Project Title: Formationof disciples and missioners who are builders of Peace and Solidarity

The Dominican Sisters of Charity in Guadalajara, Mexico received support from the 2010 Collection for the Church in Latin America for a peace education program with youth.  The program includes establishing a Catholic Educational Center whose peace education program will have 100 adult teachers, leaders and pastoral agents.  Working in teams teams of 5-10 from 10-20 schools and parishes, they sought to have an initial group of 80-100 people participate in a series of formation workshops.  These individuals would in turn constitute a core group to promote conflict resolution, mediation and peace among the youth of the area.

The sisters stated: “The problem of youth violence and drug addiction is extremely serious, with 80% of those with addictions having begun taking drugs between the ages of 10 and 19. The state of Jalisco also records the second highest incidence of violence in the country.”  

Project Title: Providing pastoral support and materials to the indigenous in Chiapas, Mexico

This program of accompaniment and formation provided theological and pastoral formation courses to permanent deacons, catechists, community coordinators and youth leaders from three indigenous ethic groups (Tseltal, Ch'ol and Zoque) in the State of Chiapas.  Sessions were planned for each of the ethnic groups in their own language and conducted by Fomento Cultural y Educativo (Strengthening Culture and Language) at the request of the Diocese of San Cristobal de las Casas. The Collection for the Church in Latin America has a long history of supporting formation and translations of Bibles and catechetical materials into indigenous languages throughout Latin America, such as, Bibles in Tseltal and Quechua and catechetical materials in to Q'eqchi, and K'iche. 

Project Title:  Building-up the union of marriage and of families.

This program funded by the Collection for the Church in Latin America supported two important initiatives in the Parish of Divine Providence in the Archdiocese of Mexico City: The first initiative centered on strengthening the bonds of married couples through the use of marriage renewal retreats. These three day retreats were coordinated by a team comprised of a psychologist, a married couple, a priest and a sociologist. At least 10-20 couples attended each retreat.  The second initiative centered on the prevention of domestic violence – a major cause of family disintegration. This was done by having the parents of children receiving catechesis participate in a domestic violence prevention program. 

Project Title:  The formation of Married Couples as disciples and missioners

The National Movement for the Renewal of Marriage executed a comprehensive series of regional formation workshops, an annual pilgrimage to the Basilica de Guadalupe and a national gathering for members of the movement The regional workshops were held in Tlaxcala, Oaxaca and Michoacán for 150 couples. The 32-hour events included presentations on human relations; communications; forgiveness and reconciliation Christology; ecclesiology and marital spirituality.