24/7/2009
From: ACN News
Brazil: Hanging on until the priest arrives
Father Peter Shekelton visits some of the Amazon villages where few priests ever venture
Eva-Maria Kolmann
It takes 10 hours by boat to travel from the town of Itacoatiara to the villages on the Rio Arari, one of the tributaries of the Amazon. The people there had not seen a priest for six years, until Father Peter Shekelton arrived there.
In actual fact Father Peter, who is from England originally, normally works in the notorious Favelas, the slum quarters of São Paulo, where so many young people face a life with little hope and are left to wallow and drown in a morass of crime, prostitution and drug addiction. He spends his time bringing these young people the Good News that they too are loved by God. From him, for the first time, they learn that their life does indeed have meaning.
But in the summer time this young priest sets out for the Amazon region, where he visits villages that have not seen a priest for years. He is generally accompanied by a number of young people from São Paulo who have turned back and found Jesus Christ. Together they travel almost 3000 km. Here, on the banks of the Arari River, the Catholic faithful in over 30 villages are waiting with great longing for this priest and his young missionary companions. For them it has long been a dream that they might, at least once a year, be able to see a priest, join in the celebration of Holy Mass and receive the Sacraments. Now Father Peter comes to visit them each year. The young priest tells us, “When I visit the villages again a year later, I often discover that many of the faithful to whom I gave the sacraments the previous year have since died. Many of them died literally a day after I came. It is almost as though they had been hanging on, unwilling to die, until they had received the Sacraments".
The young missionaries who have accompanied the tireless Father Peter are likewise very active. They help him in every way they can – by giving instruction to the children, young people and adults, preparing for Holy Mass and registering the baptisms and weddings. They also help to give these jungle dwellers, who are almost completely cut off from the outside world, the feeling that they are not abandoned and forgotten. And so these young people from the hell of the favelas have become a symbol of hope for others.
Sadly though, Father Peter has to acknowledge again and again that many of the children whom he baptised just a year ago have since died. The medical provision in the jungle is appalling, and the people live in extreme destitution. Their villages can generally only be reached by boat and there is no one to help or show an interest in them – or at least, hardly anyone.... for in the meantime a growing number of Protestant sects are starting to arrive, in an attempt to woo away the Catholic believers. For the Catholic Church, Our Lord's words remain as true as ever: "The harvest is great but the labourers are few" (Mt 9:37). There is a need for hundreds of priests like Father Peter. But at any rate the seed he has sown with his hard work is beginning to bear fruit, for in the eight years he has now been working in Brazil he has been able to accompany no fewer than 20 young men who are now on their way to becoming priests themselves.
Father Peter Shekelton discovered his own vocation in 1991 as he sat in London's Westminster Cathedral listening to Father Werenfried van Straaten, the founder of the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), giving one of his famous talks. The cathedral was packed with people listening to Father Werenfried giving one of his inspiring sermons. There was a collection, of course, as there is every time, but then Father Werenfried boldly declared, "I would be willing to renounce this entire collection if just one young man among you were willing to offer his life in the service of Our Lord and proclaim the Kingdom of God as his priest!" At that instant, Peter instinctively knew, "I am that young man!"
Recently, he wrote to ACN, "At that time I didn't dare to ask Father Werenfried for the collection, but today I am asking you for a little of the money from the collection from back then". ACN has promised a grant of over $10,000 so that he and his young missionary companions can once again travel to visit the people on the Rio Arari in Amazonia. For Christ wishes to be living and present among the people in these jungle villages too. And so we in turn must support the priests who have discovered the "vineyard of the Lord" deep in the Amazon rainforest!
Aid to the Church in Need helps with the training of over 14,000 seminarians every year. To help this cause during the Year of the Priest please contact the Australian office of ACN on (02) 9679-1929. e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org or write to Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148. Web: www.aidtochurch.org
From: ACN News
Brazil: Hanging on until the priest arrives
Father Peter Shekelton visits some of the Amazon villages where few priests ever venture
Eva-Maria Kolmann
It takes 10 hours by boat to travel from the town of Itacoatiara to the villages on the Rio Arari, one of the tributaries of the Amazon. The people there had not seen a priest for six years, until Father Peter Shekelton arrived there.
In actual fact Father Peter, who is from England originally, normally works in the notorious Favelas, the slum quarters of São Paulo, where so many young people face a life with little hope and are left to wallow and drown in a morass of crime, prostitution and drug addiction. He spends his time bringing these young people the Good News that they too are loved by God. From him, for the first time, they learn that their life does indeed have meaning.
But in the summer time this young priest sets out for the Amazon region, where he visits villages that have not seen a priest for years. He is generally accompanied by a number of young people from São Paulo who have turned back and found Jesus Christ. Together they travel almost 3000 km. Here, on the banks of the Arari River, the Catholic faithful in over 30 villages are waiting with great longing for this priest and his young missionary companions. For them it has long been a dream that they might, at least once a year, be able to see a priest, join in the celebration of Holy Mass and receive the Sacraments. Now Father Peter comes to visit them each year. The young priest tells us, “When I visit the villages again a year later, I often discover that many of the faithful to whom I gave the sacraments the previous year have since died. Many of them died literally a day after I came. It is almost as though they had been hanging on, unwilling to die, until they had received the Sacraments".
The young missionaries who have accompanied the tireless Father Peter are likewise very active. They help him in every way they can – by giving instruction to the children, young people and adults, preparing for Holy Mass and registering the baptisms and weddings. They also help to give these jungle dwellers, who are almost completely cut off from the outside world, the feeling that they are not abandoned and forgotten. And so these young people from the hell of the favelas have become a symbol of hope for others.
Sadly though, Father Peter has to acknowledge again and again that many of the children whom he baptised just a year ago have since died. The medical provision in the jungle is appalling, and the people live in extreme destitution. Their villages can generally only be reached by boat and there is no one to help or show an interest in them – or at least, hardly anyone.... for in the meantime a growing number of Protestant sects are starting to arrive, in an attempt to woo away the Catholic believers. For the Catholic Church, Our Lord's words remain as true as ever: "The harvest is great but the labourers are few" (Mt 9:37). There is a need for hundreds of priests like Father Peter. But at any rate the seed he has sown with his hard work is beginning to bear fruit, for in the eight years he has now been working in Brazil he has been able to accompany no fewer than 20 young men who are now on their way to becoming priests themselves.
Father Peter Shekelton discovered his own vocation in 1991 as he sat in London's Westminster Cathedral listening to Father Werenfried van Straaten, the founder of the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), giving one of his famous talks. The cathedral was packed with people listening to Father Werenfried giving one of his inspiring sermons. There was a collection, of course, as there is every time, but then Father Werenfried boldly declared, "I would be willing to renounce this entire collection if just one young man among you were willing to offer his life in the service of Our Lord and proclaim the Kingdom of God as his priest!" At that instant, Peter instinctively knew, "I am that young man!"
Recently, he wrote to ACN, "At that time I didn't dare to ask Father Werenfried for the collection, but today I am asking you for a little of the money from the collection from back then". ACN has promised a grant of over $10,000 so that he and his young missionary companions can once again travel to visit the people on the Rio Arari in Amazonia. For Christ wishes to be living and present among the people in these jungle villages too. And so we in turn must support the priests who have discovered the "vineyard of the Lord" deep in the Amazon rainforest!
Aid to the Church in Need helps with the training of over 14,000 seminarians every year. To help this cause during the Year of the Priest please contact the Australian office of ACN on (02) 9679-1929. e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org or write to Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148. Web: www.aidtochurch.org