Diocesan Mission grants show commitment to priorities

By Mark Saucier

“We must remember that in a time of economic crisis, the poor are the ones who bear the greatest burden,” Bishop John R. Gaydos said in announcing diocesan mission grants for the upcoming fiscal year.

“Now is not the time to reduce our commitment to the missions,” he added.

Bishop Gaydos identified seven projects in Peru and one in Mexico approved for funding in Fiscal Year 2009-10.

The projects address numerous needs ranging from parish operations to the fight against AIDS. Significant funding will be provided for medical care, housing, and nutrition.

The list, recommended by the diocesan mission committee in a meeting last month, includes the renewal of assistance to six ongoing projects and two new mission partnerships, San Francisco de Asis and Foro Ciudadano.

•San Francisco de Asis: Located near the epicenter of the earthquake that hit Peru in 2007, this parish was completely destroyed. In the wake of that destruction, the parish focused on the immediate needs of parishioners, nearly all of whom lost their homes. Now, with home reconstruction under way, Father Jose Sanchez and parish leadership are trying to rebuild parish structures. Prior to the earthquake, the parish operated comedores, which are nutrition sites for children, new mothers, and the elderly. The Diocese of Jefferson City will work with the parish to construct two new comdedores that will serve 700 meals daily. The diocese has also committed to assist in rebuilding the church. The community is currently gathering for worship in a temporary structure made of bamboo. To view a Powerpoint presentation on San Francisco de Asis in Spanish please click here.

•Foro Ciudadano: Over recent decades, the poor from the countryside coming to Lima to find work were forced to build their humble homes on the steep mountainsides surrounding the city. Residents cut a flat area into the side of a hill, piled rocks for a crude retaining wall, and then built their home with whatever material they could scavenge. Mudslides and earthquakes are a constant deadly threat in these areas.

The Jefferson City diocese will be working with Trócaire, an Irish charity, to fund an innovative project to organize these communities, access land titles, and build earthquake-resistant retaining walls and homes. Foro Ciudadano (Citizens Forum) is a non-governmental organization directed by longtime mission collaborator Ray Feeney. The three-year project envisions a local partnership between property owners, the government, and corporate sponsors to provide the bulk of the labor and cost of the project.

•San Felipe de Caracoto: This sprawling parish in the altiplano of Peru became even larger two years ago when four of the marginal barrios on the outskirts of the city of Juliaca were added to the 12 campesino communities within the parish borders. Father Manuel Vassallo leads a pastoral team of international volunteers and three paid staff members receiving a combined $7,000 per year. Active in formation and catechesis, the parish is attempting to address rising unemployment, the environmental impact on local agriculture, and the growing problems of chemical abuse and suicides among a youth who see no future.

•Coata and Huatta: Neighboring San Felipe, these two parishes were once a part of the former diocesan mission of Capachica. The Jefferson City diocese has been subsidizing the general operating costs of these parishes since Capachica was handed back to the Puno diocese in 2004. Composed almost entirely of campesinos farming small plots of land, the parishes attempt to address their daily needs with a focus on evangelization, catechesis, emergency social assistance and human rights. This grant is used to pay the salary of the pastor, Father Manuel Caceres, and other operational costs ranging from fuel to supplies for formation and education.

•Si, da Vida: In Spanish, the acronym for AIDS is SIDA. Playing on that, the name of this project is “Yes, it gives life!” The life in question is both that of people living with AIDS and those in high risk of contracting it. Columban Father Cathal Gallagher was trained in a Stanford University program to help those with HIV/AIDS to manage their lives with medication, discipline and healthy behaviors. What is different about Si, da Vida is that Fr. Gallagher and his team take this approach to the poorest and most dangerous slums in Lima. In addition to AIDS management, Si, da Vida promotes AIDS prevention, as graduates of the program return to do AIDS education in these communities that outsiders dare not enter.

•Peru Solidarity Forum: Begun by Monsignor Raphael Keyes and his Marcona mission parish nearly 20 years ago, PSF is a non-governmental agency working on issues of democracy, human rights, and economic justice. PSF continues to link people in mission-sending countries with grassroots organizations and issues in Peru. A priority for the upcoming year is investment in sustainable development, as PSF works to encourage community examination of how corporate and government decisions are affecting land use, the environment, and the culture of the Andean and Amazonian regions. The diocesan grant subsidizes a portion of the operational costs of PSF.

•Mercy Clinic: Last year, the Diocese of Jefferson City entered a partnership with Sister Millie McNamara and the Sisters of Mercy who operate a medical clinic for the poor of Lima’s northern barrios. Funds from the Mission Office provided medication and surgical procedures for 900 patients who could not afford critical health care. Money requested for the next fiscal year will continue free medical care to those most in need, but will also be used to purchase new medical equipment, including a scan machine for the detection and analysis of various internal problems, a micro lab for tuberculosis and HIV testing, and a surgical monitor.

•Merida Foundation: Established by Cathedral of St. Joseph parishioners Dorothy and Rudy Lemke, the Merida Foundation is a small charity working among the poor on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. Dorothy, a retired optician, began distributing eyeglasses in rural villages there nearly three decades ago. After similar volunteer trips to Peru, the couple decided to expand their ministry in Mexico. Today, the Merida Foundation provides daily meals for nearly 350 hungry school children in six feeding sites. It also offers rudimentary eyes exams and glasses for more than 3,500 Mayan Indians annually. With the help of a small grant from the Mission Office, the Merida Foundation will open a seventh nutrition center for 80 kids, ages 4 through 6 in the village of Telchaquillo.

Combined, these projects represent a commitment of more than $350,000. This money is not part of the Catholic Stewardship Appeal or the cathedraticum. Mission funds come from designated donations, bequests, and fundraising events.

The single greatest source of revenue is the annual diocesan Mission Collection. This year, it will be taken up in all parishes of the diocese on July 18-19.