Projects in Need
Help for the Training of Novices in the Central African Republic and Cameroon
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Even as a child, Jean Thierry Ebogo had nurtured a secret dream – to be like Jesus, and to do so by becoming a priest. In 2003, he finally entered the Carmelite monastery of Nkoabang in Cameroon. He longed to follow the “Little Way” of Saint Therese of Lisieux, the way of holiness and perfect childlike trust in God’s mercy. This is why he added “of the Child Jesus and of the Passion” to his chosen religious name. But not ...
Mass Stipends for Priests in Peru
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The apostolic vicariate of Yurimaguas in Peru is largely covered by the rainforest and is home to a number of indigenous tribal groups. The people are very poor, and the roofs of their huts are made of palm leaves. Most of their small riverside settlements can only be reached by water. There are no roads to speak of, and medical care and education are mostly provided by missionaries. Roughly 270,000 Catholics live here, scattered across an area larger than that ...
Support for a Catholic Publication in Bosnia and Herzegovina
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The Croatian publication Catholic Weekly began in 1922 and recently celebrated its centennial, but in those 100 years, it was not continuously published. It was banned by communists in 1945 and only revived in 2002. But today, the newspaper represents an important voice in the Catholic Church; it is read widely, and by many faith groups. Miroslav Cahar, the director of the Catholic Media Center in the Archdiocese of Vrhbosna, where the newspaper is published, says, “Much has happened recently. There were ...
Mass Stipends for Priests in the Congo
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The Diocese of Lolo is in a primarily rural part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There are no major urban centers, and most of the population is poor, with around 95 percent living on subsistence farming, livestock, and fishing. Given the lack of urban centers, transporting their produce is difficult, and in any case, there are no large markets where people can sell the food they produce. Then there is climate change, which makes life still more difficult. ...
A New Village Chapel for a Parish in India
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The Parish of the Immaculate Conception in northeast India lies close to the border with Bangladesh. It includes 31 villages and serves a population of about 5,000 Catholics, most of them relatively young. But the parish is large in area, and many of the villages are fairly inaccessible. The priests sometimes have to walk up to five miles just to reach the faithful. One such village is Twicholong. There have been Catholics here since 1969 – at first, just a ...
Support for Missionary Sisters in Cuba
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The Missionaries of Jesus, Word and Victim are religious sisters whose special vocation is to work in poor, remote, and difficult regions with few or no priests. Their congregation was founded in Peru in 1961 and is now present in seven different countries in Latin America, including Cuba. As part of their ministry, the sisters pray with the faithful, comfort the sick and dying, baptize children, conduct funerals and liturgies, and give catechetical instruction. They also offer practical help to the ...
Help for the Training of Seven Seminarians in Chad
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The apostolic vicariate of Mongo in eastern Chad serves an area of almost two million square miles. The majority of the country is Muslim, and Christians are a small minority. The vast area of the vicariate is divided into six parishes. The Catholic faithful are served by over a dozen priests, but most of them are not natives of the country, and two of them are older than 80. The formation of local priests is a top priority for Bishop ...
A New Car for a Parish in Kenya
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The missionary congregation of Saint Francis of Sales was founded in France in the mid-1800s. Today, it has 1,500 members and is particularly active in the field of education, from primary school to secondary and vocational school. The brothers of the congregation are also dedicated to the poor and disadvantaged. They work in about 30 countries, including Kenya. The parish of Saint Michael of Chera is in central Kenya and has been run by the Salesian Fathers since 1997. It ...
Events for the Anniversary of a Parish in Albania
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2023 marks the 30th anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s visit to Albania. On that occasion, he recalled the many priests who suffered under communism and were killed for administering the Sacraments, as well as the unknown number of Catholics who had likewise been imprisoned and murdered because of their faith. At that time, the dictator Enver Hodscha had banned all religion, and in 1967, had even made Albania the world‘s first “atheist state,” something no other state had done, ...
A Vehicle for Religious Sisters in Ukraine
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Three sisters of the congregation of Saint Joseph live and work in the city of Starokostyantyniv in West Ukraine. The sisters visit the elderly and the sick; they distribute food to the needy; they organize catechetical sessions, retreat days, and other parish activities. But their focus is the care of young people, from both refugee families displaced by the war on Ukraine and the local parish. The sisters run camps for them in the summer, giving them the chance to ...