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 one of the leading exponents of catechesis in Latin America .

Life

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

In 1961 he was appointed by Pope John XXIII. Appointed titular bishop of Chersonesus in Europe and auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Asunción. He received his episcopal ordination 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 Bogarín Argaña , and the Auxiliary Bishop in Asunción, Aníbal Maricevich Fleitas .

Pope Paul VI appointed him in 1965 second bishop of the diocese of Villarrica del Espíritu Santo . In 1989, Pope John Paul II appointed him Archbishop of Asunción. His age-related resignation request was granted in 2002.

Act

From 1962 to 1965 he was a participant in all sessions of the Second Vatican Council and the Latin American follow-up conferences in Medellin and Puebla.

Felipe Santiago Benítez Ávalos was from 1973 to 1985 and from 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 was first vice-president in charge of catechesis. He was a delegate of the Paraguayan Bishops' Conference in four Synods of Bishops.

In addition to his commitment as a member of the Pontifical Catechism Commission of the Catholic Church , under the direction of the then Bishop Josef Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI.), He was involved in the International Council for Catechesis.

He was the founder of the Revista Latinoamericana del CELAM , the Latin American journal of the CELAM, the 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 general secretary for the Universidad Católica Nuestra Señora de la Asunción .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Overview of conferences , accessed on March 21, 2009

Web links

• Entry on Felipe Santiago Benítez Ávalos on catholic-hierarchy.org
• "La Iglesia Católica da el adiós a monseñor Benítez" (Spanish)

predecessor	Office	successor
Ismael Rolón SDS	Archbishop of Asunción 1989–2002	Eustaquio Pastor Cuquejo Verga CSsR
Augustín Rodríguez	Bishop of Villarrica del Espíritu Santo 1965–1989	Sebelio Peralta Álvarez