Provide Transportation for Pastoral Work in Burundi
Thursday, February 18, 2010

Project Code: 112-08-29

The Diocese of Rutana in southwest Burundi is very young; in fact, it has just celebrated its first birthday this January. Bishop Bonaventure Nahimana still has much to do to establish this diocese, which is in its infancy. The truth is that almost everything is lacking. The practical infrastructure of the Church, for example needs to be built up: the presbyteries, convents, diocesan offices, social structures, schools and educational centers, and much more. But the most urgent need of all is that the priests of the 11 parishes which comprise his diocese should minister well to the faithful and always be there for them. This will also help to strengthen the vocations apostolate, because the good example and the regular presence of the priests will encourage young boys to think about committing their own lives to the service of the Lord.

There are almost 170,000 Catholics in the Diocese of Rutana, so that on average each parish has some 15,000 faithful. Even under normal circumstances this would be a huge number. The priests have to celebrate Holy Mass in the various different villages of their parishes, administer the sacraments, give religious instruction in a number of different schools, visit the sick and the elderly, and be there with comfort and counsel for their people. On top of this, there are many internal refugees and other returning refugees, above all from neighboring Tanzania, who must also be ministered to pastorally. For Burundi, already one of the poorest countries in the world, also recently endured a long and bloody civil war.

For this to happen, the priests must be able to visit and minister to the people as quickly and as easily as possible. In some parishes this is challenging, not because the priests are lacking in apostolic zeal, but because they have to travel long distances on foot in order to reach the villages that make up their parishes. In this way, they waste a great deal of precious time and energy, since some of the villages are almost 20 miles away from the parish center. The priests also have to endure the searing heat of the sun or the lashing rain as they walk.

Needless to say, without some suitable means of transportation, ministering effectively is nearly impossible. The bishop wrote to us, "In this Year for Priests, we are above all calling on our priests to be closer to the people, especially to the sick and the abandoned, and to increase their visits to the outstations and to the camps of the internally displaced and returning refugees. This is not easy, and yet I must say that the majority of our priests fulfill their service with joy, even under these difficult conditions."

Bishop Nahimana is now asking us to help him purchase five mopeds so that the priests in the three parishes where the distances are the greatest can more easily reach their parishioners. The remaining two mopeds would be available for the pastoral work of the diocese, especially for those involved in the vocations apostolate. He is not asking for cars, since they are too expensive, consume too much gas and still would not be able to handle some of the poorer roads. The mopeds would be a huge boost for his priests and represent a big step forward in their pastoral work. We have promised him $7,500. Will you give so that these faithful in Burundi will no longer need to wait so long to see their priests?

Progress: 0% Raised: $ 0     Goal: $ 7500

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