Solidarity links everyone around the world

As head of the diocesan Propagation of the Faith office, Father Farano is responsible for promoting awareness of the Church's missionary work and raising money for missions. He wanted to see a mission firsthand; so last month, he spent two weeks in Itaituba, Brazil.

The U.S. bishops have said in several documents that the Catholic social teaching of solidarity means "we are our brothers' and sisters' keepers, wherever they may be."

Catskillian

A prelacy, Father Farano noted, is an area not yet developed enough to be called a diocese. Bishop Heim's prelacy is about the size of New York and New England together, located in the rain forest along the Tapajos River. Itaituba, its main city, has a waning population of about 100,000.

The Church in the Itaituba prelacy is fighting an uphill battle. Two nuns and 15 priests -- foreigners from religious orders -- must serve about 350,000 people, 95 percent of whom are Catholic.

Programs

Those catechists teach others in small Christian communities at urban chapels and hold Communion services in the countryside when consecrated hosts are available. A priest may visit a parish once every month or two -- and spend a great deal of time officiating at all the Baptisms and weddings that have awaited his presence.

In addition, the missionaries run a health program where mothers can learn about nutrition for their infants, and a well-baby program that teaches how to avoid disease.

Since the rain forest is a bounty of natural herbs, missionaries also teach about using herbal medicine. The Church also sponsors programs like Alcoholics Anonymous and advocates for the human rights of the people.

Solidarity

When it came to caring for the world, Father Farano found much to be concerned about in Brazil. While flying over the countryside, he saw the vast tracts of the rain forest that had been cleared for cattle farming and lumbering.

He noted that the Brazilian people don't benefit much by either practice: Logging companies take the trees and leave devastation behind; and only a few local people are hired as cowboys to herd the cattle. The average income in the area is about $70 a month.

Welcome

He visited an indigenous family that lives in a crumbling riverfront settlement, abandoned after the Dupont company closed its rubber plantations there. The family's bathroom is an outhouse with a sheet-metal "door." But even in their poverty, they happily served the visitors lunch.

"All they had to offer was fish, and that's what they offered," Father Farano remarked. "The people are wonderful."

Interdependence

"Because of the interdependence among all members of the human family around the globe," the U.S. bishops say in a document titled "Faithful Citizenship," "we have a moral responsibility to commit ourselves to the common good at all levels: in local communities, in our nation, in the community of nations....As Pope John Paul II has said, `We are all really responsible for all.'"

Father Farano told The Evangelist that he was surprised at the Brazilian people's interest in world affairs. He attended a meeting at an Itaituba chapel where natives asked questions of the American visitor, and people wanted to know about Third World debt relief and how the U.S. was handling the vocations crisis.

"I was generally touched by all the people I met," the priest stated. "The Church plays a major role in their life: worship, a place to socialize."

Perspective

"I made a trip like this so I could refresh in my own mind what it means to proclaim the Gospel in a culture that's very foreign to me," he noted. Now, when he speaks to people in the Albany Diocese about donating to the missions, he will "let the case persuade" them.

In "Sharing Catholic Social Teaching," the U.S. bishops expressed their own concern for Americans who forget that we are part of a global community: "Our culture is tempted to turn inward, becoming indifferent and sometimes isolationist in the face of international responsibilities. This virtue [of solidarity] is described by Pope John Paul II as `a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good.'"

Father Farano said this ideal is the basis for the work of the Propagation of the Faith office.

"It's what the Church is all about: `Go out and teach all nations,'" he said.

(03-14-02) [[In-content Ad]]