6 Latin American bishops share their favorite saints and how they inspired their ministry
St. Charles de Foucauld, St. Maximilian Kolbe, and St. John Bosco. / Credit: Mateusz Kuca; Zvonimir Atletic/Shutterstock ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 13, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).
Six Latin American bishops shared with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, who their favorite saints are, how they have influenced and inspired their own lives, and how they have helped them deal with the pastoral challenges they have faced in their ministries.
Bishop Roberto Yenny García (Mexico)
Bishop Roberto Yenny García of Ciudad Valles in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosí said he has a deep devotion to St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, a Neapolitan bishop and doctor of the Church who is the patron saint of teachers of moral theology and of confessors.
“This bishop, originally from Naples, became an excellent pastor for the Christian community. He had great knowledge of the moral theology of the time with a pastoral zeal that was manifested in closeness and mercy, especially with the most helpless, with the poorest,” he told ACI Prensa.
Yenny, 52, particularly admires St. Alphonsus’ balanced approach to moral issues in the 18th century, an era marked by both rigorism and laxity. “Faced with these extremes that often led to fundamentalism in Christian morality, St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori proposed a morality of benignity, seeking the happy medium,” he explained.
He also highlighted how St. Alphonsus sought to “reflect what Christ would have done in the face of circumstances in the moral life of people where they experience great weakness, without ever losing the Christian ideal.”
He also values the dedication of St. Alphonsus in his pastoral service: “Being a close and zealous pastor, he organized those popular missions, trying to reach the most remote areas of the diocese that was entrusted to him.” With a “simple, direct proclamation, from the heart,” St. Alphonsus brought to the faithful a message of conversion and of the “great love of God” that transforms lives, he said.
“That harmony, that combination of learning and pastoral closeness, is what I greatly admire in this saint and what I also hope will continue to inspire my own episcopal ministry,” he concluded.
Archbishop Alfredo José Espinoza (Ecuador)
Archbishop Alfredo José Espinoza of Quito, Ecuador, recalled with gratitude his Salesian formation, which began at the age of 5 and has continued for 50 years thanks to the charism of St. John Bosco. “That’s why my favorite saints, to whom I have a great devotion, are St. John Bosco, who is my [spiritual] father, and St. Dominic Savio, the model for youth.”
His relationship with Don Bosco goes beyond devotion: He is a father figure for him. “I have a bone of St. John Bosco relic in the chapel of my house,” the archbishop said, recalling the words of Father Marcelo Farfán when he gave it to him at his episcopal ordination: “So that our father may accompany you on this new path.”
Espinoza explained that “Don Bosco is that for me. More than a saint, he is my father, whom I love deeply and who is my model of dedication and of working with young people.”
Bishop Juan Ignacio Liébana (Argentina)
Bishop Juan Ignacio Liébana of Chascomús, Argentina, in Buenos Aires province, has several favorite saints. Among them is St. Charles de Foucauld, a French hermit and mystic whom Liébana said he admires “for his spirituality in the desert, for being a contemplative monk, but at the same time preaching with his presence,” especially among Muslims. In addition, he admires him for “radiating the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist” and promoting “universal brotherhood, which was his great message.”
He also mentioned St. Francis of Assisi among his favorite saints, inspired by his “fraternal relationship with things, with creatures, with others” and by his example of “love for the poor and for an austere life.”
St. Clare of Assisi also occupies a special place in his devotion: “I love her for her evangelical simplicity, her freedom to follow in the footsteps of Francis,” and her commitment to the “privilege of poverty.” As a “bonus track,” Liébana highlighted St. Teresa of Jesus, valuing “her freedom, strength, and all her teaching on prayer” as well as “her love for the humanity of Christ.”
Bishop Alfonso Miranda Guardiola (Mexico)
Bishop Alfonso Miranda Guardiola of Piedras Negras, Mexico, shared with ACI Prensa his deep devotion to St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Franciscan friar and founder of the Militia of the Immaculata, who died voluntarily in the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland during World War II. His admiration for the saint began during his years as rector of St. Maximilian Kolbe Church in Monterrey, Mexico, where he had the opportunity to study his life in depth.
“He is a saint who is inspiring for his love for the Virgin, a powerful influence he has on young people, especially in his time with the Conventual Franciscans,” Miranda said, acknowledging the saint’s courage and determination. St. Maximilian, he continued, is “an example for all humanity for his unconditional dedication and his willingness to give his life even without knowing the other person, but for the love of Jesus Christ.”
Miranda recalled his visit to Poland, where he had the opportunity to give the introduction to a play at the Niepokalanów convent, which St. Maximilian founded. “The light of this saint reaches the whole world, all countries, and he has inspired me greatly, to go after my dreams, even if they are very difficult, promising all my courage, all my passion, and all my heart,” he added.
For the bishop, St. Maximilian Kolbe is a true “victor of the Second World War,” not with weapons but “with his example of love, dedication, humility, and service.”
Bishop Lisandro Rivas (Venezuela)
Recently canonized, St. Joseph Alamanno has become a spiritual pillar for Lisandro Rivas, the new bishop of the Diocese of San Cristóbal in Venezuela. “He is the saint I am devoted to and take as a model,” said the prelate, who also belongs to the Consolata Missionaries, the congregation that St. Joseph Alamanno founded, inspired by Our Lady of Consolata.
Rivas told ACI Prensa that St. Joseph Alamanno’s motto was “first saints, then missionaries,” a saying that calls for personal transformation before announcing the Gospel.
“He said that evangelization has to be done well, but quietly, with the goal of recognizing the dignity of each person as a son or daughter of God,” explained the Venezuelan bishop. He added that this vision is the foundation of his mission as a missionary “ad gentes” (“to the nations”), as he seeks to bring the good news to those places where Jesus is not yet known.
In his reflection, Rivas highlighted how St. Joseph Alamanno promoted an “integral evangelization.”
“These people will be able to accept the good news of Jesus Christ as salvation if they are first recognized as persons. It is the person as a whole who is saved, and with him the environment in which he finds himself,” he added.
For Rivas, the example of St. Joseph Alamanno takes on particular relevance in the current context of the Church, emphasizing the need for a “synodal spirituality,” working together and involving catechists and local leaders in the process of evangelization, in line with the invitation of Pope Francis. “He’s a model, because he invites us to live in holiness and to make the ordinary an extraordinary experience, imbued with God and the Gospel,” he concluded.
Bishop Giovanni Cefai (Peru)
Bishop Giovanni Cefai of Huancané, a town in the Peruvian mountains, shared his personal devotion to St. Joseph, which has been a constant in his life since childhood.
Thanks to his parents, he grew up with this strong devotion, which was reflected in family practices such as the novena and the procession in honor of St. Joseph on March 19.
In his home, St. Joseph was a figure of support and consolation, especially in difficult times, and the silence of the saint is something that has always impressed him.
The bishop, originally from Malta, mentioned that during his formation in the Missionary Society of St. Paul, he experienced the providence of St. Joseph: “I remember my superiors and the congregation always asking the intercession of St. Joseph, asking God to help them especially with their works, etc. And providence was never lacking. It always came; there were about 80 people living there — students, priests, old people — and we were never in want even though we had nothing.”
During his mission in Peru, where he arrived in 2001, Cefai founded a retreat house in honor of St. Joseph, promising: “If you help me, I will build this house in your name.” Currently, he is developing “Villa San José” in Huancané, which will include educational and health services. He explained that he trusts in St. Joseph to make this project grow: “Little by little, with a lot of faith, it will be a success.”
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
