On the occasion of their presence in Rome to make the Ad Limina Visit, on June 8, 2017, the following Bishops of Panama visited our General Curia:
1) Cardinal José Luis Lacunza Maestrojuán, OAR, Bishop of David.
2) Archbishop José Domingo Ulloa Mendieta, OSA, Archbishop of Panama.
3) Bishop Pablo Varela Server, Auxiliary Bishop of Panama.
4) Bishop Pedro JoaquÃn Hernández Cantarero, CMF, Apostolic Vicar of Darien.
5) Bishop Audilio Aguilar Aguilar, Bishop of Santiago de Veraguas.
6) Bishop Rafael Valdivieso Miranda, Bishop of Chitré.
7) Bishop Manuel OchogavÃa Barahona, OSA, Bishop of Colón-Kuna Yala.
8) Bishop Edgardo Cedeño Muñoz, SVD, Bishop of Penonomé.
9) Bishop AnÃbal Saldaña SantamarÃa, OAR, Prelate Bishop of Bocas del Toro.
They were accompanied by the Ambassador of Panama to the Holy See, Ms. Miroslava Rosas Vargas, well-known and dear friend of our community of Rome.
In addition to the usual issues they must face in an ad limina visit, the Panamanian Bishops are engaged in the preparation of the next World Youth Day, to be held in January 2019 in Panama City. On this particular occasion they had a wide dialogue with Pope Francis, who reiterated to them that “the Pope will be at the WYD of Panama,” and added with his usual good humor “O me or the successor, but the Pope will go to Panama.”
The bishops and the ambassador of Panama to the Holy See shared with the community of the General Curia the dinner and spent a pleasant moment of fellowship. They were grateful for the reception especially after finishing an intense week of meetings with the Pope and the dicasteries of the Vatican Curia.
Cardinal Jose Luis Lacunza Maestrojuán had already been in the General Curia the previous week and, among other things, he took the opportunity to pay a visit to the parish of San José de Cupertino, in Rome, which he holds as a cardinal.