On the occasion of the 100th birthday of Msgr. Serafín Cartagena OFM, Bishop Emeritus of Zamora, Ecuador, the Minister General of the Order, Br. Massimo Fusarelli, addressed a letter to his brother who is just one hundred years old.
Br. Massimo met him in person during his fraternal visit last June and dedicates words of sincere affection to him: "Your joyful presence amongst the friars and the other members of the People of God constitutes a living memory that our vocation to service never ends, but rather adapts through the various phases of our lives", reads the text, which concludes with a thanksgiving: "Thank you for the service of your word, your smile, your patience, your prayer".
Br. Serafín was born on the 7th November, 1924 in Tixán, Province of Chimborazo, Ecuador. He completed his primary, secondary and diaconal studies at the Franciscan Seminary in Quito. He was ordained a priest on the 1st April, 1951 and in December of the same year he went as a missionary to Zamora Chinchipe, in the only parish that was Cumbaratza, which covered a very large area of the region.
Pope John Paul II appointed him Apostolic Prefect of the Galapagos Islands on the 17th May, 1980. On the 10th September 1982 he was appointed Apostolic Vicar of Zamora and Titular Bishop of Gibba. The Apostolic Nuncio to Ecuador, Msgr. Vincenzo Maria Farano, ordained him Bishop on the 2nd February, 1983. On the 1st February 2003 the Pope himself accepted request for retirement, with effect from the 27th March of the same year.
Read the Letter of the Minister General
