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Comisión de Enlace provides full report, plaque
SAN ANTONIO • A little more than three years ago, the Archdiocese of San Antonio and the dioceses of Corpus Christi and Amarillo entered into a covenant and sealed a partnership with the Archdiocese of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, the capital of that Central American nation.
The signing ceremony, which took place at San Fernando Cathedral on May 13, 2001, reinforced the bond begun in 1999 in response to “Ecclesia in America,” Pope John Paul II’s plea for “One America.”
Following the country’s devastation from Hurricane Mitch in November 1998, Auxiliary Bishop Patrick Zurek and a small delegation from the archdiocese traveled to Honduras in 1999 to assess the immediate and long-term needs of people in the Archdiocese of Tegucigalpa.
Some of the problems included rebuilding the infrastructure as well as addressing ministry to the faithful. The covenant between the archdioceses was meant to be a mutually beneficial alliance, working on advances in social justice, liturgy, external debt reduction, migration and education.
During a visit to the Alamo city in December 2002, Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez of Tegucigalpa made his first public report on the progress of the sister relationship between San Antonio and Tegucigalpa, the Honduran Initiative.
The cardinal said a portion of the $82,000 collected by San Antonio Catholics in 2002 was applied to the construction of Centro de San Antonio in a new city located outside of Tegucigalpa called Divina Providencia, a self-contained subdivision built following the destruction of Hurricane Mitch. The center serves as an after-school day care. Aid was also used for construction of small homes, all-purpose buildings and church repair. In addition, funds were allocated for catechist training and materials, Bibles, catechisms, ritual books and lectionaries.
While in south Texas, the cardinal outlined continued needs for his archdiocese. They included library equipment, staff and materials needed for job training, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, parenting skills training and more catechetical material.
Recently, Bishop Zurek and Sister Janet Abbacchi, SSND, director of the Office of the Synod, visited San Antonio’s sister archdiocese in November of last year. During their trip, the duo was met at the airport in the Honduran capital by a delegation from Comisión de Enlace, the group which coordinates needs for funds provided by the Archdiocese of San Antonio to the Tegucigalpa Archdiocese.
The pair visited the completed Centro de San Antonio, a multipurpose center that contains a day care and nutrition center. The center gives mothers time to work and make a living and also provides an opportunity for their children to learn skills and build self-esteem. Centro de San Antonio also teaches baking, welding, electronics repair and computer programming.
The San Antonio prelate met with the Comisión de Enlace and was given a summary of projects funded up to that point. At a gathering with development recipients, the bishop recalled a simple story he was told by Mario, who ministers to former gang members. Almost all of the youth are marked by gang tattoos, which can be a literal death sentence in Honduras. The German government gave Mario three tattoo laser removal machines, while the San Antonio Archdiocese funds bought antiseptics and other media supplies needed for laser removal procedures.
“I received some of the money to save my kids,” said Mario. “The kids are not going to be safe.”
Just this summer, the Comisión de Enlace mailed to Bishop Zurek a full report of what has been done so far, along with a thank you letter and plaque from Cardinal Rodríguez.
Some of the communities assisted included such towns as Ojojona, Santa Ana, Yuscaran, Moroceli, Yoro, El Progreso, Texiguat, Valle de Angeles, Barrio El Calvario, Reitoca, Trajes, Guaymaca Orica, Barrio el Centro and Olanchito.
All but 315 of the funds have been spent on 52 projects, encompassing items such as audio equipment, liturgical books, Bibles, plastic chairs, writing desks, computers, albs, electric bills, CDs, projectors, loudspeakers, photocopiers, keyboards and most frequently, construction costs.
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