Ever heard of San Indalecio?

The Revd Pauline Williams with Bishop Adolfo to her left
San Indalecio is not a saint that is widely known in Anglican circles. However, for our Anglican Parish of Costa Almería and Costa Cálida he holds some significance. According to ancient tradition, in the first century Indaletius (as his Latin name goes) was sent along with 6 other missionaries by Saints Peter and Paul to evangelise Spain. Indalecio evangelised the region near present day Almería and his remains lie beneath the high altar of the Cathedral of the Incarnation in that city. He is the patron of the region, and his feast is 15 May.

On my recent visit to our Anglican parish, I took the priest-in-charge, the Revd Pauline Williams to meet the successor of San Indalecio, the present bishop of Almería, Don Adolfo Adolfo González Montes. Bishop Adolfo received us very warmly and presented Pauline with a gift. Our four Anglican congregations in the pastoral area use Bishop Adolfo's churches and we are very grateful for his generous ecumenical hospitality.

Together we shared some conversation about the pastoral challenges facing us as we seek to reach the large English-speaking population in the area. Bishop Adolfo takes a keen interest in the life of Anglicans resident in his diocese and made some recommendations as to places where some new work might be considered.

We toured the newly restored chapel of his Diocesan Seminary after the meeting.



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