Success Stories
A Sturdy Vehicle for a Parish in Uganda
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A new parish in central Uganda is excited to have a new car. Dedicated to Saint Kizito, the youngest of the 20 Ugandan martyrs put to death between 1885 and 1887, the parish is based in a rural area without tarred roads. As a result, it is difficult to reach many villages in the rainy season, so a sturdy, all-terrain vehicle is essential for parish life. For a long time, the only car they had was ancient and unreliable, which ...
Ongoing Formation for Members of a Congregation in Uganda
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The Congregation of the Brothers of Saint Martin de Porres was originally established in 1953, in what is now South Sudan. In Uganda today, its members work in parishes, teach in schools, and help the poor and needy through charitable activity. As a home-grown African congregation, the brothers are poor and dependent on outside support for their continued spiritual development. If they are to serve others, they must first find personal strength, lest their vocation wither. But since 2013, it ...
A Chapel and Parish House for a Mission in India
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Ramnagar is the oldest mission station in the Diocese of Bettiah in northern India. Recently, thanks to your generous contribution of $28,900, the mission received a new chapel and parish house, and its consecration was an occasion of great joy. The bishop attended, as well as priests, sisters, and Catholic faithful from the surrounding area, and a Holy Mass dedicated to Mary was followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a blessing of the new building. The old chapel and parish ...
Success Story: Peace education for young people in Cameroon
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For many years, Cameroon, located in Central West Africa with a population of almost 26 million, was regarded as relatively stable in comparison with its crisis-ridden neighbors. However, in 2016, protest marches began because many people in the English-speaking part of the country felt themselves to be oppressed by the larger, French-speaking part and began to demand independence. Subsequently these protests escalated into an armed conflict that endures to this day between separatists in the Anglophone provinces and the Francophone ...
Success Story: A parish house for a new parish in Bangladesh
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Dinajpur is one of the poorest of the eight Catholic dioceses in Bangladesh. As they do everywhere in this overwhelmingly Muslim country, Catholics represent only a tiny minority of the population. Most of the faithful belong to ethnic minorities and are thus doubly disadvantaged: on account of their Christian faith and because of their ethnic background. They face discrimination and often actual violence in their daily lives. The Church is alone in caring for them and helping them to live ...
Renovation of building for pastoral center in India
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Bishop James Thoppil of the Diocese of Kohima in the state of Nagaland was concerned for the religious formation of laity, and identified a great need for the training of catechists, marriage preparation courses and intensified work with the women, children and young people. Until now, he had no pastoral or training center to use for this purpose. The Catholic faith first arrived in 1948 in the region with a community of religious Sisters. Initially they faced great opposition, and ...