Dear friars, we are approaching the solemnity of our Seraphic Father St. Francis and as religious of the Provincial Delegation in Chile, commemorating the 25th anniversary of our presence there, we present this third video on the life our fraternity in Santiago.
The community of Santiago was inaugurated on October 4, 1996, and the Vicar Provincial of Padua, Friar Giuseppe MARINI, declared the canonical erection of the second friary of the mission in Chile. The friary was named after St. Anthony of Padua and was located in the town of Conchalí, in the Archdiocese of Santiago.
The friars stayed in that place a little over a year and it became immediately apparent that the sector north of the capital did not offer the level of pastoral ministry the friars of the delegation had wanted. Therefore, they began to search for a place more suited to our Conventual Franciscan style. The Archdiocese of Santiago offered various proposals, one of which was the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in San Ramón, south of the capital. Thus, on March 15, 1998, the friars officially moved into the new location. The community was comprised of three confreres: Friar Pietro BELTRAME, Guardian and Rector of the shrine; Friar Enrico BROCCHI, the Vicar Guardian; and Friar Ramón ZAS, the House Econom. The Delegation finally achieved the “logistical” balance it had sought.
The friars immediately dedicated themselves to restoring first the church, which needed an almost complete makeover, and then renovating the friary, a former OFM property which had been turned over to the Diocese of Santiago some years past.
As the years passed, if became clear that a small parish was needed in the area. Thus in 2003, our presence, which had been a shrine, was made into a parish.
The blessing of the renovated church and friary took place in 2005, with the then Minister Provincial of Padua, Friar Marco TASCA, present. Thanks to the renovation, part of the friary was used to accommodate young university students from outside Santiago, thus helping young people trying to earn a university degree. Basically, the friars in Santiago take care of the shrine and the parish, providing pastoral ministry to immigrants as well as the youth of the parish and students.
These last twenty-five years in Chile have given us the opportunity to thank the Lord for the good we have received and passed on to others. May the Lord grant us the gift of his Holy Spirit so that as his missionaries, we may always be instruments in the hands of God, able to discern and fulfill his true and holy will.
The friars of the Delegation of Chile.
