Madrid, Spain, Jul 21, 2016 / 23:02 pm
As more drivers hit the roads in the U.S. and Europe for summer road trips, a priest in Spain is ramping up his 'highway ministry' to promote safety and to care for those who spend much of their lives on four wheels.
Father José Aumenté is the head of the Spanish bishops' highway ministry, which began after a priest was aided by a trucker on Christmas night in 1962.
"A priest had to go from one town to another and didn't have a car. A truck driver stopped to help him and on the way he told him about his life, how hard it was to be on the road all the time, and how on such a very special day as Christmas he wasn't going to be able to have dinner with his family because of a mishap on the trip," Father Aumenté told CNA.
This made an impression on the priest, who then started the highway ministry, which was adopted by the Spanish bishops' conference in 1968, and is now entrusted to Fr. Aumenté.