Paraguay’s government to undertake restoration and enhancement of Assumption Cathedral

With plans developed by the Catholic University of Paraguay and financing from a state entity, the government will proceed with the project.

Paraguayan President Santiago Peña announced this week that work will proceed on the restoration and enhancement of Our Lady of the Assumption Metropolitan Cathedral in Asunción, the capital city.

The announcement was made on June 8 during the blessing and groundbreaking ceremony for a monument to Our Lady of the Assumption on the capitalʼs waterfront, an event attended by the archbishop of Asunción, Cardinal Adalberto Martínez, and the apostolic nuncio to Paraguay, Archbishop Vincenzo Turturro.

In presenting the project, Peña highlighted the close collaboration between the national government and the Paraguayan Bishops’ Conference.

The president said the restoration concerns not only infrastructure but also serves as a tangible expression of the governmentʼs conviction that “the Catholic Church is not merely part of our history, but part of what we aspire to be as a nation.”

Paraguay’s Catholic University developed the specifications for the project, which has received approval from the National Secretariat of Culture. Itaipú, a hydroelectric power plant jointly owned by Paraguay and Brazil, will finance the project, the president announced.

The Diocese of Asunción was erected in 1547. A previous cathedral was built in 1548 and later replaced by the current cathedral, which was dedicated in 1845.

The work is part of a series of restoration projects of emblematic sites with support from Itaipú and includes buildings such as historic St. Bonaventure church in Yaguarón, the Ñandejára Guasu shrine in Piribebuy, and St. Blaise Cathedral in Ciudad del Este.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.