Delving into the sacrament of Baptism and the renunciations of Satan that Christians make in this sacrament is the main objective of the Conference Spiritual Warfare: Angels and Demons which was inaugurated this morning in the Monastery of Los Jerónimos. The event was organised by the UCAM, the Diocese of Cartagena and the Cabildo Superior de Cofradías de Murcia, and opened with a speech by Bernardito Cleopás, the Pope's Apostolic Nuncio to Spain.

He had a very special remembrance of José Luis Mendoza, UCAM founder, before his speech, and he conveyed the greetings and blessing of His Holiness Pope Francis to all the participants in the Congress.   

During his intervention he gave a historical overview of the evolution of one of the rites of Baptism, highlighting that this sacrament ‘emerges as liberation. Satan is renounced in order to enter into a new alliance with Christ’. He stressed the evil chains that lead people to ‘intolerance, economic injustice, addictions... Christ comes to free us from them’.  

María Dolores García underlined the significance of events like this one, which ‘is an opportunity to highlight the value of the tripod on which the UCAM is based: teaching, research and, above all, evangelisation, to which we have been called since our Baptism’. The President of Universidad Católica de Murcia also added how ‘we are going to discover so many things that prevent us from doing God's will and how we can truly shake off those forces that prevent us from doing so and embrace His mercy’.   

Monsignor José Manuel Lorca shared the same view, explaining  ‘how necessary it is for society today to be aware of the importance of the personal spiritual dimension’. He remarked that ‘the outside world is in turmoil, with difficulties, problems, wars and violence... We need to create a just society, which can come from the inspiration of the Lord. We must take care of the inner self with the values that lead us to be able to serve and be attentive to the needs of others’. 

Prior to the opening, the image of the Pilgrim Virgin of Fátima, which shall be present in every activity of the conference, was received and the Eucharist was celebrated.  

Tomorrow, Thursday, and on Friday, the conferences and round tables will continue with the intervention of prominent experts in theology, philosophy, writers and historians. On Saturday at noon, the Jubilee Eucharist will be celebrated in the Santuario de la Vera Cruz de Caravaca, followed in the afternoon in Murcia by the procession with the Pilgrim Virgin of Fátima, which will start at 6.30pm from the Convento de las Claras and end at 7.30pm in the Cathedral, where the Eucharist will be celebrated to close the activities of the conference.