It was an experience that touched our hearts with the light of the Gospel, inviting us to recognize Jesus even when our human blindness prevents us from seeing him. He manifests himself in every moment of our lives, offering us the freedom to choose our paths. Inspired by the attitude of the disciples of Emmaus, who chose the path of proclamation and the breaking of bread, we understood the necessity of sharing this experience with our brothers and sisters, thus transforming our lives and our commitment to the mission.
As Comboni Lay Missionaries, we are called to follow this same path: to proclaim with joy and to place ourselves at the service of those most in need. This learning experience was deepened during the retreat held on August 1, 2, and 3 at the Laudato Si’ Center in Lima, Peru, under the guidance of Fr. Gianni Gaiga MCCJ, renewing our commitment to live and transmit the love of Christ in the world.
Pronouncement of the Commission “Justice, Peace and Integration of Creation”.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.” Mt 5.9
The Comboni Missionaries (MCCJ), the Comboni Missionary Sisters (CSM) and the Comboni Lay Missionaries (CLM), present in the Coast, Highlands and Jungle of Peru, we join the call for peace with social justice, that different instances and institutions of our civil society and the church, have been requesting, and echoing the words of our Pope Francis and our pastors: “Violence, extinguishes the hope of a just solution to the problems, which encourages us to the path of dialogue.” No more violence wherever it comes from!
Faced with the serious social crisis that our country is going through, with increasingly worrying levels of violence, we call on our authorities to summon representatives of all possible sectors to a fraternal dialogue table to listen to us and seek solutions to the crisis in the short, medium and long term. We are not listening to each other! Many of us are using terms that divide, stigmatize, offend and discriminate. Let us look for terms and strategies that unite us, let us be bridges of union and reconciliation. May each one of us become an instrument of peace!
The pandemic showed us with crudeness, as in an x-ray, the weaknesses we have as a country: poverty, inequalities, the precariousness accumulated for decades of our health system, also of unequal education, regions and towns forgotten by the State where there is a lack of basic services such as water, sewage, a medical post, etc. How many of these demands are already being met?
We are a rich country not only because of our minerals, but also because of the diversity and cultural richness of our people. Enough of belittling ourselves because of the color of our skin or the place we come from. We are all Peruvians with the same rights and the same duty to move our country forward. Our differences must become a channel of grace and blessing for our people.
We call on the political class and our authorities to interpret the generalized discontent in our country and to use all legal and democratic tools to find a solution as soon as possible to this crisis that has been taking human lives and paralyzing the country. For decades, we have been observing how our politics has been increasingly degrading to levels that are difficult to understand. There is a contained rage, which is beginning to express itself in ever greater forms of violence. However, we all have the right to demonstrate in a peaceful, just and democratic way, but never in a violent and destructive way wherever it comes from! It is not possible that the current congress is more concerned with passing bills that favor their own interests, while the people they represent suffer loss of life. It is incomprehensible that, in 6 years, we are already on our sixth president and that, of the last 10 presidents of Peru, 7 of them are in trouble with the justice system for corruption crimes. How is it possible that, of the 26 regional governments, most of them are also being investigated for corruption, as well as many provincial and district mayors’ offices? Corruption means fewer schools, fewer hospitals, fewer roads and fewer opportunities for all!
We ask all the members of the Comboni Missionary Family, in its various sectors: mission, formation, animation and all those close to us and committed to our work, to continue to bet on life, for it is the greatest gift that God has given us and to continue working for peace and for the good of our families, for being the cradle and first school of values that make a dignified life possible. Let us continue working so that these difficult times we are going through may make us more human and more brothers and sisters. May Our Lady of Peace intercede for us!
Back to Lima where I spent a couple of days. Spending the night in a bed is always appreciated. I was also able to celebrate Mario’s birthday with the family.
But soon it was time again to take another bus, this time to Arequipa where our international CLM community is located.
Arequipa, in the south of the country, is about 18-20 hours away from Lima. This time I did not travel alone but I was accompanied by Rosa and Rosalia, two CLMs from Lima.
This time I could stay a whole week in a row, a real luxury.
Again we stayed at the Comboni Missionaries’ house where we were very well received. Most of the time we would be with Ewelina but we also spent time with the Comboni missionaries to get to know in depth the work they do in the very large parish they are in charge of.
The week in Arequipa was also quite intense. In these trips, time is always short to get to know everything.
In the first place, I would highlight the extension of the parish. We, in particular, develop our missionary service in Villa Ecológica where Ewelina and Rossie live. But in Villa we should distinguish many sectors. Villa is a newly settled neighborhood where the asphalt has been left at the gates and public transport only enters through the main avenue regularly and to reach one of its ends you must do it at rush hour or it does not compensate them, so that the rest of the day you are isolated and the only thing left is to walk.
In these neighborhoods people come from the interior of the country looking for a better life, a job in the city with which to get ahead. When you arrive you have to look for a lot (piece of land) that you can afford, pay for it and build a small house to show that you own it. This money goes to the community who will use it for common work. Saturdays or Sundays are the community work day because if the community does not do this work things will not get done. They have to make terraces on the hillsides, open streets, make sure that water reaches everywhere, build retaining walls to prevent landslides when there is an earthquake or heavy rain….
Life in these neighborhoods during the pandemic has been very hard. Most of the inhabitants make a living from small businesses. What they sell one day gives them enough to eat the next, but when any possibility of going out to sell was closed, the situation became very difficult. At that time the common cooking pots began to proliferate (we saw the same in Lima and other cities). Two or three women cooked for 50, 60 or 70 families. Many of these pots are still maintained because the population continues to need them. And in the organization and support of these pots was always the parish, collecting aid and supporting with food to alleviate this difficult situation.
For us the work has a lot to do with visiting the families in their homes, getting to know their needs and accompanying them. From the work of the cradle (school for children from 2 to 5 years old) we also support and do important work, not only with the children, but also with their families.
Education is the engine of development and dignity of all peoples.
One morning we went with Fr. Conrado and Fr. Valentin to visit the parish by car and we needed 3 or 4 hours to go around and get close to some parts of it, not even all, to know the different sectors, the challenges that are opening as people continue to occupy and reach new lands. The last chapel will be at almost 3000 meters above sea level at the foot of Misti (emblematic volcano of 5800 meters above sea level that guards the whole city of Arequipa).
During the week we were able to accompany Ewelina in her work in the cradle, in the catechetical groups, where 50 adults were confirmed and new groups continue to be opened. Her work with the youth, with the elderly we were not able to be there because it did not coincide.
We were also able to visit his home in Villa where together with Rossie (who was in the USA that week to settle some legal and medical matters) they share their daily life with their neighbors and the many dogs that occupy the streets of Villa. There was plenty of time to talk and understand the day to day life of the community.
We also took some time to visit the city, especially the center, with the cathedral, the Plaza de Armas, the Jesuits, etc. A very beautiful historic center, with a colonial character, which makes Arequipa an increasingly touristy place.
In Arequipa there is also the possibility of opening a new group of local CLM, which for the moment will be animated by Rossie and Ewelina but which Rosa and Rosalia attended in the presentation to present how they are organized in Peru and to establish a first link with the candidates and an awareness that being in one place or another we all belong to the same CLM family and we have a common mission.
Undoubtedly an intense week from which I bring back many images and knowledge to share with those who are preparing in the future to continue our international presence in Peru.
I leave here another video of the reality in Arequipa, it is already some years old but it also orients us in the reality of Arequipa).
On the way back to Lima and after 20 hours of travel I went out to buy some handicrafts to give as gifts on my return and above all to do missionary animation in Spain.
To finish the trip I had a meeting with all the CLM of Peru, those of Lima in person and those of Trujillo or Arequipa by internet, to talk about what the continental meeting has meant and to see how to continue advancing.
I spent the last day with Fr. Joselín, provincial of Peru, to talk about my stay during the month, to learn more about Peru and the Comboni presence and to take a walk for a while.
A month that has flown by between meetings and trips. Now it is time to digest and pray all that I have experienced and I hope it will be of benefit to all the people with whom I have been able to share this time.
Kind regards
Alberto de la Portilla, coordinator of the CLM Central Committee.
After a 15-hour bus ride from Pangoa I returned to Lima where Mario (the CLM coordinator in Peru) was patiently waiting for me at the station in spite of the 3-hour delay in the trip.
I took advantage of that day to share it with him at his work, to see the day to day and the many other occupations he has.
That same night I took another bus to Trujillo where the CLM that live there were waiting for me.
In Trujillo I stayed with the Comboni community, where as always I felt at home. The first morning I went for a walk downtown with Fr. Luis, a German Comboni Missionary with decades of experience in Peru. It was a very pleasant time to talk and listen about the evolution of the country, the new challenges and some Comboni missionary history.
In the afternoon, after concluding the work day, the CLM picked me up and we were able to spend some time together. It was an intense weekend where I was able to visit the neighborhood in the periphery where they carry out their missionary service, the little schools, the visits to the families, the catechesis of youth and children….
We also had a good time to share what life is like in Trujillo, and how the CLM group is doing. We took time to share our experiences in Lima as well as any doubts they might have, to ask about other CLM realities in the world and so on.
One of the days was dedicated to do some sightseeing, to get to know another of the many pre-Hispanic cultures that have passed through Peru and we even had another moment to visit the beach and the Totora horses.
Walking and talking was our main activity. Helping to understand our vocation, the challenges ahead and encouraging….
It is always a privileged moment to accompany our CLM in the places where they are present and carry out their mission. To see first hand the realities they accompany and the affection they put into it.
I leave you another video of Pueblo de Dios where you can see the reality of Trujillo (it is an older video but it helps us to see the reality of the Comboni work in Trujillo).
Kind regards
Alberto de la Portilla, coordinator of the CLM Central Committee.
Once the meeting was over and after saying goodbye to the participants from the different countries, I left for Pangoa, a town in the Peruvian jungle where our CLM have been doing missionary support during their vacations, especially for school support in the indigenous communities.
There I was received by the Comboni community who welcomed me very well. I had the opportunity to meet again Fr. Maciek, whom we met in Poland where he was supporting the CLM, and Fr. Lorenzo, who until a few months ago accompanied the CLM in Spain. During the three days of my stay I was able to visit the different services provided by the parish, how they attend to the people coming from the different indigenous communities, the visit to the Daniel Comboni school, where I was able to share some time with the older students, the visit to the cultural center that is being built and that will undoubtedly help a lot to make known the reality of the indigenous communities and to promote meetings that will strengthen their culture.
On the other hand, we had the opportunity to visit some of the indigenous communities closest to Pangoa. The territory of the parish is immense and getting into it requires an all-terrain car with 4-wheel drive to avoid getting stuck in the mud or the use of canoes to reach the most remote communities.
Pangoa is undoubtedly a parish full of needs and opportunities for missionary service. Who knows if one day we will be able to open an CLM presence in the area?
On the occasion of my visit we took the opportunity to organize a meeting with some people interested in becoming CLM. It was a small introductory meeting that we hope will serve as a seed that will later be nurtured and watered with missionary fruits in the area.
I leave you a video of the area recorded by the program Pueblo de Dios de España.
Kind regards
Alberto de la Portilla, coordinator of the CLM Central Committee.
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