Help Holy Spirit Fathers with their Pastoral Work in an Underdeveloped Region of Ethiopia
Will you give to help these Holy Spirit Fathers better serve and develop this poor region of Ethiopia? We are sure they will gratefully remember you in their prayers.
In many ways
the Catholic Church is in her infancy in the far south of Ethiopia, bordering
Kenya. Catholic missionaries only arrived in the region for the first time 45
years ago, but the Holy Spirit Fathers – the Spiritans – who work in this area
have now established three parishes and several schools.
Spiritans work with the Borana people. While traditionally nomads, some have
recently become more permanently settled since the missionaries sank boreholes
and made wells for the people, who have now settled nearby. Many still continue
to live a nomadic lifestyle, moving from place to place with their flocks of
cattle in search of grazing lands.
As this is a
very arid region, water is a matter of life or death. As a result, the Borana
people occasionally come into conflict with members of other tribes when the
water supply dwindles and grazing become scarce, or where one tribe drives its
herds onto the territory of another.
Catholic Church has been present in the region there have been fewer such
conflicts. In the past there was an unwritten law whereby the men had to show
courage by fighting. If one‘s opponent drew his weapon, then he too had to be
ready to fight. Now things have changed to some extent, since the tribesmen who
have embraced Christianity are now immediately ready to make peace.
women, too, the presence of the Church has changed their lives for the better.
In the tradition of the Borana people, a girl never “marries” but “is married.”
She is never even asked for her consent to the marriage, and in the past
generally there was no sense of the dignity of the woman. If a girl should fall
pregnant before the marriage, she would be sold off to an enemy tribe. Now the
Catholic Church is teaching a different understanding of marriage, teaching
that both man and woman have an equal dignity in the sight of God.
also growing interest in education among the people. The Church is encouraging
parents to realize that a school education is just as important for girls as
for boys. The Holy Spirit Fathers have accordingly opened several schools in this
region. Initially the people were mistrustful, but gradually they have come to
understand that education can help them to improve their lives and better
understand their own rights and dignity. Still more importantly, they can
deepen their understanding of their newfound faith by reading the Bible and
other religious writings.
great interest in Christianity, especially among the children and young people,
and the Holy Spirit Fathers want to intensify their work. For example, they organize
meetings with young people from other tribes. In this remote and underdeveloped
region it is usually very rare for young people to be able to meet and talk
with young people of other tribal groups. Ethiopia is a multi-ethnic country
where over 80 different ethnic groups rub shoulders and speak as many
languages, and in many cases also belong to different religious groups, so
meeting is a crucially important experience. It is not unusual for young people
to wander away from their own remote and underdeveloped regions into other
areas, or into the towns and cities, and then they can face major problems
coming to terms with what is to them an entirely alien environment.
It is also important
for the adults to be carefully accompanied on their path of faith. Many of
those who are baptized are already married according to traditional tribal
customs. When they embrace Christianity, they are helped to prepare for a
Christian marriage in church, so that they can live their lives in a truly
Christian spirit. It is clearly seen that the number of the Catholic faithful
who attend Holy Mass and receive Holy Communion increases considerably as a
result of these marriage preparation programs. The Fathers also try as often as
possible to visit and accompany the sick and the handicapped, who cannot get to
church, and to give them the opportunity to receive Holy Communion and, where
appropriate, the Sacrament of the sick.
Spirit Fathers are also trying to improve the training of the lay catechists
who visit the people in their villages and help teach the Faith to them, since
it is clearly important for them to have a sound understanding of the Holy
Scriptures and the teaching of the Church, so that they in turn can guide others
to the faith and help them to deepen their faith life.
promised the Fathers $5,500 so that they can deepen and intensify their varied
and vital pastoral outreach in this area of primary evangelization.
give to help these Holy Spirit Fathers better serve and develop this poor
region of Ethiopia?
We are sure they will gratefully remember you in their prayers.
to Projects in Need
Aid to the Church in Need
commits to invest your funds where they will have the greatest impact for the
Church that we serve. Funds donated to Aid to the Church in Need’s projects
will be used towards the greatest need in our programs to help keep the Faith