Mission Appeals is a very important aspect of Spiritan work. Unfortunately, it has been on hold since March 2020 due to Covid-related restrictions.
This year we have been assigned to the Diocese of Killaloe and Area 1 of the Diocese of Down and Connor. We are very grateful to be able to return to this work and to share our missionary story.
From Brazil to Vietnam, Ethiopia to South Africa, Spiritan men walk with the poor and marginalised, and work with communities on issues as basic as clean water and sanitation, access to sustainable food supplies and education.
Supported by our Promotions Office in Kimmage Manor, a team of confrères who have spent many years overseas with the poor and marginalised do the appeals. This year, we’re delighted to have among others Fr Paddy Moran, Fr Pat Palmer and Fr Maurice Shortall.
In over a decade in Ethiopia, Fr Paddy did innovative prison ministry including painting and pottery, and practical initiatives such as improved sanitary facilities and new classrooms in Arba Minch prison. Fr Pat (pictured), who has been a missionary for well over 40 years, was Spiritan Superior in Taiwan/Vietnam/India. Fr Maurice’s work in Brazil included serving a parish of some 70,000 people, many of whom were impoverished migrants from elsewhere in the Latin American country; from the Congregation’s Rome base, he subsequently visited a number of Spiritan works in other countries.
Other Irish Spiritan missionaries are currently working in Mozambique, South Sudan and Zambia as well as the Americas, Australia and Europe.
Image by Daniel Roberts from Pixabay
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