By Dan Sullivan
Catholic Herald
Mission societies have global presense
SUPERIOR -- The word of God is heard around the world in part because of the efforts of members of missionary societies. Among these societies are the Missionaries of the Precious Blood and the Comboni Missionaries.
Fr. Angelo Anthony, CPPS, provincial director of the Cincinnati province of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, explained that members of this order minister in 17 countries of the world. Members of the Cincinnati province sponsor foreign missions in Chile, Peru and Guatemala.
"Our first mission was in Chile in 1947," Anthony said. The order has ministered to the people of Peru since 1962 and Guatemala was added in 1976. Currently there are 12 priests of this order in each of these three countries.
"We are in parish missions that we serve," Anthony said. "We also set up clinics to help with medical needs and provide food resources. We have established schools at parishes to help educate the children."
Anthony said the parishes in Guatemala are large.
"St. Catherine Parish in LaTinta is divided into 64 separate chapels or sectors," Anthony said. "This area serves a population of 30,000 people."
Priests of this order organize and train local Catholics to assist with the needs at these chapels.
"These people take back what they learn in the area of catechism and sacraments to their chapels," Anthony said.
"The lay pastoral volunteers prepare the people for the sacraments. Then the priests are able to visit each chapel twice a year and celebrate these various sacraments with the people."
San Francisco De Borja Parish, in Lima, Peru, has 45,000 parishioners, 6,000 of whom attend Sunday Masses. "They have a very large church," Anthony said.
"We also built a school (at this parish) and during the day it has about 900 students, in grades ninth to 11th. In the evening the school is used to help educate about 700 girls, that work as housemaids, and working girls."
Some of these adult students first came to the school unable to read or write. "This is one way for them to have access to an education and hopefully, in time, they can better themselves," Anthony said.
In Chile, Precious Blood missionaries are involved in parish ministry."We are located in several areas in Chile," Anthony said.
In Santiago, Chile, missionaries assist at Our Lady of the Precious Blood Parish.
"They have a very developed senior citizens group," Anthony said.
"They invite elderly to come together for a meal twice a week. The parish offers social activity for the elderly who may not have food to eat or could be closed up in their home, with little social contact."
The Missionaries of the Precious Blood have also obtained native vocations from within these countries.
"They are attracted by the work of our missionaries and the spirituality of the Precious Blood order," Anthony said."This spirituality speaks of reconciliation and hope through the precious blood of Jesus."
As a provincial director, Anthony visits the missions of his order at least once a year and oversees the ministry of the priests that serve in these foreign lands.
"One of the things we have been attempting to do is to set up parish twinning programs with parishes in the United States and our foreign missions," Anthony said.
"We try to not only do fund raising, but relationship building. It's a way of building relations with people in developing nations and raising awareness of the needs of others," Anthony said.
The founder of the Precious Blood order, St. Gaspar del Bufalo, was ordained a priest on July 31, 1808. It was on August 15, 1815, that del Bufalo, having such a strong devotion to the Precious Blood, established the Missionaries of the Precious Blood in Giano, Italy.
Another global Catholic missionary group is the Comboni Missionaries. They are made up of priests, brothers, sisters and lay missionaries. Their commitment is aimed at those who suffer injustice and fall into the gap between the rich and the poor. The efforts of the Comboni Missionaries span more than 40 nations, especially the developing countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia.
"We also do work in United States," said Fr. Joe Bragotti, MCCJ, mission director of the North American Province of the Comboni Missionaries, based in Cincinnati."We have parishes in the United States that are located in underprivileged areas," he said.
Bragotti said the work of missionaries remains an important aspect to the Catholic Church. "We have to continue to work to evangelize," he said
"Our missionaries do whatever is needed. We do education, are involved in health care and with the formation of lay leaders.
Bragotti said during his 43 years in this ministry, he served among the people in the African nation of Uganda. "I worked mostly with the young people," he said
"I also worked with the media. I helped edit and publish a magazine, 'Leadership.' It's directed toward youth and young adults, helping to make them leaders in both the Catholic Church and society."
During the 1860s, Daniel Comboni, a priest from Limone, Italy, established a missionary congregation to carry Christ's message of hope and salvation to the countries of Africa. After his death in 1881, the Combonis expanded to other continents.
Editor's note: Information on the Missionaries of the Precious Blood can be found on the Web at www.cpps-preciousblood.org. Information on the Comboni Missionaries, can be found at combonimissionaries.org.
© Superior Catholic Herald, 2004