Pre-Conference Diocese of Willemstad

During the month of October 2008, Diocese Willemstad will organize a conference, with participants representing all six islands of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba.
This conference will approve the pastoral plan entitled Diocesan mission 2008-2001.
The main objective of the pastoral plan is laid out in the document of Aparecida, which calls on all catholics from Latin America and the Caribbean to realize a new Pentecost.
This new Pentecost must reach all people, families and communities to communicate and share the gift of the encounter of Jesus Christ, which fill our lives with sense, truth, love, joy and hope.

The diocese of Willemstad will use the document of Aparecida as a base of inspiration to elaborate the pastoral plan mission 2008-2001.

A query and interview was held under the catholic faithful of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba during the months of May, June and July 2008, as a first base to study the reality of our Catholic Church and so achieve an extremely valuable database.

To prepare the Diocesan Conference which will be held from October 16th trough October 20th 2008, The Diocese of Willemstad will host a Pre-conference on all six islands in the month of August 2008, which are scheduled as follows:

Saba: August 18 – 19, 2008
St. Eustatius: August 20 – 21, 2008
Sint Maarten: August 22 – 23, 2008
Bonaire: August 25 – 26, 2008
Aruba: August 27 – 28, 2008
Curacao: August 29 – 30, 2008

We expect participation of the parish priests concerned, religious people, representatives appointed by the priest, as well as representatives of each active catholic group or movement on each island.

All parish priests received the document Mission 2008-2011, outlining contents of the five pastoral areas which will be studied during the Pre-conference. All participants at the Pre-conference will receive this document together with other important information for a good progress of the Pre-conference.

After the pre-conferences, an editoril committee will be entrusted to gather all suggestions, observations and changes in order to edit a new document, which must be studied and formally approved during the Diocesan Conference from October 16th trough October 20th in Curacao.

During the solemnity of Christ the King on November 23rd, 2008 Mgr. Secco will present the pastoral plan Mission 2008-2011 to be implemented in the entire diocese of Willemstad.

On the photo father Juancho Pilongo, Secretary of the Conference, Mgr.Luis Secco and mr. Erich van de Hoeven, general coordinator of the Conference before boarding the plane to Sint Maarten.