Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. On July 16, 1945, two missionary priests, Ignacio María Azumendi and León Labrador CMFF, from the Claretian province of the United States arrived in Nuevo Laredo. Shortly after a year, on December 8, 1946, the parish of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary was erected, with Fr. Mariano Álvarez López CMF as its first parish priest.
Since then, many Claretian Missionaries, including priests, deacons, brothers, and students, joined the evangelizing task, standing out as an imprint of the shared mission, carried out with priests of the diocese, Cordimarian Sisters, and lay people. Special mention deserves the mission carried out by the following missionaries: Fr. Mario Guevara Jarero CMF, builder of the missionary house; Father Baltazar Vilchis García CMF (who lived 35 years in this parish and died last year), builder of the current parish church and its facilities and Juan José Pérez Garcidueñas CMF, coordinator in the preparation of the first pastoral plan of the nascent Diocese of Nuevo Laredo Tamaulipas.
Throughout these 75 years, the Claretian Missionaries have made the missionary utopia a reality, according to the Claretian Constitutions, with the unconditional support to the bishop, the fraternal communion with the local presbytery and the religious communities, in the formation of evangelizing leaders and, in a special way, in the closeness with the poor.
On April 4, 2021, the Province of Mexico will handover the Parish of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary to the titular Bishop of Nuevo Laredo, Tamps. Bishop Enrique Sánchez Martínez. The handover will be the result of the review of life, works and positions, carried out by the Province. What the Lord sowed by the missionary hands, we are convinced, will be reflected in the fruit matured by His followers.
Fr. Ramon Rivera Barriga, CMF
Superior and Parish Priest
