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January 2009: Missionary Blog of the National Director of the SPF |
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Our National Director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, Monsignor John Kozar, not only travels extensively worldwide for his work in supporting the worldwide missionary work of the Catholic Church through the S.P.F., but also blogs about his visits to missionary territories! His blogs are now accessible on the worldwide web: www.propfaith.blogspot.com.
In late November and early December, Monsignor Kozar visited the country of Nepal as well as Nagaland in Northeastern India. Nepal is known for its Himalaya Mountains, including 8 of the 10 highest mountains in the world, and best known for Mount Everest. Nepal is a country with more than 25 million inhabitants. Most of the 25 million inhabitants practice the Hindu religion. There are only 7,500 Catholics in Nepal. In May 2007, Pope Benedict XVI named Nepal-native Jesuit Father Anthony Sharma as the first Bishop of Nepal. Bishop Sharma hosted Monsignor Kozar for his visit less than two weeks ago. Among the places they visited were seven refugee camps where more than 110,000 refugees, mostly from Bhutan, live. Bishop Sharma also led Monsignor Kozar to visit the home of Salesian Father John Prakash, who was martyred during the unrest in Nepal last July.
In Nagaland, India, Monsignor Kozar also met Spanish missionary Sister Guadalupe. She was the very first Catholic to serve among the tribal people of Nagaland more than 60 years ago. The government originally invited Sister Guadalupe to visit Nagaland because of her nursing skills. She secretly planted religious medals in the soil. On her return visit during the visit of Monsignor Kozar, 58,000 Catholics welcomed her back!
For more details of these inspiring stories from the missions, visit Monsignor Kozar’s blog at www.propfaith.blogspot.com.
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