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| NEWSLETTER “The
Encounter with the Living Jesus Christ is the Path to Conversion, Communion
and Solidarity”
The Texas
Mission Council (TMC), a branch of the Texas Catholic Conference (TCC),
is the Texas Catholic Church’s organization that is responsible
for promoting and supporting the missionary work of the Catholic Church
of Texas in both Home and Foreign Missions.
Bishop John McCarthy, Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Austin, Texas, is Episcopal Moderator of the Texas Mission Council. In order
to enhance the missionary efforts of the Church, the Texas Mission Council
holds an annual three-day meeting in different areas of our state. This
meeting is open to the public and offers a wonderful opportunity to
learn about missions in today’s troubled world. The TMC’s annual Mission Conference, to be held this year at Cedarbrake (see below for details) provides an opportunity for all Catholics to come and share in the missionary vision of the Church. The Conference will have as Keynote speaker, Bishop Gregory Aymond, DD. and former foreign missioners, James P. Franz and Fr. Ralph Rogawski, O.P. Bishop
Aymond was formerly Director of the Society for the Propagation of the
Faith, Seminary Rector and Auxiliary Bishop in the Archdiocese of New
Orleans. The
Desert Apostolate of the The Desert Apostolate is the missionary outreach of the Diocese of Corpus Christi/Laredo to the inhabitants of some 25 towns and villages situated between Musquis and Ocampo, a large territory of the Diocese of Coahuila, across from the Big Bend National Park, in the State of Coahuila in Northern Mexico. Since 1972 groups of lay missionaries from our Diocese would make periodic visits to these desert ejidos and mining districts. On August 1, 1985 Bishop Rene H. Gracida established a more structured mobile mission outreach to this area. He called it the “Desert Apostolate Missions”, based it at San Agustin Church in Laredo and appointed Rev. Thomas A. Davis as Director. The nearest mission is an eight-hour drive from Laredo. With an annual budget of $60,000.00 from the Kennedy Foundation we made monthly trips from 5 to 10 days at a time. Several priests took turns always accompanied by a group of lay evangelizers. From 1985 to 1991 a great evangelization effort was made, several new chapels built and the Blessed Sacrament was reserved in about 6 of the ejidos. In April 1991 Diocesan priest, Rev. Noel Davis, was appointed Pastor of the parish of Ocampo, Coahuila, to which all these missions belong. He was also appointed Co-Director of the Desert Apostolate Missions, which were then extended to include the parish of Ocampo and its surroundings villages. The Apostolate now comprises the town of Ocampo, 25 ranches or villages and 2 mining districts, all with a total population of 15,000 people to whom at least 10,000 are practicing Catholics. In 1987 Bishop Rene H. Gracida visited the missions and administered the Sacraments of Confirmation to 185 candidates. In 1990 Bishop Francisco Villalobos of Saltillo, visited and confirmed 161 candidates. In 1992 the funding from the Diocese was discontinued after which the missions were supported by fund-raising events and voluntary donations. In that year a young man from the Diocese, Johnny Ramirez gave up on his efforts to become a priest and decided to work in the missions full-time for a small stipend. He has now completed 12 years of evangelizing retreats, forming small comunidades and as permanent leader and organizer he has been granted from Rome the same faculties as a deacon. In 1993 Rev. Noel Davis was transferred from Ocampo to Santo Nino Mission in Laredo and Rev. Robert Cumberland took his place at Ocampo. St. Patrick’s Church has financially supported the Desert Apostolate with some help from Santo Nino Mission for the past four years. We used to give Johnny Ramirez $1,000 per month this year increased to $2,000 per month to help him with operation of the 10 vehicles that are now used in there areas. We would like to see a revision of this mission outreach because what began 18 years ago as a Diocesan Commitment has ended up being a one-parish effort. It is self-evident that these missions will never become self-supporting, as some suggest, because of the extreme poverty and lack of basic resources. The majority of the villages do not enjoy the modern conveniences of electricity, running water or paved roads. Some villages have no schools and many lack the services of qualified teachers, doctors or nurses. The people endure the winter cold, wind and snow as the adobe houses afford inadequate protection. Their staple diet consists of beans and tortillas and even these basics items are often in short supply. The present recession, unemployment and increase in gasoline prices have increased the hardships of these good people and caused a lot of illness and malnutrition among the children. Because of the increasing number of non-Catholic evangelizers who visit the area it is very important that we continue his ministry to sustain the Catholic population in their loyalty to the Catholic faith and heritage. In the year 2002 some territory of the Diocese of Coahuila was divided to create the new Diocese of Pedras Negras with Bishop Alonso Gerardo Trevino as first Bishop of the new Diocese. Since that time Bishop Trevino has given the pastoral care of these missions to the two resident priests at Palau. They are now appointed to visit them on a regular basis. After consultation with these two priests and to help them as best as we can have decided to keep the groups from Laredo going there on a regular basis, that is monthly as far as possible. We have also been partnered with Houston Diocese in the pastoral care of the Diocese of Cemayagua in Honduras. We have made two trips to that Diocese and a team of nine missionaries from Cemayagua has also visited us in Laredo. We are also supporting the outreach of the S.I.N.E missionary team working across the border in the Diocese of Nuevo Laredo. Our own Diocese of Laredo established in August 2000 has its own mission territories. Laredo, as one of the fastest growing cities in the USA has over 20 colonias where immigrants are coming in great numbers and creating a great challenge to the missionary outreach of our Diocese. Rev. Msgr. Thomas A. Davis For
information about the Desert Apostolate or to participate in this mission
please e-mail, Awanda Whitworth, Secretary of the Texas Mission Council
mklawandaw@alo.com “Renewal,
Communion, and Solidarity in Mission” SCHEDULE Name_______________________________________Affiliation_________________________ Send
Registration and Fee to Fr. Jack Whitley, C.S.B.
The next Texas Mission Council Newsletter will come out on January 7, 2004. If our readers know of short, mission stories, please send them to - Awanda Whitworth, mklawandaw at aol.com. |
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