 Clinton's
Phyllis Morris OSF has been serving the Diocese of Chulucanas since its founding.
2005 will mark her 40th year in Peru. First as a teacher, later as a parish pastoral
agent and director of catechetics for the diocese, and now as financial director
and member of the diocesan pastoral coordination team, Sister Phyllis has traveled
the length and breadth of the mountainous diocese, wading through swollen rivers
and picking her way over rock slides to reach the people-mostly farmers, who subsist
on the food they produce as the weather permits.
A
Clinton Franciscan, Sister Phyllis grew up in Clinton and attended the former
St. Patrick School and Mount St. Clare Academy before entering the congregation.
Her work in Peru has varied from writing and
publishing teaching materials to traveling to the most remote villages to train
the liturgists and catechists who serve the people of their own villages. She
has done everything from keeping the diocesan financial records to computerizing
the bookkeeping after adapting car batteries to provide electricity for the computers.
Sister Phyllis has brought home to her Clinton
Franciscan sisters an understanding of the difficulties facing people living in
Chulucanas. She will speak at Prince of Peace Parish gatherings this coming spring.
| December
12, 2004
Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe Dear Parishioners and Friends,
Today
we begin a new adventure in building peace, not only at home, but also abroad!
Bishop Daniel Turley of the Diocese of Chulucanas is grateful that Prince of Peace
Parish is willing to work to establish meaningful bonds of faith, service,
and love with our brothers and sisters in Peru by helping establish a parish in
the remote town of Sapillica. | |
It
is the Holy Spirit who has led us to help build a parish in a poor part of our
world while we are preparing to build a new church for our own community.
We are building peace at
home and abroad!
Our goals for this endeavor are three-fold:
1.
Consciousness raising: We want to learn as much as we can about our
brothers and sisters in Peru - their faith, hopes, dreams, joys, challenges
and sorrows.
2. Fund raising: We want to share our blessings
with Peru. The immediate need is to build a parish center. The estimated
cost is between $20,000 to $30,000. We don't have to raise this entire amount,
but whatever we can do to help will be appreciated.
3. Awareness
raising: There is no better way to be aware of other people then to meet them.
We hope to send some parishioners to Peru to meet our brother and sister parishioners
in Sapillica. Wouldn't it be great if some of our parishioners could travel to
Peru as early as this summer?
Our
partnership with the Diocese of Chulucanas also will augment the good work the
Sisters of St. Francis of Clinton have been doing there for 40 years.
I
am sure that whatever we can do to learn, share, and be more sensitive to the
people in our sister parish will be blessed abundantly by God. Thank you for whatever
assistance, prayers and help you can give. Wishing you the peace
of Christ,
Father
Tony Herold |
