January, 2008
The Golden Jubilee Celebrations began in Lima, Peru.
On January 27th, 2008, the Society opened the celebrations of the Golden Jubilee Year with a Mass. The celebration took place at an open-air concelebrated Mass at Villa el Salvador for some 3,000 people led by Most Reverend Robert Hennessey, Auxiliary Bishop of Boston and an alumnus of the Society. Read more about the events in the article below, taken from the friends newsletter.

"What Is Good Is Never Finished" by Msgr. Finbarr O'Leary
Taken from friends, March 2008
These words came from the lips of Fr. Joe Martin, a priest from the Archdiocese of Boston, one of the founding missionaries, when he addressed the assembly gathered in Lima to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the St. James Society.

The occasion provided us the opportunity to remember, in a spirit of thanksgiving, our history beginning in 1958 when Cardinal Cushing created the Society. We begin this year to celebrate joyfully together as members, alumni, and friends this milestone in the development of our Society. With hope we look to the future inspired by the call to discipleship and missionary activity as outlined by the Fifth General Assembly at Aparecida in 2007 and the Third American Missionary Congress due to be held in Quito Ecuador in August 2008.

A contextual background on the social, political and cultural reality that faced the new missionaries arriving in Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador was painted by Fr. Gerry McCrane of Maryknoll, whose missionaries had arrived on the scene some years earlier. We wish to acknowledge our indebtedness to Maryknoll who befriended the Society when we first arrived, helping us to settle in and identify missions at San Ricardo, Lima, Peru, and at Our Lady of Fatima, at Santa Cruz Bolivia.

Fr. Roger Clarke reflected upon how Fr. Ray Cowell opened our first mission at Fatima in Latin America with the priests sleeping on the sacristy floor. This parish has since been sub divided into eight parishes.

With the skill of a story teller, Fr. Joe Martin illustrated the clash of cultural mindsets which the new missionary faced on arrival. Equally, Msgr. John Moriarty spoke about the Society’s missionary expansion to Ecuador: Duran, Guayaquil, and El Triumpho previously known as Los Sapos (the mouth of the frog). The first day of the conference ended with an impassioned presentation made by Fr. Gene Kirke on the “treasure in the field”. The buried treasure was hidden in a “museum church” which needed to be cleaned of grime and dirt only to discover that God had already pitched his tent among his people which Gene himself did when he joined this faith-filled people in their straw huts in the sands of Villa El Salvador.

Insight into the influence of the influx of foreign missionaries on the local Church was presented by Msgr. Alban Quinn, a Carmelite Father and Apostolic Administrator of the Prelature of Siquani in the mountain region of Peru. He referred to the foreign missionaries as a “Noah’s Ark”, a mixed bag, but all focused on the universal mission of the Church. These missionaries provided a new image of priesthood which included both positive and negative aspects. Love rather than fear was the thrust as the missionaries worked to free people from the burdens of poverty, and heal them of sickness. On the other hand, the foreign missionaries presented images of wealth and paternalism as evidenced by the large scale building programs.

The key note address on the theme of “Evangelization: being not an option but an imperative” was made by our President, Cardinal Seán O’Malley. Following the teaching of Pope John Paul II at Puebla we are called to teach about Jesus, His Church, and the development of the human person in a world dominated by the promotion of celebrities, yet suffering from boredom. Our focus of discipleship and mission must always be on “Jesus our mentor”.

“The present reality of mission; lights and shadows” was addressed by Fr. Colin MacInnes who spoke on the socio-political-ecclesial situation facing Ecuador. That nation is in political flux since the appointment last year of its new president Rafael Correa. Also, some elements of the hierarchy are unconcerned about the plight of the poor. He warned of the danger of the other extreme of promoting social projects without taking account of the need for prayer and an expression of the Church’s social teaching.

The same concern about the majority of Peruvian hierarchy, who appear out of touch, with the needs of the poor was voiced by Fr. John O’Leary. However, two notable exceptions did spell hope for the future. One was the active support of the Major Religious Superiors against the accusation of the Bishop of Juli who had accused the Maryknoll Fathers of corruption. The second being the technologically informed stand taken by the Church in confronting mining companies causing water pollution.

Hope for the future was addressed by Fr. Patrick Byrne SVD, a former missionary in Ecuador, who is now International Director of the Holy Childhood, in his address “Latin America the Hope of the Church”. Having traced the Old and New Testament background to the call to mission he demonstrated the changing face of mission through the documents of the Church. He made particular reference to the teaching of the Puebla Document which states that “although we may be poor we should give of our poverty” emphasizing that every local Church should become a missionary church. He stated no parish or diocese can exist unless it is missionary. He said, without a flame there is no fire, without mission there is no Church. He commented that unlike the practice of other native Churches whose emigrants were accompanied by their priests, the South American Church has not done so. Rather she has always been on the receiving end. Furthermore missiology is not considered a subject in many seminary courses in Latin America. It needs to move away from being a “maintenance Church” to become “a missionary church ”providing at least an exchange program within Latin American countries.

Reverse mission and the experience of the returned missionary was addressed by Frs. Dan O’Connell and John Ahern. Fr. Dan recalled having become a “changed man” while facing a reverse culture shock on returning to his diocese of origin in Savannah Georgia. He brought back with him the memory of a love of the image of Christ in the faces of the poor. This led him to discover a large number of Mexicans within his parish who had not been ministered to by previous pastors. He was able to introduce them to family catechetics instead of C.C.D. without any great difficulty. Although unaccustomed to Guadalupe spirituality, he had already been introduced to the affective aspect of Marian popular religiosity and a lively musical liturgy while on mission to Ecuador. He stressed the importance of the multicultural aspect of the Church and its defense of the rights of minorities at a time when the topic of immigration has become a political football.

In a similar vein, Fr. John Ahern from the diocese of Salford, England confirmed that he took back with him important lessons he had learned while on the mission in Peru. He acknowledged his indebtedness to the influence of Fr. Gustavo Guiterrez and Jorge Alverez Calderon about the importance of understanding and valuing culture as a pre-condition for evangelization. While on mission he learned the importance of being patient and respectful of people. Although each culture is different all are of equal value. Another contribution to the enrichment of his ministry was his introduction to Family Catechetics from its origins in Chile through Fr. Frank O’Leary. Bishop Kelly recognizing Fr. John’s commitment to Faith and Justice requested him to form groups in the diocese and also appointed him as a member of the “European Organization for Latin America”, and diocesan representative for Cafod which is the national Caritas organization for England and Wales.

The three day event of presentations ended with a talk given by Msgr. Allen Aganon on “discipleship and mission” as outlined in the document of Aparacida, and an application of “an option for the poor” in prison ministry in Guayquil by Fr. Frank Jones.

Msgr. Allen began by explaining that discipleship is not about being in power, or about being a reverend, it means walking with Jesus and His people. The Church is being asked by Aparacida to walk and understand how Jesus understood. To accept the invitation which Jesus made to his disciples “to come follow me”, to stay with Jesus, to learn to know the God of Jesus rather than our own concept of God. Mission means entering the minds and the hearts of the people through an understanding of their language and culture. This requires time as illustrated by the 30 years of inculturation of the hidden life of Jesus. Fr. Frank also provided a film on the Church’s mission of the “option for the poor” through the reform of a prison wing of the Guayaquil prison based on the principles of the Gospel . This project is now managed by a former prisoner and funded by the Social Services of Ecuador.

The week ended with a Jubilee Banquet on Saturday evening attended by the Apostolic Nuncio to Peru, the sending and receiving Bishops, alumni, friends, and the current members of the Society. On Sunday, the celebration of the Eucharist took place at an open air concelebrated Mass at Villa el Salvador for some 3,000 people led by Most Reverend Robert Hennessey, Auxiliary Bishop of Boston and an alumnus of the Society.

The success of this event can be said to be largely due to the collaboration and organization of the members of the Peru Region and the staff of the Center House for which I am most grateful. If the energy and good will generated by this event is a barometer of the current life of the Society the statement “what is good is never finished” means that the Society has a long and a great future.

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