The Betania Foundation has been erected as a Public Association of the Faithful, obtaining legal personality within the universal Church
On Tuesday, April 19, 2022, a day of great celebrations (the Betania Foundation and Betania Choir anniversaries, and the birthday of Prof. Maria Auxiliadora Bianchini Leon, leader of the Betania Choir) the constitution decree of the Betania Foundation as a Public Association of the Faithful under the title “Betania Spirituality Movement” was signed, sealed and countersigned.
Bishop Ovidio Perez Morales, Archbishop Emeritus of Maracaibo and Los Teques, who presided over the Eucharist, affirmed that this celebration made him rejoice, and that it had a family tinge with the attendance of young and old, since the Servant of God Maria Esperanza cultivated and inspired “this sense of family spirituality, and that is one of the great tasks that this association has”. He highlighted the inner joy that the Servant of God Maria Esperanza transmitted and spread to those who approached her, and that this same joy was perceived in the Betania Choir. He concluded by asking the Lord to increase trust, enthusiasm, hope and joy in Him.
Fr. Gerardino Barracchini, Episcopal Vicar for Holiness and Rector of the Sanctuary Our Lady of the Candles – Dr. Jose Gregorio Hernandez, after the Eucharistic celebration, asserted that the Betania movement had been working for many years and that he was very happy for this decision of the Venezuelan Church. He clarified that through this decree it was publicly recognized that there is a spirituality, that work and fruits have been seen in the course of time, and added: “The spirituality of Betania, united also to the spirituality lived by the Servant of God Maria Esperanza Medrano Bianchini, challenges us. […]. We are living, as His Excellency said, moments of great darkness in the world and a spirituality of ‘reconciliation of peoples’ is not something that is current; it is extremely current.”
Likewise, Fr. Juan Carlos Silva, Provincial Judicial Vicar and Parish Administrator of the Cathedral of Caracas said, “On April 19, 1810, this history began, a patriotic date, a Holy Thursday, and it began no less than in the Cathedral of Caracas. In a similar way, the Lord in his mercy and infinite bounty has wanted this work of reconciliation to providentially coincide with April 19, when the Betania Foundation was created as a civil institution, when the choir began, when Maria Auxiliadora was also born. There are many things that converge today and it makes us think that our homeland and the Betania Foundation are intimately united, even more, in the aspect of reconciliation, when at this moment, through the help of the Virgin Mary, our mission is to reconcile and raise this blessed and great Venezuelan land.”
Fr. Ramon Vinke, Director of the Historical Archive of the Archdiocese of Caracas and Parish Priest of St. Andrew the Apostle, invited the members of this new Public Association of the Faithful to continue giving support to the family pastoral and pastoral of the Sanctuary of Betania. He reminded them that since 1990 and through his column as a historian, he had given support to the Betania movement and stated that he would continue giving them support.
As Fr. Juan Carlos Silva said: “The ends of the Earth will continue to contemplate the victory of the Lord”, and this decree is a true sign of hope for humanity.
