“Always at your service”, Roberto’s brief biography
I was born in Colombia 60 years ago, but I feel I am a citizen of the world, thanks to the vocation I received and the formation the Society has given me. Once ordained I worked in Jesuit formation for two years, and then I was sent to the Brazilian Amazon region where I stayed for 18 more years. During that time, I got a PhD in Social Anthropology at the EHESS in Paris, working with urban indigenous people in Manaus. Together with other Jesuit colleagues, I accompanied the parish pastoral in an urban periphery of Manaus and then, an indigenous mission on the border with Guyana. For some years I worked in the foundation and establishment of a Social Center (SARES) and then as a superior of the Amazon region for six years. In 2013 I was called to Lima (Perú) to work in the Conference of Jesuit Provincials - CPAL, first as delegate of the social apostolate and then as president, until last year 2023.
"We have escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers," says Psalm 124; and nothing is truer in my case. In the Society of Jesus, I have always had the grace of living and working very close to the poor: urban outcasts, peasants, and Indigenous people. Their presence in my life has been liberating; it is a gift that I ask for and that I want to continue receiving, with a heart that fits all of creation.
My apostolic experience has been entirely in Latin America. I will first have to learn a lot from all of you in Madagascar and so many provinces of Africa, in those of Asia Pacific and India, in those of North America, and in those of this Europe in which I must now live. I am afraid but supremely happy to be able to render this service for which the Lord, without any merit or special ability, has called me. I trust only in your company and in His Grace which will not fail me.
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