Redemptorist Mission Brazil #1256

REDEMPTORIST BRAZIL MISSION

The Redemptorist Mission in the Northeast of Brazil began in 1962 when a group of four missionaries was sent by the Irish Province of the Redemptorists. Today, the mission area, in the states of Ceará, Piauí and Maranhão, has 57 Redemptorists, mostly Brazilians, who live and work with the poorest of the poor. The Northeast of Brazil, partly because it is a drought region, is the poorest region of Brazil. The Human Development Index of Maranhão is 0,639, making it the second poorest state of Brazil. The infant mortality rate is about 33 or 34 per 1000 live births and Life-Expectancy is about 70.

The Redemptorist missionaries serve in favelas (shantytowns), prisons, and public hospitals and administer impoverished parishes and pastoral areas, working with street children and young people at risk, and offering pastoral care to AIDS and cancer patients and to prisoners. They also organize Parish Missions and Pastoral Leadership Training.

One of the great needs of the Church in Brazil, highlighted once more by the Synodal Process, is for well-trained missionaries, both lay and ordained. The Redemptorist Brazil Mission has been aware of this need and in recent years has been running high-quality training programs for lay missionaries, as well as caring for Redemptorist seminarians. This type of training program is, of course, very expensive and it is only because of the generosity of many faithful throughout the world that it is possible to keep it going.

The process of growing urbanization in Brazil has brought many serious problems for the people in those places served by the Redemptorist missionaries, especially in the areas of health, education, housing, transport, security, and leisure. This situation is largely due to the negligence of public authorities who, in great measure, do not address the wishes and needs of the poorest sectors of the population. So, there is widespread drug use, increasing violence, especially among gangs, a very high extermination rate of young men, and huge unemployment figures. All of this constitutes a tremendously challenging reality for the people and the mission. These problems are especially acute in the favelas, where some of the Redemptorists work and live, usually amid the poorest of the poor. The Redemptorist Mission helps facilitate different social programs that endeavor to improve the quality of life for people, as well as building community and encouraging solidarity.

The Redemptorist Mission has been and continues to be, blessed by religious vocations, and now has a fine body of young Brazilian priests, religious, and seminarians who, increasingly, are taking on leadership roles and are forging ahead with the wonderful work of leading people to “plentiful redemption” (the Redemptorist motto) in Christ Jesus, the Risen Lord.

The total proceeds from MCP are invested in our formation program. At present, we are training 53 seminarians. The participation of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has been and continues to be, of vital importance to us.

Support the Redemptorist Mission Brazil #1256

You can support the Redemptorist Mission Brazil #1256 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 #1256. You may also donate online by clicking the donate button. When making an online donation, reference #1256 in the Memo box. Your donation is tax-deductible as allowed by law.

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