His funeral rites were done on Wednesday, June 12, at the Parish of San. Nicolás de Tolentino in Bogatá, Colombia, during the Holy Eucharist presided by the Primate Archbishop of Colombia, Cardinal Rubén Salazar Gómez. His funeral remains were later moved to the convent of “El Desierto de la Candelaria”.
Friar and Bishop
Monsignor Olavio was born on the 6th of February of the year 1932 in Manizales, Caldas, Colombia. The son of Joaquín and Margarita. He donned the habit in September 28, 1947 in the Convent of Suba and professed in September 19 of the following year in the same place. He went to Rome, Italy, in September 1951 and made his solemn profession in the International College of San Ildefonso of the said city on February 7, 1953. He was ordained priest on October 30, 1955 in Rome by Cardinal Luis Taglia. He received the Episcopal ordination at the Cathedral of Bogota from the hands of Monsignor Eduardo Martínez Somalo, Nuncio of His Holiness in Colombia, on August 7, 1977, in the presence of Cardinal Anibal Muñoz Duque and a good representation of the Colombian Episcopate. He took possession of the Vicariate of Casanare in a solemn act that took place in Yopal in the presence of the Nuncio Martínez Somalo and eight other bishops, on August 28, 1977.
Formation and Assignments
Bishop Olavio He made his studies of humanities in La Linda; took his philosophy in El Desierto de la Candelaria and made his theological studies at the Gregorian Pontifical University of Rome, obtaining his licentiate. Later he took especial courses at Pontifical Biblical Institute of Rome, where he earned his licentiate in Sacred Scripture.
On his return to Colombia in 1957, he was appointed Vice Prior and Vice Master of the Professed of the Convent of Suba. In 1959, Vicar Prior of the same convent. In 1962, Prefect of Students of the Theologate in Suba, and in 1965 Prior of the Convent. In 1969 he was transferred to Palmira: as interim Rector of the college, from the month of May to August; and as Secretary, until December of the same year. First Provincial Councilor in December of 1969 and Prior Provincial in 1971, because of the elevation to the episcopate of Father Ruben Buitrago, until the end of the term. Later he was reelected Prior Provincial until 1975. On February 1976, after his term as Provincial, he was transferred to the Parish of Monterrey as parish priest and professor of the Normal, until the 6th of July of 1977, on which he was proclaimed Titular Bishop of Strongoli and Apostolic Vicar of Casanare, succeeding Monsignor Arturo Salazar who had been transferred to the Diocese of Pasto.
He was a member of the Mariological Society of Colombia since 1966 and of the Colombian Association of Catholic Scripturists. He was professor of History of Salvation and Greek in the Faculty of Philosophy of the “Universidad de San Buenaventura in Bogotá, General Delegate to the General Chapter in 1968. Professor in Suba from 1957 to 1969, in the fields of Sacred Scripture, Pastoral Theology, Philosophy, Biblical Languages and Augustinology.
Episcopate
Funeral rites In 1999 he tendered his resignation as Apostolic Vicar and was appointe4d Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Yopal and Apostolic Vicar of Trinidad from 1999 to 2001.
Throughout the exercise of his episcopate, he was very much concerned about the permanent organization of courses, encounters, weeks of training and seminars; enriching in this way the evangelizing practice of both religious and diocesan priests as well as of the lay people. He was well-known for his permanent visits to the parishes and villages of what was then Apostolic Vicariate of Casanare; visits that he did without protocols of any kind, but purely for pastoral and evangelical reason. Monsignor liked direct contact with his faithful at all times; which facilitated the solution of many problems and difficulties and especially the transmission of the message of the Gospel. Within the Episcopal Conference of Colombia, he was Secretary of XXIV Plenary Assembly. In the triennium 1981-1984 he was chairman of the Commission of Consecrated Life, which also served as Joint Commission of Bishops-Higher Superiors for the dialog with the religious. He was a member of the Commission of Prophetic and Liturgical Pastoral. He was appointed delegate of the Conference for the Biblical Apostolate in the country. And he belonged to the Committee of Missionary Coordination.
With the idea of preparing better the major seminarians of the Vicariate, he transferred them to the Seminary of Tunja and again later to the new “Seminario Intermisional San Luis Beltrán” of Bogotá.
When he was still in charge of the Vicariate of Casanare, he was concerned about responding to the pastoral challenges by increasing the number of priests. For this purpose he did not spare any effort, even to the point of asking help from the Order, the Province and other neighboring dioceses. He tirelessly worked for vocational promotion in the towns of the Vicariate and in the Dioceses of the Ecclesiastical Province with the permission of the respective Bishops.
Before the Episcopal Conference and the Apostolic Nunciature, he was the promoter of the creation of the new diocese of Yopal and of the Apostolic Vicariate in Trinidad.
Guide and Teacher
BFuneral rites After being declared Bishop Emeritus, he continued working, the fruit of his love for the Church; for this reason starting September of the year 2001 until December of 2008, he held the post of General Vicar of the Religious of the Archdiocese of Bogotá. He returned to the bosom of the Order, living during these years in the community of “Colegio Agustiniano Norte” and the Parish of “San Nicolás de Tolentino”
The students of Monsignor keep pleasant memories of him, because along with the demand that he fixed on professorship, were his gestures of fraternity, with which he lent special character to his classes. Monsignor Olavio gained the esteem of his clergy both in Casanare and in the Archdiocese of Bogotá, and he always enjoyed the warm affection of his brothers in religious life, who accompanied him until the last moments.
With the brillance of his great talents and tested pastoral experience, he was a teacher and spiritual guide of numberless persons, who are grateful for his wise orientations and the material help that he lavished on many people in different moments.