On July 18, Fernando Cordero and Thomas Sukotriraharjo visited the sscc brothers of Valparaíso, as well as the Church of the Sacred Hearts, where they prayed for the sscc brothers who rest in the crypt, among them, Fr. Mateo Crawley-Boevey sscc. They then visited St Damian of Molokai School. The work of the SSCC Board of Trustees explained their work to them which involves looking after children and women at risk of social exclusion. In the afternoon, in Viña del Mar, they had the opportunity to appreciate the facilities of the SSCC School, where they met with the management team and later talked about their visit to Chile with two groups of young people who happened to be meeting at that time in the local centre. The final part of the day was dedicated to the parish of ‘Jesus Christ Missionary’ where they visited several churches and Fernando and Thomas were able to make contact with one of the base communities there, as well as greet Matías Valenzuela, the postulants and participants in the vocational meeting that was running during those days.
From July 19 to 22 they have been in contact with the community and the pastoral reality of the sscc brothers of Diego de Almagro, located in the Atacama desert, specifically in a town that suffered floods in 2015 and was profoundly devastated. The sscc community here serves the parish of the Holy Spirit in Diego de Almagro, and the population of Inca de Oro with 900 inhabitants. Fernando and Thomas’ arrival coincided with the celebration days and festivities associated with the Virgen del Carmen, the local patron, so they witnessed the religious dances and celebrations, both of the locals and of the visitors - and the pastoral attention that is given to all. The brothers, who live in a house built by themselves in an emergency neighbourhood - built after the storms - perform domestic chores, work with stone and are very integrated into the life of the population of 8,000 inhabitants, with its large transitory population . Both in Diego de Almagro and in La Tirana, Fernando and Thomas have been able to feel the popular Chilean religiosity and its value in the ecclesial life, in which there is a strong presence of children, youth, adults and the elderly.
During these days, Thomas and Fernando have been accompanied by the Provincial Superior, René Cabezón.
More photographs can be seen by clicking this link: https://bit.ly/2YnoVUy
07/24/2019