A Vehicle for a Parish in Ecuador

The Parish of San José de Cuatro Esquinas, or Saint Joseph of the Four Corners, is in the Diocese of Guaranda in Ecuador. It lies at an altitude of well over 10,000 feet, some five miles from the provincial capital of Guaranda. It includes over 50 villages and hamlets in an area of mountains, steep hillsides, rocky outcrops, and high plateaus. It is populated almost entirely by indigenous people, who live primarily by farming and livestock rearing. Life here is hard indeed. 

The population of approximately 20,000 is mostly Catholic. About 10 percent of the population belong to various sects, and another 10 percent have no religious affiliation.  

This is a very lively parish, with over 30 lay catechists. About 500 people are enrolled in baptism preparation courses, and 100 or so in marriage preparation courses. And about 400 children attend regular catechism classes. 

Somewhere between 500 and 700 people attend the Sunday Masses weekly, while many others attend only on major feast days or the main patronal festival. With a more intensive pastoral outreach, this number would undoubtedly be higher, but the villages are generally inaccessible. And while most of them do have a simple chapel, the priest cannot visit them often enough, since he has no vehicle. There is a bus just once a day, and with the rough and metalled roads, the journey is a long one. Otherwise, the only option is to walk. But some of the villages are nearly 40 miles away. 

We would like to give $27,000, so the priest can purchase a sturdy off-road vehicle that can cope with difficult roads. 

Will you join us in helping this parish?

217-01-29