The Diocese of Wilmington lost a friend May 9 with the passing of Bishop Carlos Enrique Trinidad Gomez of the Diocese of San Marcos, Guatamala.
Details of Bishop Trinidad’s passing were not immediately available. He was 63.
The bishop had visited the Diocese of Wilmington within the last year as part of Global Solidarity Partnership between the Diocese of Wilmington and the Diocese of San Marcos.
In April, 2003, Bishops Michael A. Saltarelli of Wilmington and Alvaro Ramazzini of San Marcos signed a partnership agreement forming a bond of friendship, spirituality and care between the two dioceses. The covenant was a result of a series of events that began with the migration of members of the Guatemalan community to lower Delaware and the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Before long, there were several thousand Guatemalans living in our diocese and most of them came from San Marcos, Guatemala.
Over several years, Bishop Ramazzini visited his flock in the Wilmington diocese and met Bishop Saltarelli. Subsequently, Bishop Saltarelli visited San Marcos and met the parents, wives, friends and relatives of the newest members of the church of Wilmington. Out of these initial contacts and with the assistance of Catholic Relief Services, the partnership emerged. There have been delegations to and from San Marcos during every year of the partnership.
The 15th anniversary of the partnership was celebrated April 22 in Chesapeake City, Md.
Father John Hynes, president of the solidarity committee and pastor of St. Catherine of Siena parish in Wilmington, wrote in a letter to the vicar general of San Marcos that members appreciated the visit from the bishop last autumn.
“He spent 10 days with us last October,” Father Hynes said. “All were enchanted with his humility and sensitiveness and with his decision to spend so much time among us as a sign of the importance of our brotherly bonds.”
