Congregation of the Mission Honduras #1914

Information about pastoral life and social work of Saints Peter and Paul Parish, Sangrelaya, Honduras

Our missionary Parish covers an area of approximately 350 square miles in an extensive terrain of the Colon department, on the northeast coast of Honduras, Central America. Access to this area is difficult, especially during the rainy season. Although the majority of the villages of the parish are accessible by car (four-wheel drive 4×4 only, it is necessary to travel by boat to visit certain communities). These villages are located in an area bordered by the sea, the lagoon, and the jungle. The nearest town is approximately 50 miles from Sangrelaya. This is where the paved road ends/begins.

Our parish consists of villages, of which 22 communities we visit regularly. We enjoy the richness and cultural diversity since approximately 40% of our parish communities are Garifuna communities, Afro-descendants, and the rest of the population are Latinos and Miskito. The pastoral visits are related to the celebration of the Eucharist, the administration of other sacraments, visiting the sick local groups, communities, young people, children, Basic Ecclesial Communities, etc. We also support the progress of catechesis in the villages and seek solutions to problems – spiritual, personal, and material. We regularly organize training courses for these pastoral workers, both at our formation center in Sangrelaya and directly in more distant communities.

Protestant communities with their places of worship, actively trying to recruit mainly lukewarm Catholic believers or to materially “buy” their participation (especially the children). Another problem is the fact that in many cases and many times, we have to start again and again from zero. This is because – due to the lack of study opportunities in our parish and the lack of job opportunities and due to emigration to cities and abroad – many young people leave the parish (often prospective animators) and there is a need to seek and train continually new leaders, who – as our current experience shows us – won’t stay in the village forever. Help from God’s providence and our benefactors is currently crucial for our parish, as the parish currently has no source of income to be self-sustaining.

In addition to helping with prayers and possible personal presence in our parish, our benefactors can help us in our efforts to improve life in the following priority areas: Support the formation programs of our parish, help build and reconstruct churches in selected communities – which will be a safe place for believers to gather, whose previous churches were devastated by hurricanes or adverse weather conditions. Another priority is to continue targeted individual assistance to the poorest parishioners who live with their families in deplorable living conditions. The key need is also to create an own source of income for the parish – for example, by establishing a small plantation for palm seedlings, so that the parish is at least partly financially self-sustaining.

Any help will greatly contribute to the development of God’s kingdom in this country, one of the poorest in the world.

Support the Congregation of the Mission Honduras #1914

You can support the Congregation of the Mission Honduras #1914 through your prayers and monetary donation by making a check payable to THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE FAITH, 3424 Wilshire Blvd 3rd Fl., Los Angeles CA 90010, memo #1914. You may also donate online by clicking the donate button. When making an online donation, reference #1914 in the Memo box. Your donation is tax-deductible as allowed by law.