Following the ALACAR Congress, which took place at the Villa de Leiva, Columbia (see CITOC no. 108/2009), the Prior General Fr. Fernando Millán Romeral, O.Carm., who was accompanied by Fr. Raúl Maraví. O.Carm., Councillor General for the Americas, visited the communities of Medellin and Arjona. There they met with various lay groups and also saw the wonderful work the brothers of the General Delegation Titus Brandsma are doing in the parish barrio quarter of 12 de Octubre at Medellin and saw also what was being done by the brothers of the Italian Province in the parish of San José Obrero in Arjona. Both groups are developing diverse social projects.
They moved on to El Salvador, where they participated in the official inauguration ofCentro de Reflexión Teológica Barteolomé Xiberta, O.Carm. Fr. John Welch, O.Carm., Prior Provincial of the Most Pure Heart of Mary Province also participated. There they met various lay groups. They visited the offices of the NGO Nuevos Horizontes and The Central University of America (UCA), with which the Prior General had academic links. He also received the vows of the first eleven members of the Third Order from that Central American country. To end with, on the liturgical Commemoration of the Dead, accompanied by numerous lay Carmelites, he celebrated the Eucharist in the crypt of the cathedral near to the tomb of Archbishop Oscar Romero. The Prior General recalled for them the famous homily of Mons. Romero on the Scapular of Carmel.
Finally, from 5th to 9th November he visited the Carmelite communities of the Province of Castile in Argentina. Having visited the various parishes and schools they run in Lanús Este, Banfield and Lomas de Zamora, he visited UCA (Catholic University of Argentina), the community of Donum Dei at Luján and the Irmãs Carmelitas da Divina Providência at Almirante Brown. While there they celebrated the tenth anniversary ofBiblioteca Popular Tito Brandsma. This brings to five the libraries in Latin America that carry this name, Lomas de Zamora in Argentina, Tarija in Bolivia, José Gálvez in Perú, Ciudad Delegado in El Salvador and Medellín in Columbia.