CAMPOHERMOSO (ALMERÍA) | This is not merely about taking charge of parishes; it is about answering a shared call. On Tuesday, 15th September, at the parish of the Assumption of Our Lady in Campohermoso, the Claretian Province reached a milestone in its process of discernment and missionary deployment: the commissioning and installation of Frs Félix Jesús Martínez CMF, Miguel Ângelo Cardoso CMF, and Miguel Luis García CMF.
The three missionaries assumed in solidum pastoral care for a broad sector of the Campo de Níjar (Campohermoso, Pueblo Blanco, San Isidro, Fernán Pérez, Las Negras, Rodalquilar, Barranquete, and Los Albaricoques). The Eucharist was presided over by the diocesan bishop, the Right Reverend Antonio Gómez Cantero, and was attended by a significant representation of the Provincial Government and the Province, led by the Provincial Superior, Fr Jorge Sánchez Palacios CMF; the Provincial Econome, Fr José Enrique García Rizo CMF; and the Prefect of Apostolate, Fr Manuel Ogalla Carrera CMF. They were joined by Frs Juan Jesús Gea Carrasco CMF and Miguel Álvarez Nieto CMF, alongside local clergy, religious sisters, and lay faithful from the various communities.
Listening to the Spirit in the signs of the times
This decision is neither a coincidence nor a mere functional reorganization of personnel. Over recent months, the Province has undergone a path of institutional discernment, listening to the Spirit in the cry of the social and ecclesial reality of southern Spain.
Why return to the Diocese of Almería after a few years away following our historical presence in Tíjola? Because the Campo de Níjar represents today one of those “frontiers” where the Church is called to become itinerant: a vibrant, multicultural territory, marked by human mobility, the challenges of the agricultural sector, and the aspirations for the future of many young people and families.
As beautifully reflected in the liturgical gesture in which the pastoral community and the missionaries together recited the Creed before the altar, the Claretians do not arrive with off-the-shelf answers or prefabricated solutions. They are integrating into a living ecclesial ecosystem, walking hand in hand with the local Church, the active laity, and the religious communities already established in the area, such as the Sisters of Mary Immaculate and the Mercedarian Sisters of Charity.
Furthermore, the community gratefully receives the torch from the diocesan priest Fr Jesús Rico Domene, who during his period of service left a deep mark of pastoral closeness and devotion.
