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Home > Augustinian Missions > Church at Work in Peru > Pastoral Agents Visit Remote Villages
Typical Catholic parishes in northern Perú include a central town plus 40 to 100 small villages in the surrounding area. Visiting these villages often requires a journey of a day or more on foot. Consequently, the most remote villages may experience a pastoral visit less than once per year.
Fr. Telmisto Román, O.S.A., was Pastor of Parroquia Nuestra Seņora de la Asunción, Pacaipampa, Perú. He tells about pastoral visits to every village in his parish.
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Our parish in Pacaipampa is a very challenging one, first of all because of the poverty of our people and secondly because it is very large and includes about 90 small villages scattered in the Andes Mountains. We have finished our pastoral visits to each village. This is no small task because of the distances involved and because we do most of our pastoral visits on foot. In the villages we find faith, courage, hope, happiness and positive spirits as well as negative spirits, frustration and discouragement. We keep on. Some families, sincere in their faith, recognize their duty to support the work of the Church in their area, but it is plain to us that they have barely enough to live on day by day. Many of them would very much like to have a church building for their village, but there is no way to make this happen. |
 Pacaipampa, Perú is located in the mountains of northern Perú. The Augustinian-staffed Catholic parish there, Nuestra Seņora de la Asunción, includes the town of Pacaipampa itself plus 90 small villages scattered about in the mountains. Distance, time and difficulty of travel make visits from pastoral agents rare in the more remote villages. |
 Augustinian Brothers Juan Carlos Castro and Richard Jiménez prepare to leave for a pastoral visit to remote villages surrounding Pacaipampa, Perú. They were in Pacaipampa for a Pastoral Year, part of their seminary formation. |
Our main parish church, Nuestra Seņora de la Asunción, is being renovated with the support of the local government. Bishop Daniel Turley, O.S.A., visited recently and administered the sacrament of Confirmation to 450. It was a very special event. The members of our parish covered most of the expenses of eight missionaries, some of them lay people and some religious, who traveled to the village of Huarmaca for a week-long visit in October. The purpose of this trip was to make pastoral visits to the 16 surrounding towns. Some of these had no pastoral visit for 10 or 12 years. Over a period of time, our parish set aside $250 to cover the expenses. That helped greatly. Augustinian seminarians take time off from their studies for a Pastoral Year as part of their formation. Some of them have helped in the pastoral visitation program of our parish. Thank you to all who help to support our work. |
» Making Much with Little
Grassroots Pastoral Plan in the Catholic Diocese of Chulucanas, Peru
» Social and Economic Development
Helping the poor to help themselves in Northern Peru
» The Bishop Visits
Pastoral visits in Peru are a time of special blessing
» Augustinians Return to San José Obrero
Friars resume ministry in Chulucanas parish after five-year absence
» Children of Peru: The Working Child
Peruvian children must work to help their family make ends meet
» Children of Peru: The Child at School
The life of a young student in the mountains of Peru
» Education in Peru: The Peruvian School System
Characteristics of schools in Peru
» Heart to Heart Project
Helping poor Peruvian children to remain in school
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