Transportation

With an area of over 14,000 square miles, the apostolic vicariate of El Petén covers more than a third of the total territory of Guatemala. But it is thinly populated, with only around 900,000 inhabitants. The journeys are long, and distances are measured not in miles or kilometers, but in hours, given the appalling state of the roads, which make every journey far longer than one would normally expect. And some of the parishes are larger even than entire dioceses ...

Again and again, we hear from prison chaplains just how important it is to accompany not only prisoners but their families also. Not infrequently, offenders are converted as a result, repent of their past deeds, and become worthwhile members of society, while innocent victims, unjustly imprisoned, are encouraged and saved from despair. People who have never experienced love or kindness in their lives encounter the Good News of Jesus for the first time, while families are frequently saved from breakup ...

In January 2025, the Diocese of Lwena in eastern Angola suffered a devastating blow. The rector of the propaedeutic seminary was traveling with two young students to thecapital Luanda, about 750 miles away. Having already covered around 450 miles, their vehicle lost a front wheel, came off the road and crashed headlong into a tree. Both the rector and the two young students were killed on the spot. Bishop Martín Lasarte is still shaken to the core by this disaster. ...

The Diocese of Tenkodogo was founded just 13 years ago and is therefore still slowly becoming established. It covers an area of just under 4,000 square miles, which is bigger than many small countries (such as Lebanon, for instance). But so far, it has only 12 parishes, comparable in size to many European dioceses, and only 200,000 Catholics, who are widely scattered and ministered to by a total of 35 priests. The priests must inevitably travel long distances in order to reach the villages within their respective parishes. And needless to say, some of these outposts are extremely ...

Since June of 2024, Italian Carmelite Father Aurelio Gazzera has been coadjutor bishop in the Diocese of Bangassou, a particularly difficult region in the southeast Central African Republic. This vast area of 52,123 miles is almost half the size of Italy, and large parts of it still lie in the hands of rebel forces who regularly launch attacks. Moreover, it is inaccessible and covered in rainforest, bordering on the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan – both crisis ...

Zimbabwe is a landlocked nation in southeast Africa with a population of 17.6 million. The majority of the population is Christian, though three quarters of the people belong to various Protestant denominations. Catholics represent only about 16 percent of the population.  Zimbabwe has long been plagued by a severe economic crisis, made worse in recent years by devastating droughts. The Catholic Church in the country urgently needs help, since it lacks the basic resources to minister adequately to the Catholic ...

Father Luis Francisco Morales Reyes is in charge of the parish of Siquinalá Escuintla, in southern Guatemala. It has a population of more than 26,000 people, about 60 percent of whom are Catholic. The rest of the people mostly belong to fundamentalist or Pentecostalist sects.   In order to minister to the faithful, Father Morales has to travel distances of up to 22 miles to reach the outlying communities. And the roads are extremely poor. Since his parish lies at the foot ...

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 ...

The Apostolic Vicariate of Mitú lies in the Amazon region of eastern Colombia, in an area covering over 21,000 square miles (54,000 km²). Roughly a third of its population lives in the town of Mitú, and the remainder are scattered throughout the jungle-clad region. The majority of them belong to one of the 26 different indigenous tribal groups, each with its own language and its own particular customs.   Pastoral outreach is difficult here, due to vast distances, and the Church ...

The Archieparchy of Ivano-Frankivsk is in western Ukraine, where many refugees from elsewhere in the country have fled to for safety.   The local Church cares for these refugees, and they need a vehicle so they can transport both people and goods. Unfortunately, their old minivan is 21 years old and now beyond further repair. So they must get a reliable vehicle that will not constantly require repairs and add to their total expenses.  Many refugee families are currently housed ...