Saturday (Hildegard of Bingen)

  • Quick breakfast (wonderful buffet at the Hilton) before boarding a bus for the north Quito neighborhood of Comite del Pueblo, home to some 80,000 people. The physical infrastructure there has, shall we say, an organic and improvisatory character. We (a group of some 40 or so bishops and spouses) were greeted with heart-melting warmth and enthusiasm by members of the community of the church of Christ the Liberator.
  • After Morning Prayer with everyone (in Spanish, of course), we toured their Christian education areas and the site of their feeding ministry for senior citizens. Then we walked about four blocks to a building where the parish operates a day care facility. Once again, the greeting by staff and children was overwhelming.
  • Back at the Hilton around noon. After a brief nap, we had lunch in one of the hotel restaurants, enjoying the company of the Bishop of Oklahoma and his wife. We had hoped to get some significant neighborhood walking in, but the weather was off-and-on inclement, so between forays into the park across the street, we hung out in our room, allowing me the time to complete some reflections on Liberation Theology, posted now on my main blog.
  • This was the evening dedicated to dinner by province. The bishops and spouses of the Province of the Midwest (aka Province V) had a rip-roaring good time at a superb restaurant called Za Zu. Couldn't have asked for anything better.

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