Alto Xingu-Tucumã Prelature receives its Augustinian Recollect Bishop

Bishop Jesús María López Mauleón, OAR took possession of the newly created Episcopal See in the Amazonian territory in Brazil.

BRAZIL–The new Augustinian Recollect Bishop, Most Rev. Jesús María López Mauleón, DD, OAR, already worked in the prelature that has been entrusted to him in the Amazonian territory. The bishop who is of Navarrese origin, took possession last Sunday, February 9, the Episcopal See as the new prelate of Alto Xingu-Tucumã, the new prelature created by Pope Francis and separated from the original Xingu Prelature. As in his episcopal ordination in Fortaleza, hundreds of people were gathered to witness Fray Lopez Mauleón’s episcopal ordination; this time they were the same faithful of the new prelature, who went to the Igreja Matriz de Nossa Senhora, in Tucumã (Para, Brazil).

The new bishop, appointed on November 6 by the Holy See, has taken more than three months to take possession of the new prelature that faces dozens of needs, including the defense of indigenous peoples. Precisely one of the most exciting moments of the Eucharist was in the offertory, when several indigenous people offered their customs, traditions and their way of life to the altar, and embraced the Augustinian Recollect Bishop.

The Prior General of the Order of Augustinian Recollects, Fray Miguel Miró, OAR, and the Priors Provincial of San Nicolás de Tolentino and Santo Tomás de Villanueva Provinces, as well as many other Augustinian Recollect bishops and religious who wanted to be with the religious were present in this celebration. Thus, in his words at the end of the celebration, he first wanted to “introduce my family.” At that time he called in front of the altar all the Augustinian Recollects present and presented them to the faithful.

Humbly he presented himself to his new parishioner as a bishop who is not wise, without titles, human wisdom or an eloquent word. Nevertheless, he assured that he brought “the Word of Jesus Christ, who died and risen from the dead”, referring to his episcopal motto ‘Servants of your Word’. And, he said, “all my life has been a fruit of God’s mercy.”

Bishop Jesus Maria invited all those present to “thank the Merciful Christ for the creation of the new prelature” with which he has set himself especially in the town of Alto Xingu-Tucumã, as he indicated. In this sense, he sent a clear and direct first message: “I discovered in the Gospel that we have to preserve the values ​​of the Kingdom, specifically in the Amazon which is full of biodiversity and that gives life to the entire Planet.” That is why he called for the practice of justice, “which is not incompatible with worship and prayer.”

As an Augustinian Recollect, he had a special memory for St. Augustine. He endorsed the phrase of the Bishop of Hippo: “With you I am a Christian, for you, a Bishop.” “The most important wealth is faith, it is what unites and dignifies us,” said Bishop López Mauleón.

He also recalled the past Synod of the Amazon held in Rome in October 2019. On this, he affirmed that the prelature awaits the apostolic exhortation of Pope Francis. “We are open to comprehensive conversion,” he said.

(translated from the original Spanish article posted in the official website of the Order of Augustinian Recollects: www.agustinosrecoletos.com)