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Annual Appeal and Collection |
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 The 2010 Annual Collection for the support of the Latin America Apostolate took place on the weekend of July 31-August 1, 2010. But there's still to give! Please help us to continue this extraordinary missionary work by offering your prayers, sacrifices, and donations. Our St. Louis priest missionaries and the people they serve in Bolivia depend on our support.
The work of these dedicated missionaries has produced much fruit in various places. Among the parishes once staffed by our missionaries are Cristo Rey Parish in La Paz, San Agustin Parish in Viacha, and Sagrada Familia Parish in Arica, Chile. Other parishes still being served by our missionaries are Maria Reina Parish in La Paz, Santiago Parish in Calamarca, and the Vicariate of the Pando in Riberalta, where Bishop Morgan Casey is the local Ordinary.
Vicariate of the Pando – Riberalta
 Bishop Morgan Casey serves over 150,000 Catholics in northeast Bolivia in a region known as the Vicariate of the Pando, in the town of Riberalta. It is located near the Amazon River and borders Brazil. The climate is humid and tropical, and it remains one of the poorest regions of Bolivia.
Several times a year, Bishop Casey journeys many miles into the jungle aboard a small boat to bring the Sacraments and Jesus’ message of hope and love to his people. Bishop Casey has also worked hard to train native priests. At the present time, he is the only member of the clergy from the United States in the Vicariate of the Pando. After over 26 years as a Bishop, Bishop Casey knows that he must prepare the Bolivian people for a time when he will no longer be present, and become more self-sufficient, both in supplying their own native priests, and for the funding of the church.
Maria Reina Parish - La Paz
 Fr. Patrick Hayden primarily serves as Pastor of Maria Reina Parish, which covers 14 neighborhoods on the steep hillsides of La Paz. There are over 75,000+ inhabitants in the parish. Fr. Jim Michler has written that the economic crisis has made life even more difficult for these poor in Bolivia than in the past. Thanks to you, our benefactors from the Archdiocese of St. Louis, a health clinic continues to operate for Maria Reina Parish, which has treated over 5,000 patients per year in the past. Sr. Guichy Loma Aliaga, C.PP.S. directs the clinic. Food for those suffering from malnutrition is available, as well as medicine and medical treatment by a doctor, dentist, and nurses. Due to fewer donations to the LAA, less revenue is available to maintain the same hours of operation of the health clinic. Your support is very much needed for the clinic to remain a lifeline for the desperately poor in Maria Reina Parish.
Fr. Hayden and Fr. Michler both help to train seminarians for the priesthood in La Paz. Of the two newly ordained priests and two newly ordained deacons in La Paz, one of each of them spent two years as seminarians at Maria Reina Parish. They also work extensively with lay leaders from the parish to train them for catechetical work and sacramental preparation among the children, youth and adults. Some leaders also host small communities in their homes to pray and reflect together on Sacred Scripture and how best to witness to their faith and help evangelize and serve in their neighborhoods. Such training is helping to form missionary disciples: the goal of the great Continental Mission now underway in all Latin American countries under the direction of the local Bishops in conjunction with the Conference of Bishops of Latin America (CELAM).
Santa Barbara Chapel - El Vergel
 One goal of Fr. Hayden and the people has been the construction of a chapel called Santa Barbara in a neighborhood called El Vergel. Thanks to the faithful of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, and primarily the Catholics of St. Clare of Assisi Parish in Ellisville, a new church is under construction. Fr. Hayden has emphasized that the obra fina, or interior work on the church, has only just begun. There are still no pews, lighting, windows, interior plumbing, or permanent fixtures such as an altar, ambo, tabernacle, baptismal font, confessionals, or liturgical supplies. The people of this neighborhood have been raising what funds they can through contributions of meals they prepare and sell. Given the great poverty in which they live, without outside assistance, some of these basic liturgical needs will remain out of reach. There is still much that remains to be done. Your support can help to make a difference!
Santiago Parish - Calamarca
 Over and above their work in Maria Reina Parish, Fr. Hayden and Fr. Michler also celebrate the sacraments in Santiago Parish—a rural parish in the town of Calamarca, about an hour’s drive outside of La Paz. Thirty villages belong to this one parish that covers nearly 600 square miles with roughly 10,000 parishioners. Due to the severe shortage of priests, there is no resident priest. An Aymara permanent deacon, Francisco Zuleta, administers the parish. He has served in Santiago Parish for over 25 years. Yet the lack of a resident priest means that Mass is celebrated in each village only three times per year.
St. Louis Review: Missionary Bishop Excited About Evangelization Effort in South America
By Joseph Kenny
July 30, 2010
 Bishop Morgan A. Casey, a missionary serving in one of the most remote areas of Bolivia, is excited about an evangelization initiative there.
The Church in Bolivia and other South American countries has established permanent efforts to "go out in mission to look for fallen-away Catholics and nominal Catholics who have been baptized and never practiced the faith to incorporate them actively in the Church," Bishop Casey said in St. Louis last week while visiting friends and relatives.
Read more...
Please Give Generously to the Latin America Apostolate Collection
By Archbishop Robert J. Carlson
July 23, 2010
Dear Friends in Christ,
Since 1956, the Latin America Apostolate of the Archdiocese of St. Louis has enabled us as an archdiocese to fulfill the missionary mandate of Our Lord: "Go into the whole world, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Mt 28: 19). The shortage of native Bolivian priests and the request by the papal nuncio to Bolivia made to Archbishop Ritter was the reason our St. Louis missionary priests were sent to serve there. In 2010, two native Bolivian priests were ordained for service of the Archdiocese of La Paz. Both had spent part of their seminary formation in apostolic work in Maria Reina Parish in La Paz, where most of our St. Louis priest missionaries serve in Bolivia.
Read more...
St. Louis Review: Apostolate Helps Fight Malnutrition in Bolivia
By Joseph Kenny
July 23, 2010
 Help is needed in the fight against malnutrition and other social problems in Bolivia, and Catholics of the archdiocese will have the chance to contribute through an annual collection for the Latin America Apostolate at Masses the weekend of July 31-Aug. 1.
Sister Guillermina (Guichy) Loma Aliaga, a Bolivian member of the Most Precious Blood Sisters, whose motherhouse is in O'Fallon, directs a health clinic and outreach center at Maria Reina Parish in La Paz. The clinic, staffed by missionary priests from the Archdiocese of St. Louis, has treated more than 5,000 patients a year by providing food for those suffering from malnutrition, as well as medications and treatment by doctors, dentists and nurses.
Read more...
St. Louis Review: Missionaries Give 'Street Kids' a Brighter Future
By Joseph Kenny
July 23, 2010
Most Precious Blood Sister Carol Donohue works in Cochabamba, Bolivia, with children who live on the streets or are at risk of becoming "street kids." The challenges are many, she said in a recent visit to St. Louis, where she formerly worked in education, housing, Hispanic ministry and with homeless people.
Read more...
As a former missionary in La Paz and in his role as Director of the Latin America Apostolate, Monsignor Blood is grateful for the support that has been given to the Latin America Apostolate. He is thankful for your generous support to continue the extraordinary work of all of our St. Louis priest missionaries!
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Archdiocese of St. Louis: Mission Office
20 Archbishop May Drive, Saint Louis, MO 63119 • missions@archstl.org
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