Support a Youth and Vocations Apostolate Program in Bolivia

Life is hard in the Apostolic Prelature of Corocoro, located high up in the Andes of Bolivia. People live in widely scattered, often small settlements. Only a handful of the villages or small towns have a population of over 10,000. Close to 80% of the 290,000 people in the prelature live in extreme poverty, and rural exodus is a real problem, as many people move away into the urban centers of the country. Those who depart often only end up stuck in a different kind of poverty in the urban slums, while leaving behind fractured families at home. 

This situation presents an immense challenge for the Church, which has limited resources and personnel to help. The 27 parishes of the prelature have only 17 priests to minister to them, with each  parishes containing up to 80 smaller settlements, many of which are remote and inaccessible. As a result, many settlements can only be visited once or twice a year at best by a priest. At the same time, there is also a shortage of catechists who can help prepare the people for baptism and for reception of the other sacraments, and local sects continue to spread. 

Bishop Pascual Limachi Ortiz himself belongs to the indigenous Aymara people who make up the majority of local population of the prelature. He wants to do something to improve conditions and outreach, and he has been devoting himself to the youth apostolate in Bolivia, since young people are the future of the Church. 

In 2021, with the help of ACN, Bishop Ortiz set up a training program which aims to form young people in the faith and promote vocations. It has been a tremendous success, and so now he wants to extend and expand this initiative.

He writes:  “At present we see the need to give greater continuity to this work with young people, who are the most neglected group in our society. We are also very interested to see how youth work can also be taken up in those parishes and areas where we have not hitherto been present.”  

“We want to increase the number of participants and at the same time provide a better and more intensive formation to a certain number of young group leaders. At the same time it is also very, very important for us to concentrate on the promotion of vocations as well. Our program is aimed at young people aged 15 to 29 years, who represent around 28% of the total population and therefore number some 87,000 people.” 

The program comprises course units on various topics, including the Holy Scriptures, the Sacraments, Christian values and morality. There will also be organized retreat days and youth meetings. For this they need not only the course materials, but also to be able to cover the cost of travel, board and lodging for those involved. 

We are planning to continue our support for this valuable program with $13,200 for the year. It represents an important contribution to education in the faith and the promotion of vocations in this exceptionally difficult region. 

Will you help us support this youth and vocations apostolate program in this poor region of Bolivia? 

Aid to the Church in Need commits to invest your funds where they will have the greatest impact for the Church that we serve. Funds donated to Aid to the Church in Need’s projects will be used towards the greatest need in our programs to help keep the Faith alive.

Code: 211-00-49