PERÚ, Manuel Huapaya •
“Thank you, Reinaldo, for your missionary heart, for loving Peru!”
With these words, Bishop Salvador Piñeiro (President of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference) concluded his homily on Tuesday, 15 August, on the Feast of the Assumption of the Most Holy Virgin Mary when the Lord gave us the joy of the Episcopal Consecration of one his sons. Bishop Reinaldo Nann, a diocesan priest from the Archdiocese of Freiburg, Germany, who has worked in Peru for more than twenty years and who is also a member of the Schoenstatt Institute of Diocesan Priests, was consecrated as a bishop at 10:00 a.m. in the Trujillo Cathedral (north of Peru), Basilica of Santa María.
Option for the poor
It was a very well attended ceremony; almost 20 bishops among them the Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Freiburg, Germany, Bishop Michael Gerber, and the recently appointed Apostolic Nuncio in Peru, Bishop Nicola Girazolli presided. Close to fifty priests from several parts of the country and the world con-celebrated as well a good number of seminarians.
In his homily, Bishop Piñeiro said: “We must accompany the Church that walks disoriented…Jesus is the Master who responds to all the doubts there are in our hearts’ interiors and for this, the Bishop is the brother, the Father, the friend who seeks his brothers to show them Christ. He is with the poor, and in Reinaldo’s case, we know of his priestly heart, of his missionary giving of self, of his love for Peru and his option for the poor. I believe that Joseph Kentenich learned this phrase from Pallotti: ‘One must go where others do not want to go’ and you have done that. We must be grateful to Schoenstatt, the Blessed Mother, Mother, Educator and Queen who will always accompany you. Today is a Pentecost, that encourages us and commits us.”
It was ceremony filled with gestures and symbols, with the Blessed Mother’s picture entering at the time of the offertory and in an atmosphere of great joy and celebrating, but also one of great recollection, knowing the Lord and his Mother always look at us with tenderness and generosity.
“Today is a feast day for the Trujillo Schoenstatt Family. One of its favorite sons, my friend, Fr. Renaldo Nann, was ordained as Bishop…owing thanks to his simplicity, humility and giving of self to those who need it the most. He is a real Pastor with the smell of sheep, as our Pope Francis requires. We are happy,” one of the Schoenstatters from Trujillo commented.
Gospel for the poor
Before the conclusion of the ceremony, Apostolic Nuncio Bishop Grazolli spoke and he told us that Pope Francis sent three kisses: the first one for the community of Caravelí, Bishop Nann will be their pastor, the second kiss was for Fr. Reninaldo’s natural family, for their generosity and gift; and the third one for Schoenstatt, his spiritual family, for accompanying him from his childhood.
Later, Bishop Nann spoke telling us: “Thanks to God, because I am aware that He has chosen me, thanks to the Blessed Virgin Mary, because I have always felt like her son. Thanks Pope Francis, I want to work with him so the Church will be more human and less mundane; I want a poor Church and for the poor. That’s why, my motto is: ‘Gospel for the Poor.’ Help me and pray for me. Referring to his episcopal symbols and taking the words of the Nuncio: ‘Never change, Reinaldo’, my crosier is made with wood from the jungle, brought from there, and the same for my ring, which is made of coco wood.”
Covenant of Love in the Schoenstatt Shrine
The celebration ended after noon, then there was festive lunch in the community of Nueva Esperanza, where Fr. Reinaldo was pastor for some years; it is a town outside of Trujillo. Later in the afternoon, at 5:00 p.m., the ceremony for the Renewal of the Covenant of Love was held in the Schoenstatt Shrine of Trujillo; Bishop Nann presided with the presence of Bishop Piñeiro and two other bishops. Just like Fr. Kentenich asked Fr. Alex Menningen, he requested and asked the Schoenstatt Family “Will you accompany me?” and the unanimous response was: “Yes, Father.” Then he approached the altar of the Shrine to offer his episcopal coat of arms to the Blessed Mother. It was almost 7:00 p.m. when we received the final blessing from the hands of the recently consecrated Bishop Reinaldo Nann, Bishop of the Prelature of Caravelí.
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First words of the new bishop (spanish)
Video, photos: Manuel Huapaya, Joel Quiroz Bocanegra (Facebook), P Wilber Vélez (Facebook)
Original: Spanish. 16 August 2017. Translation: Celina M. Garza, San Antonio, TX USA. Edited: Melissa Peña-Janknegt, Elgin, TX USA
