Felipe Santiago Benítez Ávalos

Felipe Santiago Benítez Ávalos ( born May 1, 1926 in Piribebuy, Cordillera, Paraguay, † March 19, 2009 in Asunción, Paraguay) was Archbishop of Asunción. He was a key figure in the catechesis in Latin America.

Life

Felipe Santiago Benítez Ávalos occurred in 1940 in the seminary of Asunción. On 7 June 1952 he was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Asunción. In Buenos Aires he became in 1953 a doctorate in theology. In 1954 he founded the first school for catechesis in the parish of the Assumption in Recoleta.

In 1961 he was called by Pope John XXIII. appointed Titular Bishop of Chersonesus in Europe and appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Asunción. He received his episcopal consecration on September 24, 1961, the Archbishop of Asunción, Juan José Aníbal Mena Porta; Co-consecrators were the Bishop of San Juan Bautista de las Misiones, Ramón Pastor Bogarin Argaña, and the Auxiliary Bishop of Asunción, Aníbal Maricevich Fleitas.

Pope Paul VI. appointed him in 1965 for the second Bishop of the Diocese of Villarrica del Espíritu Santo. In 1989, Pope John Paul II appointed Archbishop of Asunción. His age-related resignation was accepted in 2002.

Work

He was from 1962 to 1965 participants in all sessions of the Second Vatican Council as well as the Latin American follow-up conferences in Medellin and Puebla.

Felipe Santiago Benítez Ávalos from 1973 to 1985, 1989 to 1990 Chairman of the Bishops' Conference in Paraguay. He was president of the Conference of Bishops of Latin America ( CELAM) from 1983 to 1987, he served as First Vice-President for catechesis .. He was a delegate of the Paraguayan Episcopal Conference in four synods of bishops.

In addition to his involvement as a member of the Pontifical Commission Catechism of the Catholic Church, headed by the then Bishop Joseph Ratzinger ( Pope Benedict XVI. ), He became involved in the International Council for Catechesis.

He was the founder of the Revista Latinoamericana del CELAM, the Latin American Journal of CELAM, founder of the Movimiento Obrero Católico del Paraguay (MOC ), the Catholic Workers Movement of Paraguay and the Asociación de Protección a la Joven, the Association for the Protection of Youth.

Archbishop Benítez Avalos was the General Secretary of the Universidad Católica Nuestra Señora de la Asunción.