Msgr. Mikel Garciandía: "The Church must always be in a time of continuous change".
The Bishop of Palencia gave the opening lecture of the conference of update Pastoral of the University of Navarra focused on Christian initiation.
02 | 10 | 2025
" Mikel Garciandía, bishop of Palencia and former student the academic center, said at the University of Navarra. His words were part of the opening lecture of the conference on Pastoral update , organized by the School of Theology and whose central topic was 'Beginning to believe. Christian initiation in times of mission statement'.
In the session on 'Current Challenges: from the first advertisement to Christian maturity', he spoke of the importance of analyzing in each moment of history what has changed in order to walk towards Christian maturity. He recalled that Christ is the message, "the what", and that culture is how the message should be transmitted. "Culture is in every epoch of history what sustains the faith," he said.
In this sense, he explained that talking about the first advertisement now compared to fifteen years ago is different. "Now it is much more favorable," he pointed out. And he detailed that since 2015 there are more baptisms in France than in Spain, although in the latter, during the last Easter Vigil 3,000 adults were baptized, a status that did not occur three years ago.
Bishop Garciandía structured his message in five points. In the first place, he explained the features of the present context, in which "the Church is living an authentic crossroads. Secondly, he stressed that the new times bring with them both challenges and unprecedented potentialities. He then focused on the European and Spanish scenario, marked by confusion regarding the first advertisement, the catechumenate and catechesis, offering some "enlightening" orientations. He then recalled, in the light of the Vocations congress held in March, the paradigm shift facing the Church: from the stage of option and values to obedience and holiness. Finally, he stressed the need to advance in the maturation of Christian life.
Three conferences and two round tables in two conference
The conference began on Tuesday, September 30, with Professor Gregorio Guitián, Dean of the School of Theology. In the first discussion paper, the Bishop of Palencia, Msgr. Mikel Garciandía Goñi, addressed 'Current challenges: from the first advertisement to maturity in Christian life'.
The first panel, dedicated to Initiation into the sacramental life, included the intervention of Professor Juan José Silvestre, of the University of Navarra, on 'Accompaniment in the sacramental life' and that of Professor Doctor Giovanni Zaccaria, of the Pontificia Università della Santa Croce (Rome), entitled 'The art of mystagogy: understanding and living the liturgy'.
In the afternoon, the second panel focused on Pastoral Experiences. Víctor González, pastor of Ntra. Sra. de los Álamos (Madrid), with 'Christian Initiation of Children'; Raúl Navarro, pastor of San Bartolomé de Godella (Valencia), with 'The Bible as an instrument of evangelization for young people'; and Stephen Langridge, pastor of Santa Isabel de Portugal and Episcopal Vicar in the Archdiocese of Southwark (United Kingdom), with 'Pastoral with university students'.
The traditional Eucharistic concelebration with all the priests participating in the conference took place at 8:00 p.m. On this occasion it was presided over by Bishop Mikel Garciandía, Bishop of Palencia. On this occasion it was presided over by the Bishop of Palencia, Msgr. Mikel Garciandía, and for the first time it was celebrated in the cathedral of Pamplona.
The workshop on Wednesday, October 1, opened with the discussion paper 'Recovering the virtues', by the writer and literary critic Enrique García-Máiquez. Dr. Santiago García-Jalón, President of the Pontifical University of Salamanca, closed the program with the lecture 'The Sacred Scripture: source the Christian's life'.
