Recently, from the 26th to the 32st of October, the 4th Congress of the Association of Latin American Carmelites (ALACAR) took place at the retreat house of the Sagrado Corazón de Cantón Ayagualo (La Libertad, El Salvador). This gathering is held every three years. Up to now it has been held in Lima (Peru) in 2006, in Villa Leiva (Colombia) in 2009, and in Sao Paolo (Brazil) in 2012.
On this occasion, there were 130 participants, including friars, both O.Carm. and O.C.D., cloistered nuns, O.C.D., sisters of various congregations of apostolic life, and lay Carmelites from various groups (Third Order, Secular Carmelites, Youth groups, etc.) The main theme of the congress was, “Teresa of Jesus: woman, mystic and prophet: A window of hope for Lain America”. The speakers included, the Prior General, Fernando Millán Romeral, O.Carm., who spoke about prophesy in Carmel today; the Superior General of the Discalced Carmelites, Saverio Cannistrà, O.C.D. who spoke about prophesy in the mysticism of Teresa of Jesus; Fr. Oswaldo Escobar, O.C.D. provincial of the Central American province, who spoke about Teresa’s conversions, and Bishop Silvio Báez, auxiliary bishop of Managua, Nicaragua, who spoke about the relationship between Teresa of Jesus and “Evangelii gaudium”.
On the last day, the participants visited a number of places associated with the life of Bishop Oscar Romero: UCA (The University of Central America), where the group of Jesuits and their co-worker were assassinated, and where they keep the Scapular that Romero was wearing when he died; the Cathedral in the crypt of which the remains of Blessed Oscar Arnulfo Romero are kept; the little hospital where the house that Romero lived in is located, as well as the chapel in which he was assassinated and where the final Mass of this year’s congress was celebrated.
The meeting was organised and coordinated by Fr. Raul Maravi Cabrera, O.Carm., Councillor General for the Americas and Bro.Luis David Pérez, O.C.D., along with Fr. Francisco Javier Mena, O.C.D., Definitor for Latin America. The joint O.Carm.- O.C.D. commission will continue to work in preparation for the next meeting in 2018.
