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.