Lic. Aarón Lara officially opened the latest gathering of the Ibero-American Congress for Life and Family, held on June 18–20 in Montevideo, Uruguay. In his address, he outlined several priorities and goals for the event, which he described as a “pro-life celebration.”
He began by declaring, “The world is in darkness, but you and I are the light of Jesus. He has sent us to illuminate the darkness. As long as God grants us the grace to be lit with this light, the world will not remain in darkness. The world will know the way, because God will use you to show it and to say what is not right.” His statement was a call to personal commitment—to God and to the pro-life cause that had brought them together.
Lara noted that the Congress began in 2017 and said, “In these eight years we have seen miracle after miracle—unthinkable things, extraordinary feats that, if we told you just one, you wouldn’t believe it.” He also described as “an extraordinary gift from God” the friendships formed along the way. “To be united no matter the distances, the circumstances, or the problems. What matters most is that we can still see each other from afar. Those of us who were at the first Congress and are here today still embrace each other with deep affection, warmth, and love,” he said.
He went on to identify three main goals—what he called “three purposes”—for the event and the movement as a whole. The first, he said, is to empower a new generation. Although his remarks were broad, he explained, “Our first major project is that, beginning in 2030, we aim to achieve a generational transition across all our structures.” He added that those who started this initiative eight years ago would be reaching an age that necessitates such a transition, even while continuing to serve. “Those of greater age will remain to help shape a global project, especially for our Americas,” he said.
The second goal is to expand the movement’s platform. “The Congress has accomplished impressive things, but we are still a small group,” he said. “We are going to present some of our new initiatives and how we’re developing them—many of them are already in action, not just in planning stages.”
He emphasized the importance of growing the movement by encouraging every participant to bring someone else to each Congress and introduced the concept of commitment as a serious engagement, not mere affiliation. “We don’t offer membership, because this is not a club. We don’t offer for you to become a member of the Congress to see what you get in return. We’re not talking about membership—we’re talking about commitment. And to be committed to this Congress, you must see it as one of the highest honors of your life,” he said.
Finally, the third objective is to carry out all efforts “with intelligence.” He explained that the proposals emerging from the Congress must be transformative, as they are divinely inspired. “Because this is not within human capacity—it is in the mind of God,” he said.
“For that reason, we will hold these continental gatherings, where we will exchange ideas, suggestions, and proposals,” Lara added. “We will write them down, as the Word says: ‘write them on tablets and make them known.’ We want to do this with the intelligence God has given us and under the inspiration of His Holy Spirit, who will purify these concepts so they may be expressed with such quality and clarity that institutions will recognize them as something supernatural.”
He concluded with a call to participants: “Dear friends, welcome to the great pro-life celebration of Ibero-America! Welcome to this time of reflection and analysis! Welcome to the battle—the battle for the soul of America!”
