March 18, 2009

    I'm not too sure what to write about.  The new center for elderly people in the back of the parish center is nearly completed, a one-story drop-in facility that will provide meals and space for up to 60 "third-age" citizens.  They're already getting their meals, and a space in one of the classrooms in the four-story parish center itself, every day, thanks to the organization of volunteers and paid staff, all put together by two dedicated sisters who live a good distance, a mile almost, from the center.  That's a long walk on a hot afternoon, and the afternoons have been hitting the 90s lately!

    And there's a wake going on in the main church--we have no special chapel for holding the remains of departed loved ones, so the public Mass this evening will be celebrated with a casket on the side.  Chileans take this in stride, though--no problem.  The family will doubtless join the assembly, and many Massgoers will go over to view the body and pay their respects afterwards.  The man was not old, 52, and died of cancer.  Probably alcohol-related, his aspect is yellowish, indicated a bad liver

My Photo

Back in the Bunker

Interreligious dialogue in Chile

  • Catholic-Muslim cooperation
    Cooperation in common values, mutual spiritual enrichment and support.

Museum of Solidarity Salvador Allende

  • Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende
    I paid a visit recently to the new quarters of this collection, brought together at the request of the overthrown Socialist president of Chile.

Recent pix (updated December 2007)

  • Christmas Party 2007--Another Shot!
    A collection of fairly recent pictures--including the Christmas Party, 2007!

Santo Tomás Apóstol Parish

  • Watching the Leader
    I've been living, working and enjoying mission life in this working-class parish, serving the La Pintana area of southern Santiago, since May of 2007.

Secret Torture Center turned Peace Park

  • Visitors' book
    Democratically-elected leaders turned Villa Grimaldi--infamous in human rights reports of the 1970s and 80s--into a Park for Peace, with reminders of its dark and bloody history.

Theology Department

  • Good Eats!
    The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile's theology department gathered its teachers for a three-day workshop in the early days of January 2008, in the Termas de Cauquenes hotel a couple of hours' drive south of Santiago. On the agenda: moving the department to a new building, on a different campus!

Valparaiso, mi amor!

  • Pc190025
    Chile's principal port city, a little over an hour's drive from Santiago, preserves much of its pre-Panama Canal charm.

Walk for Peace

  • A Place to Remember, Cry, ...and Act
    Over a hundred people from several Catholic communities walked for hours on the hot afternoon of December 16th through the most violent areas of northern La Pintana, infamous for its drugdealing, gang conflict and gunfire. We wanted to proclaim our dream for a different kind of neighborhood, for streets free of violence and a society committed to greater equity in wealth and employment.
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