
The bishops of the Permanent Commission have received information on the current status of Ábside Media (TRECE and COPE), on the Spanish Institute of Foreign Missions (IEME) and on the National Catholic Confederation of Parents and Parents of Students (CONCAPA), after their replacement in the presidency.
In the economic chapter, they have reviewed, for their passage to the Plenary Assembly in November, the proposal for the constitution and distribution of the Interdiocesan Common Fund for the year 2025 and the budgets, for this same year, of the CEE and the organizations that depend on it.
As usual, the Permanent Assembly has approved the agenda of the next Plenary Assembly and various appointments; in addition, it has dealt with various follow-up issues.
Appointments:
- Cecilia Ruiloba Castelazo, consecrated lay person of Regnum Christi, as director of the secretariat of the Episcopal Subcommission for Universities and Culture.
- Luis Miguel Rojo Septién, CM, priest of the Congregation of the Mission (Saint Vincent de Paul), as delegate of Caritas Spain.
- José Cristóbal Moreno García, priest of the diocese of Orihuela-Alicante, as national counselor of the Federation of the Apostolate of Divine Mercy in Spain.
- José Ruiz Pérez, lay person of the diocese of Albacete, as president of the Federation of the Apostolate of Divine Mercy in Spain.
- Marta Ventura Arasanz, lay person of the archdiocese of Barcelona, as national president of the Spanish Federation of Hospitalities of Our Lady of Lourdes.
- Jorge López Martínez, priest of the Archdiocese of Burgos, as ecclesiastical advisor of the Work of Apostolic Cooperation of the Hispanic-American Secular Community (OCASHA).
