One of the biggest challenges that Father Nelson Celi has faced, as parish priest of Our Lady of Guadalupe, has been the indifference of the entities in charge of the care and protection of the temple, which constitutes a true religious emblem of the capital of the country. .
In conversation with EL NUEVO SIGLO, the priest referred to the advanced state of deterioration that the church presents, as well as part of the history of the temple and the community, founded 63 years ago by the Congregation of Somascan Fathers, of Italian origin.
The parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe, located in Rionegro, Bogotá, was founded on December 29, 1959. Since then, it has been directed by the Congregation of Somascan Fathers, under the charism of San Jerónimo Emiliani.
“We are a religious order whose charism is work and service to abandoned children and youth, as well as to the most vulnerable population in society,” explained Father Nelson Celi.
Until 2021, Father Artemio Viale, a Somasco regular clergyman, was in charge of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe parish. However, on January 10 of that year he passed away.
“The management of Father Artemio Viale, as well as that of the Somasco Fathers who have passed through the parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe (pastors and religious), has been the work, formation and promotion of children and youth; the pastoral care of health, especially of the sick; the sacramental life and the embellishment of the temple”, recalled the parish priest Nelson.
Father Nelson studied philosophy, theology and re-educational pedagogy. He points out that his spiritual formation process took place over a period of 11 years, with professional and academic accompaniment, both in the seminary and on the university campus.
“The biggest challenge I have had during my tenure as a parish priest has been to manage the legal process in which our temple is located (Popular Action, Cundinamarca Administrative Court 54) due to structural damage as a result of multiple factors that to date They are in a critical state of disrepair. Above all, the indifference of the same entities in charge of their care and protection”, asserted the priest.
Community of Somascan Parents
The Somasco Fathers are a religious congregation founded by Saint Jerome Emiliani in the year 1532, in Somasca, a small town in northern Italy, where the person who was later sanctified spent the last years of his life exercising charity with orphans and the sick.
“Following the example of the founder, we live in community and we put everything in common, persevering in harmony in prayer and in works. Together, priests and brothers, we tend to the perfection of charity with humility of heart, meekness and benignity, loving poverty and work and dedicating ourselves, especially, to the human and Christian formation of youth, with preference towards those most in need. recounted Father Nelson.
The Somasco Fathers dedicate themselves mainly to serving the poor and the youth, with special attention to those who live in conditions of abandonment and helplessness. This is the reason why, in the different parts of the world where they are distributed, they have been assuming multiple tasks: assistance, education, prevention, human and Christian promotion; always giving preference to children and young people.
Father Nelson explained the fields of action in which they focus their management as a community. “All these tasks, which we assume as a community experience, are grouped into the following types of works: homes for orphaned or abandoned minors, educational centers, youth ministry and spiritual animation centers, Parish Ministry and recovery and reintegration of drug addicts,” he said.
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The arrival of the community to the country
The arrival of the Community of Somasco Fathers in Colombia was an initiative of the Order of Somasco Fathers, taken from the General Curia, according to what Father Nelson explained.
“The initiative was given from the General Curia, that is, the legislative government in Italy, who respond to the request of ‘the Pontifical Commissio pro Latin America’ to extend the work and the Somasco Charism in southern Latin America,” explained.
In the case of Colombia, the arrival of the first Somasco Priests was on October 17, 1964, but they only assumed the parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe until October 24, that is, seven days after their arrival in Colombia. The three priests who arrived that day were: Bruno Schiavon, Domingo Framarín and Bernardo Vanossi.
Impact on the city
Father Nelson Celi points out that the Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe parish represents a model of care and service for children and youth at the pastoral level for Bogotans.
Likewise, it points out that on a spiritual level it is a place of Marian prayer whose invocation has a high degree of acceptance, admiration and devotion.
Finally, at the local level it constitutes a Guadalupano temple and a material good, cataloged as cultural heritage of integral conservation.
youth and church
The parish priest of Our Lady of Guadalupe explained that there are three main factors when it comes to the age gap around church attendance: “Cultural vs. youth ministry, doctrine vs. youth language and regulations vs. the new realities and youth cultures”.
However, the priest reminded the community that the doors of the Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe parish are open, and that the parish office is available Monday through Friday from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Likewise, the Eucharistic celebrations take place from Monday to Friday at 7:00 am and 6:30 pm; and on Sundays at 8:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.
Those interested in performing Eucharist with a fixed date must pay a total value of $55,000. In the cases of Eucharists without a fixed date, the value will be $25,000 and for funeral Eucharists, a payment of $178,000 will be made.
For more information, citizens can communicate through the telephone lines 3152178695 and (601) 6509396.