On the afternoon of Friday, July 31, Fr. Emmanuel Castañeda, L.C., was installed as pastor of San Isidro Labrador Parish, located in Veragacha—a working-class area of the Venezuelan city of Barquisimeto. Months earlier, the local bishop, Msgr. Polito Rodríguez, had asked the Congregation to take on this assignment. The current General Government of the Legionaries of Christ approved the request.
In a letter dated July 28 addressed to members of the territory, Fr. Juan Carlos Quintero, L.C., Territorial Director for Colombia-Venezuela, stated:
“This is a particularly significant event for our territory, as it will be the first parish entrusted to the pastoral care of the Legionaries of Christ within the Colombia-Venezuela territory. We receive this with gratitude, aware that it is an expression of the trust the Church places in our Congregation and, at the same time, a call to live out our vocation as evangelizers with renewed enthusiasm.”
He added that this assignment should be understood “in light of the Statutes of the Regnum Christi Federation, the Constitutions of the Legionaries of Christ, and the pastoral reality of Barquisimeto.” In this regard, the new mission is viewed “as an authentic evangelizing platform for extending the Kingdom of Christ throughout the eastern part of the city.”
About the Parish and the New Pastor
It is a young community: established in July 2025, it holds significant potential for pastoral and missionary growth, where parish life and Regnum Christi initiatives will converge. A community of the Legionaries of Christ is present in Barquisimeto; in fact, it is one of only two such communities in Venezuela.
For Fr. Emmanuel Castañeda, L.C., this new mission came unexpectedly. “I view this new mission as pastor through the lens of the Gospel: ‘Put out into the deep’ (Lk 5:4). It wasn’t something I sought out, but I have no doubt that God placed it on my path.” He adds, “It is a beautiful opportunity to bring the richness of our charism to a parish community and, at the same time, an invitation to forge bonds of communion with other ecclesial realities and movements.”
Fr. Emmanuel was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, on August 27, 1987. He entered the Guadalajara Vocational Center in the summer of 1999 and completed his religious formation in the United States and Rome. He was ordained a priest in 2021. He has served as a formator at Vocational Centers in the United States, Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia—where he also served as rector. He worked as chaplain at the Highlands School in Quito, Ecuador, and currently serves as the director of ECYD in Barquisimeto.
San Isidro Labrador Parish joins the pastoral work supported by the Legion of Christ in various countries. As of the end of 2025, the Congregation oversees 47 parishes: 22 in Mexico, 13 in Italy, 4 in North America, 3 in Brazil, 2 in France, 2 in Spain, and 1 in Argentina. This pastoral service reaches nearly one million people.
With information and photographs from the Colombia-Venezuela Communications Office.
