Priestly Society of St. John of Ciudad del Este Abolished -- Legacy of Bishop Livieres Dismantled

Ciudad del Este: Dissolution of the Society of Saint John (CSSJ) by Bishop
Steckling

(Asuncion) On March 16, the Priestly Society of St. John (CSSJ) has been abolished by Bishop Wilhelm Steckling of Ciudad del Este in Paraguay. The abolition is connected with the removal of Bishop Rogelio Livieres Plano, who was deposed in 2014 by Pope Francis. Both interventions have something in common: they were done without official naming of reasons, were accompanied by dirty media speculations and are part of a hard factional debate on the understanding of the Church. 

Vocations crisis is no natural phenomenon

When Bishop Rogelio Livieres was deposed by Pope Francis in the late summer of 2014, the Holy See gave no reasons for the radical intervention. Officially, it was never disclosed what the bishop who died in 2015 during an operation had been accused of doing. This provided more space for speculation. From the Pope's decree, however, it was clear that Bishop Livieres had disturbed the "concord" in the Episcopal Conference. In Paraguay, which strongly progressive and liberation theological, lay the crux of the matter.

Bishop Rogelio Livieres (1945-2015)

Bishop Livieres belonged to Opus Dei . He was appointed by Pope John Paul II, and took over a diocese on ropes, which had hardly any priests. Until then, the seminarians of all the dioceses of the country were trained in a central national seminary in Asuncion, whose mind was formed on liberation theology. Bishop Livieres withdrew his seminarians and founded his own seminary. The education was oriented to the teachings of the Church, the sacramental priesthood was emphasized and the reverence for the sacrament of the altar was lived. In the parishes, the bishop intensified the religious instruction by founding Bible study groups and the formation of catechists. In addition, Eucharistic worship and the celebration of Holy Mass were promoted in the traditional Rite.