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 On July 25th, 2008, in the parish “EL Buen Pastor,” of the district of Los Olivos, of the diocese of Carabaillo, the Carmelites of Lima and Sicuani met with great joy to celebrate the ordination to the priesthood of our Brother Adolfo Medrano Bellido, O.Carm. The Carmelite Communities from Yauri (Province of Espinar-Cuzco), José Gálvez, and San Antonio, attended the event, as well as Brother Adolfo’s family and friends, who were full of joy by the great and unforgettable celebration.
In Solemn ceremony, our brother Adolfo Medrano Bellido became ordained a priest, by Most Reverend Michael LaFay, O.Carm. Most Reverend Lino Panizzo Richedo, OFM Cap., Bishop of the city where the ordination took place, the General Council for America, Very Reverend Raúl Marvi, O.Carm., our Provincial Very Reverend Jack Welch, O.Carm., the Commissioner of Perú, Father Gregory Geaney, O.Carm., also attended the event, as well as many religious brothers and sisters.
Adolfo Medrano Bellido was born on January 14, 1971 in the district of Comas, which is located in the north part of Lima, Perú. His parents, Nelly Bellido Zegarra and Gonzalo Medrano Cotito, are from the province of Chincha: a beautiful place where most of the Black culture from Perú prevails. He has a twin brother, Americo, and two older sisters, Charo and Alicia.
Adolfo received the sacrament of Confirmation when he was 20 years-old at the Santa Maria del Carmen Parish of the diocese of Carabaillo. Before receiving the sacrament Adolfo served as a commentator there for five consecutive years. Two years after his confirmation and continuing to be involved in the parish, he felt the call of God to join the priesthood. He didn’t pay too much attention to it because he thought it was a vague feeling.
In 1996, he became a lay missionary for the APM (Peruvian Association of Missionaries). Adolfo worked for a year and a half in the prelature of Sicuani-Cuzco, in Peru. During this time, along with three other missionaries he helped to establish a mission in the province of Chumvibilcas, Chamaca District. During this beautiful experience in the mountain range, Adolfo met the Carmelites, who were working in a province nearby, where he would stop during his missionary travels to Sicuani. There, Father Enrique Laguna, who was working at the time in the province introduced him to Father Albano Quinn. In 1998, after experiencing the Carmelite way of life, Adolfo decided to join the Carmelite Order.
He started the pre-novitiate at the Casa San Elias, where he lived three years while obtaining his philosophy degree. On January 5, 2001, he started the novitiate. he made his profession of simple vows on January 12, 2002 in Cieneguilla at the novitiate house. In February of 2002, Adolfo started his internship at Yauri, which is a Prelature of Sicuani. In July he began his internship at the San Antonio Parish in Miraflores, where he worked in catechesis. He also began his theology studies there. In May, 2004 Adolfo traveled to the State of Parana, Brazil, where he finished my theological studies at an institution that belongs to the Claretian Missionaries.
In January 2007, he returned to Peru to live in the Community of José Gálvez. There he professed his solemn vows on July 21, 2007, and became ordained as a Deacon on October 8th. For the next nine months he continued to work at the Community of José Gálvez. Adolfo was ordained a priest on July 25, 2008 by the Bishop of Sicuani, Most Reverend Michael LaFay, O.Carm., at the parish “El Buen Pastor,” of the diocese of Carabaillo.
“For all the years of my life I give thanks to God and to Our Lady of Mount Carmel; they have been with me at every moment of my life, “ says Father Adolfo. “Our Lady has been to me like a faithful mother who takes care of her son. I continue developing my contemplative life of prayer so I can faithfully follow the task which Our Lord Jesus Christ has called me to; simply to serve God, by helping others.”
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