He's the bishop who learned he had been appointed cardinal by a Whatsapp message. This is how he described it in February of this year.
CARD. JOSE LUIS LACUNZA
Bishop of David (Panama)
'My oldest sister sent me a Whatsapp message from Spain. I received it at 6:30 when I was at breakfast.â?
Monsignor Jose Luis Lacunza is the first cardinal from Panama in the history of the Church. He says the Synod is like a house in which there is room for different voices.
CARD. JOSE LUIS LACUNZA
Bishop of David (Panama)
'Diversity is our wealth, because we are different we can enrich each other. We can support each other.â?
He explains that the Synod wants to touch all of the realities that affect families, as well as those that suffer because of their situation.
CARD. JOSÉ LUIS LACUNZA
Bishop of David (Panama)
'We choose to strengthen the family, to renew the family but without forgetting that there is a need to evangelize to people who live in different types of families or who live with a broken family.â?
For this reason, he recognizes that on many occasions the Church has failed to provide adequate care to those who have suffered from undesirable situations, such as their family breaking down.
CARD. JOSÉ LUIS LACUNZA
Bishop of David (Panama)
'We are still little, or very much in diapers, on this matter. I believe that there is still â?? at the ecclesial level in general and in my particular diocese â?? there is not yet a sufficient sensitivity. We have perhaps experienced those situations as something foreign to us.â?
One of the challenges of the Synod will be to look for pastoral solutions adapted to each person for their particular situation.