Rome

In 2005 we had two students in Rome: the two Luises –Luis Joaquín Castañeda and Luis Gerardo Belmonte. Father Luis Joaquín was in graduate study in formation living at our Carmelite house La Scala and studying at the Salesianum. La Scala is our oldest house in Rome founded in 1597. The church is dedicated to Santa Maria a Scala, and a community for specialized study was set up there in 2001. The Salesianum is an international college run by the Salesians. At our provincial chapter in May, Fr. Luis was elected a provincial councilor and then given the office of Vocation Director. When he returned from Rome, he was stationed in Oklahoma City.

Br. Luis Belmonte went to Rome for theology after finishing his philosophy in Valencia. After September 11, 2001, that day we will never forget, Brother was not allowed to return to the United States. He had changed his name when he made his Carmelite profession to Luis Benedicto, although his passport and visa papers remained in his legal name Luis Gerardo. This confusion made him an exile from our province for a couple of years until Homeland security and the T.S.A. (the Transportation Security Administration people dressed in white at our airports) finally straightened out his identity. One summer he was able to return to Mexico to visit his family, but unable to cross the U.S. border. In the process, Luis Benedicto ceased to exist. He has now changed his name back to Luis Gerardo Belmonte.

By June 2005, Brother Luis had made a name for himself as Master of Ceremonies for all the solemn liturgies celebrated at the Teresianum, our Carmelite International House of studies at the Piazza San Pancrazio in Rome. M.C. is a position that did not come easy to this mild mannered, quiet student, for he ends up ordering bishops and cardinals around the altar.

So when the school year ended in June, the Juniors decided to put on a skit for the graduating seniors, and who was chosen to play the pope? You guessed it: our own Brother Luis. Here he is on the road with his acolyte Sibi Varghese from India. Moving over to the stage, they are joined by a Swiss Guard played by Carlos Alberto Arenas from Colombia.

On the feast of John of the Cross in December, Our Father General, Luis Aróstegi Gamboa came to celebrate the solemn profession of some of our students studying in Rome. California has three and we had Br. Luis shown here M.C.ing the General at the profession ceremony. Brother Luis will make his own solemn profession after he has been back in our province for awhile. Pray for vocations.