Rio Branco is a Brazilian Diocese in the state of Acre, which covers an area of 105,000 square kilometers. Its current bishop, Monsignor Joaquín Pertíñez Fernández, was appointed bishop of this Diocese in 1999. For 24 years he has shepherded this part of the Church of God, which has allowed him to know well the idiosyncrasies of the people to whom he provides his pastoral services.
Joaquín Pertíñez, a Granada native from Monachil, once ordained a priest in 1978, dedicated himself to formative work at the Lodosa college-seminary (Navarra, Spain) for ten years. In 1988 he completely changed the rhythm of his life by going to the mission of Lábrea, Amazonas, Brazil, where he stayed for another ten years. Before completing the year residing in the Saint Ezekiel Moreno of Pozos de Santa Ana seminary-postulancy (San José, Costa Rica), in February 1999 he was named bishop of Río Branco, Acre, Brazil, and ordained bishop in this same city on May 30, 1999.
This Recollect bishop, like so many other religious and bishops who carry out their ministry in mission territories, arrived in Spain in the first days of May, to, among other things, have his health checked. We have contacted him interested in knowing something about his extensive Diocese, located in the Brazilian Amazon adjacent to Bolivia and Peru.
Pertíñez has not shown any reservations in the face of the more than twenty questions that we have asked him, questions that extend to all areas of the life of a Diocese and, ultimately, of a town: questions about the socioeconomic situation of the area, more dynamic ecclesial movements, apostolate of the laity, the problem of “evangelical” groups, more important pastoral problems.
When the bishop was asked about the social problems of the Diocese and the region, in addition to designing a realistic picture, he reported on the extraordinary social and educational work carried out and managed by the Diocese.
A core of questions revolves around vocations, the seminary, and the clergy. Monsignor Joaquín has always had a special sensitivity in this field and perceives that without a well-formed clergy, the Church and the pastoral cannot function well. He expresses his satisfaction because he has about 50 priests – half religious and half diocesan – and in the two seminaries, minor and major, there are seminarians (in the major, sixteen, who are studying Philosophy and Theology). Regarding the training they receive, he also feels satisfied, although he acknowledges that he can always improve.
The bishop explained that the shortage of well-trained clergy and lay people facilitates the proselytizing work of “evangelicals”, something that hurts him deeply.
A battery of questions breaks the limits of the diocesan Church and deals with the Synod on the Amazon, in which he actively participated, and the papal document Dear Amazonia, and his influence in the Diocese of Rio Branco.
Since Brazil has a continental extension, one can and should speak of several Brazils in all aspects: economic, social, cultural and of course religious. He clearly describes the characters of the Amazonian Church, different from those of the Church in the South of Brazil, and answers frankly, in a politically incorrect way, about the oblivion in which the Amazonian Church has been, and even is. Two are the most serious deficiencies: economic, even with difficulties in maintaining the seminaries, and the lack of priests who are willing to exercise the priestly ministry in the Amazon.
In his final message, a very brief greeting to the listeners of this recording, he begins by expressing his desire that “everyone feel that we are Church”, and in a simple way he continues his locution.
