Success Stories
A Riverboat for a Parish in Brazil
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The Diocese of Humaitá lies deep in the Amazon region and serves an area of about 53,000 square miles. But most of it is covered by rainforest and is thinly populated. Many communities are on the riverbanks and can only be reached via water. This makes pastoral outreach more difficult, since the river journeys are dangerous, with rapids, floating trees, snakes, and other poisonous animals. The parish of Our Lady, Help of Christians is based in the town of Manicoré, ...
A Chapel for a Parish in India
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Last year, we shared a request from Father Arbok Lyngdoh of Moharpara in northeast India. He was asking for help on behalf of his faithful, to build a new chapel in the village of Twichalong, one of 31 remote communities in the Parish of the Immaculate Conception. The local faithful longed for a proper chapel and made great sacrifices for it, but being extremely poor, they could not manage to raise the necessary funds. You responded generously to their request, and ...
Help for the Training of Seminarians in Zambia
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The Holy Ghost Fathers, also known as the Spiritans, were founded in France in 1703. Today, its members are active in over 60 countries, evangelizing and ministering to the poor and marginalized. They work especially in remote regions, where the Church faces serious challenges. The congregation has been present in Zambia since 1971, and there are currently 19 Fathers working in three dioceses of the country. It is blessed with many African vocations and has already ordained 16 Zambian men ...
A Car for Pastoral Work in Iraq
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Today, Christians are only a small minority in Iraq. Until 2002, there were more than 1.2 million of them, but war, persecution, and poverty have led to a mass exodus by the country’s Christian population. Estimates now put the number of Christians in Iraq at only around 150,000. The city of Basra has a population of about 1.4 million, the third-largest in Iraq. Lying on the Persian Gulf, it is the country’s major port city. It was established as early as ...
10 Motorcycles for Pastoral Work in the Congo
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The Diocese of Boma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo includes 47 parishes, 35 of which are in remote, rural areas. The priests minister to the faithful with joy and great zeal, but the distances are daunting, the roads are poor, and some priests walk up to 25 miles to reach the people who need them. And so the bishop of Boma asked for our help, to provide 10 small motorcycles for the priests who work in the most ...
A New Chapel for a Village in India
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The parish of Christ the King is in eastern India. The parish is very active, especially in its work with children and young adults. There is a Sunday school, as well as numerous youth groups and a particular effort to foster love for Mary and the Mass. There are many altar servers, and the liturgies are celebrated in song, with traditional musical instruments. The women organize themselves in prayer groups, Bible readings, and visits to the sick and needy; the men ...