"You will live forever in our community." The UDA dismisses Monsignor Luna

The University of Azuay bid farewell to its unforgettable Chancellor, Monsignor Luis Alberto Luna Tobar, who died on Tuesday 7 in February at the 93 years in La Armenia, on the outskirts of Quito.

"You did a lot of good in the community in which you believed and in which you will live forever," said the Rector of the UDA, Francisco Salgado, who attended with the authorities of the University at the vigil that took place in the Cathedral of Cuenca. dismiss Monsignor Emeritus from the city.

In his act of possession last January, Doctor Salgado had highlighted how fortunate many of the members of the UDA had been to personally meet Monsignor Luna Tobar and to enjoy his word.

"I remember the last visit I made to Monseñor at a time when he no longer recognized me. Suddenly he stood up, hugged me and looked me in the eyes, I could see a moment of light in his eyes and he said 'We did a lot of good, right? ... tell me if we did good 'and a slight tear peeked into his pupil. That memory will remain with us forever, "the Rector said in his inaugural speech.

While the University was the seat of the Pontifical Catholic University of Quito, the Chancellor was the Archbishop of the Ecuadorian capital.

This changed in 1990 when the University of Azuay was constituted: from that moment the Chancellor before the University Council became the Archbishop of Cuenca.

Monseñor Luna had been appointed as Archbishop of the Azuaya capital in 1981 and held the position of Chancellor of the UDA until the year 2000.

"His passage among us meant an encouragement to understand the human being in totality and believe in the word as a source of growth and maturity to do good", were the words chosen by the University Council to remember its Chancellor.

The Council undertook to continue guiding university action in the service of the community in which Monseñor taught us to believe with his infinite love.

Monseñor Luna Tobar was born in Quito on December 15 of 1923. He took his habits in the Order of the Discalced Carmelites of Burgos, in Spain, in 1939. In 1946 he was ordained a priest in the Cartuja de Miraflores of that city and returned to Quito.

In 1977 he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Cardinal Pablo Muñoz Vega, Archbishop of Quito, and four years later the Apostolic Nuncio Vicente Farano promoted him to the Archbishopric of Cuenca, a city that adopted him forever as one of his most beloved children and one of his wisest voices