Contact: Mike Virgintino, Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, 914-941-7636 ext 2219
MARYKNOLL, N.Y., March 4, 2013 /Christian Newswire/ -- "Peacemaking and Reconciliation," with stories that reflect Maryknoll's work among migrant workers and transient populations around the world, is the theme for the March-April issues of "Maryknoll" magazine and the Spanish-language "Revista Maryknoll."
Maryknoll's magazines are published by the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, the foreign mission society of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. Current and recently published issues of both Maryknoll magazines can be viewed online (maryknollsociety.org/index.php/magazines).
One article focuses on the mission work of Father Robert Wynne. A native of Worcester, Massachusetts, Father Wynne oversees the Anlong Knang Maryknoll Center outside of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. His program offers school support to children, counsels people affected by AIDS/HIV, and provides a crafts program for women in a nearby shantytown.
"Maryknoll supports children with money for the week," said Father Wynne about his school program. For the women who live in the shantytown, he said that Maryknoll wants "the women to become independent" and obtain some level of self-sufficiency. A video about Father Wynne's work can be seen on YouTube at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjaZgX5hh80.
U.S. Mission
Back home, in Hamilton, Ohio, the story about former Maryknoll priest associate Father Michael Pucke explains how he has brought his missionary experience from Chile to his current ministry. A Maryknoll priest associate is a diocesan priest who temporarily serves in Maryknoll's overseas missions. Now, at St. Julie Billiart parish, Father Pucke helps unite diverse communities within the parish.
"I'm sure Jesus wants a church without borders," said Father Pucke, whose roots are in Cincinnati. "My experience with Maryknoll enriched me in how to accompany a community on its journey. I learned from the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers that we always need to think about the mission of Jesus."
Readers of Maryknoll's magazines also learn about a ministry at St. Pius X Church. About 1,500 miles from Father Pucke's parish, this El Paso, Texas, church offers love and refuge to unaccompanied children who are detained along the U.S.-Mexico border while searching for relatives or escaping violence. Four years ago, the ministry helped 70 children at two child detention centers. Today, four centers support 296 children, with the growing youth exodus believed to result from escalating violence and poverty in Mexico.
The worldwide issue of immigration is addressed in a story written by Maryknoll Father Paul Masson, who is the assistant general of Maryknoll’s General Council. Father Masson, who is from Oil City, Pennsylvania, calls for a pastoral approach to immigration based on Catholic Social Teaching. He relies on his experience from serving along the U.S.-Mexico border and he champions bipartisan solutions to address immigration issues here and to encourage others to solve similar issues around the world. For Father Masson, immigration remains a pastoral issue.
The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers follow Jesus in serving the poor and others in need in 28 countries that include the U.S. All Catholics are called to mission through baptism and confirmation, and Maryknoll's mission education outreach in parishes and schools throughout the country engages U.S. Catholics in mission through vocations, prayer, donations and as volunteers. Maryknoll missioners share God's love and the Gospel in combating poverty, providing healthcare, building communities and promoting human rights. For more information, visit the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers at maryknollsociety.org and follow them on Twitter at twitter.com/MaryknollNews.
