Claudia Aida Rojas Carvajal appointed to the Extended Secretariat of Laity
Br. Ernesto Sánchez, Superior General, and the General Council have appointed Claudia Aida Rojas Carvajal (Colombia, Province of Norandina) as a member of the Extended Secretariat of the Laity for a period of three years, beginning her service on January 1, 2024. She will represent the Arco Norte Region.
The Extended Secretariat is a team that supports the directors of the Secretariat, RaĂşl Amaya (Santa MarĂa de los Andes), Manu GĂłmez (Mediterránea) and Mark O’Farrell (Star of the Sea) and the Link Councilors, Brothers JoĂŁo Carlos do Prado and Sylvain Ramandimbiarisoa. And currently it is formed by Ana SaborĂo (Central America), Alida Bodomanitra (Madagascar), Nathan Ahearne (Star of the Sea), Br. Elias Iwu (Nigeria), Marcos JosĂ© Broc (Brasil Sul-AmazĂ´nia) and Elma Rafil (East Asia).
Claudia Aida Rojas Carvajal
Born in Bogotá – Colombia, she belongs to the Marist Province of Norandina. She is a lay Marist with a public link to the charism in her province since December 2017 and renewal in October 2021. She has been a member of the CMMF since 1998 and her community of reference is the Marist fraternity Br. Eduardo Botero Arango.
Her family is composed of her father Alfredo and her mother Mery. She has two Brothers, CĂ©sar and Carlos Alberto (Beto), who are Marist Brothers and her sister Constanza is also a lay Marist with links to the charism.
Her Marist history begins through her father who is a Marist alumnus of the first school that the brothers had in Ibagué, a city of Colombia. Although she studied with the Carmelite Sisters during her school years, through her brothers she became involved in Marist youth ministry and later, when she finished her studies in dentistry, she began to render her services in one of the works of solidarity that the Marist community has in Bogotá.
She has a specialization in project management, a master’s degree in education and studies in biblical and sacramental pastoral ministry, as well as in vocational accompaniment. Currently, she is a member of the provincial team of formation for the laity and serves as coordinator of the Champagnat La Paz center. This social work serves children and young people who are out of school, making them level their studies and reintegrate into regular school. At the level of the Arco Norte region, she is providing her services in the animation of the laity.
She was invited to the first Chapter held by the Province of Norandina. She also collaborated in the drafting of the document updating the CMMF and by a vote among the lay members of her province she was elected delegate to the II International Marist Mission Assembly and recently to the Lay Vocation Forum.
For her, being a Lay Marist has been one of the most beautiful gifts with which the Lord has blessed her. Being a Marist of Champagnat, she has been able to realize her dream of contributing her grain of sand in the building of the Kingdom. Being part of this family has surrounded her with companions in life and mission who have enriched her life and have encouraged and motivated her to care for those who need it most.
She understands her vocation as a lay Marist as a gift and as a commitment to respond creatively and in fidelity to the Gospel, in coherence with the process that the Institute is living and making alive the dream inherited from Father Champagnat and the first Brothers: “To make Jesus Christ known and loved”.