Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Punta Arenas (Agenzia Fides) – Sister Silvia Barañados, adviser and school pastoral care minister, together with seven religious sisters and some youth from Punta Arenas, profited from the winter vacation period by taking their witness of closeness to Curanilahue and Coliumo, places struck by the earthquake of 27 February 2010. As described in the message received by Fides from the Chilean Episcopal Conference, the initiative was borne out of necessity to send help to the earthquake-affected areas, and also by the desire to maintain contact with the Social Pastoral Ministry of Caritas within the Archdiocese of Concepcion.
For the physical, social and economic rehabilitation areas of the community project, put in place by the Social Pastoral Ministry of Caritas of Concepcion, the missionary religious sisters from the “Maria Auxiliadora” School in Punta Arenas and some members of JUSAM youth group are staying at the Gabriela Mistral School until 29 January for the school's “holiday oratory.”
Sister Silvia explained that the holiday oratory “is a fixed time for games, one for animation, and therefore for sharing a forceful moment of proclamation: there is good news that we bring, the proclamation of Jesus who loves us. In this way, the catechesis, targeted and based on the reality in which we find ourselves, where perhaps not everyone is a believer nor a Catholic, giving us the possibility to work on communal values. We also provide the opportunity to receive food aid, with the support of Caritas.”
During times of community prayer, the missionary religious sisters shared their impressions, flowing from the meetings in these places, because they come from a different reality. They were particularly affected by the camp experiences where displaced people were gathered, who did not just stir their sensibilities, but also stimulated a life committed to being less needy, more simple and more sympathetic. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 24/01/2011)
