(ANS - Asunción) - The archbishop of Asunción, the Salesian Edmundo Ponciano Valenzuela Mellid, is the new president of the Episcopal Conference of Paraguay. They bishops of the country chose him on Tuesday 3 November at the third session of the 207th plenary assembly.
Archbishop Valenzuela Mellid was born in 1944 in Villarrica. He has been a Salesian since 1962 and was ordained priest in Rome in 1971. He was consecrated bishop in Asunción in 2006, taking as first assignment the pastoral care of the Apostolic Vicariate of Chaco Paraguayo. On 8 November 2011 he was appointed coadjutor archbishop of Asunción, and since 6 November last year has been the Archbishop of Asuncion.
The Salesian prelate will now be called to lead the Episcopal Conference of Paraguay for the period 2015-2018. In his new role he will rely on others who were elected: Vice-President, Bishop Ricardo Valenzuela Rios of Villarrica; Treasurer, Bishop Francisco Javier Pistilli Scorzara of Encarnación; and Secretary General, BIshop Joaquín Romero Robledo.
During the 207th Assembly of the Bishops of Paraguay, the Bishops met to discuss at length the pastoral perspectives opened by the recent visit of Pope Francis to Paraguay, summarized in the document "Discerning how to renew the life of the Church", which will be approved at the conclusion of the meeting. It is a document that puts the Church of Paraguay in line with the call of Pope Francis to be "an outgoing Church".
Published 09/11/2015
