Columban Mission Collaborators in Peru

Columban Centre House in Lima, Peru. - Photo: St Columbans Mission SocietyColumban Centre House in Lima, Peru. - Photo: St Columbans Mission Society

It was around 9.00 pm when I arrived at the Columban Centre House in Lima. It was deserted. Being Saturday night, everyone was out and about celebrating baptisms, marriages or fiesta Masses, or all three in their respective parishes. So I poured myself a beer and sat on the veranda in the still warm air to ponder my next moves.

With the beer drained and the weekend parties warming up in the neighbouring houses and flats, plus the constant hum of traffic from the Pan-American highway, I opted to try to sleep off some of the accumulated jetlag from 15 hours Melbourne to Los Angeles, a 16-hour layover, and then eight hours into Lima - enough for one day.

I was awoken the next morning by the chatter and laughter of many voices outside my window. I took two glances. One through the window revealed groups of young adults scattered around the lawn and engaged in animated conversation. The other told me it was noon.

I shook myself, showered, dressed and ventured out to see what this was all about.

The bright sun and social atmosphere energised me. As I neared the groups, I didn’t recognise many from among those gathered, who looked past me as though I had not yet landed. Others ran up with the long-awaited ‘abrazos’ (embraces), questions about family, holidays and my trip back. All these coming at once made me feel so good to be back.

Then it was my turn to ask questions. What is going on here? Why are you all here on a Sunday? Back came the reply in unison: “We are now missionaries! Some of us are on a mission now, while others are preparing to go out. Frs Arrington, Vicente and Raymundo are offering us monthly courses.” Judging by the length of the line forming for refreshments, there must have been 150 parishioners offering themselves for the mission.

When I left Peru several months earlier, this was only being talked about amongst the Columbans and some parishioners. It came about because several Columban-founded parishes were becoming pastorally and financially sustainable at the same time; hence ready to be entrusted to the care of the local diocese. Many of the more active pastoral agents feared that the missionary charism would also fade with the exodus of the Columbans. They wanted to have a missionary experience while it was encouraged.

In my opinion, the Columbans in Lima listened to the Spirit speaking through the faithful and read the signs of the times. At that time in Lima, many experienced a call to accompany and encourage those poorly attended or abandoned communities in remote areas of the country. Many of these had left behind a life in the interior for work, education or health in the big cities, especially Lima. They carried sentimental reasons for wanting to care for their places of origin. They wanted to offer something of the experience of community and faith they had experienced in their more structured parish life in Lima.

So it was that in 1999 the Columbans in Lima launched a program called “Columban Mission Collaborators” (CMC). We offered preparation, a mission placement in coordination with the local parish where possible, and accompaniment for the missionaries themselves. This opportunity was open to parishioners with pastoral experience. They had to have something more than just goodwill to offer. This was no junket!

The contents of the course included something on the sacraments, as this would be the first request made to the missionaries. Next came scripture to help with celebrations and religious celebrations led by a lay person. Finally, lessons in group dynamics to enable leadership and listening. The topics were offered by a mix of Columbans, religious and lay, each according to his or her expertise. Before heading off on mission, each Columban Mission Collaborator was required to participate in some of the Sunday sessions and the four-week summer course for pastoral workers during the month of January.

At its peak, more than 200 Columban Mission Collaborators were scattered across the country, from Capuchica on the shores of Lake Titicaca in the southern Andes to Oxapampa in the selva (jungle) and Cajamarca in the northern Andes. Two examples of the faith and generosity of these devoted Mission Collaborators come from Miguel and Angel.

Miguel was a single man who lived making mattresses in a barrio in Lima. He offered to serve for a month in a parish near Cuzco. He stayed two years. Angel was one of the few people in the north of Lima with a stable job. He gave all his annual leave of four weeks to go on mission year after year.

Today only about 20 Columban Mission Collaborators serve four struggling communities on the north side of Lima. Here they accompany the poor in their efforts to create a more human life based on the life and message of Jesus and the possibilities uncovered through living in the community. Throughout the countryside, there are Christian communities that seemed dead but have revived thanks to their experience with the Mission Collaborators. Local leaders call the faithful to prayer and celebration.

There might be Mass only once a year, but the community continues to live and grow. This is all thanks to God for calling people to mission and speaking to the Columbans through the signs of the times.

Columban Fr John Hegerty worked in Peru for almost 50 years and now lives in retirement in Australia.

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