Contact: Mike Virgintino, Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, 914-941-7636 ext 2219

MARYKNOLL, N.Y., Jan. 3, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ -- "A Preferential Option for the Poor," with stories from Maryknoll's field afar that focus on mission projects for the poor in Tanzania and Vietnam, is the theme for the January-February issues of Maryknoll magazine and the Spanish-language Revista Maryknoll. Both 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.

In Africa, Father Michael Bassano serves some of the poorest people of the world at the Home of Compassion shelter on the shore of Lake Victoria in Kigera (Musoma), Tanzania. Compassion is a central theme in the mission life of the Binghamton, New York, native who has served in Tanzania since 2008.

Father Bassano is no stranger to human suffering, nor is he squeamish about bedpan ministry. He served for 10 years in Thailand, where he happily changed adult diapers on dying men while offering love, solace and understanding at an AIDS hospice in a Buddhist temple. Wherever he goes, and to the delight of all the people he helps and comforts during the day, Father Bassano radiates nurturing and Jesus' compassionate charism, always with a smile on his face and twinkles in his eyes.

"I believe in the gift of mission," said Father Bassano, "and that's what Maryknoll is for me, being in service to other people."

To learn more about Father Bassasno and his work in Tanzania, watch a video on YouTube
(www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPjOi_RaA88&feature=youtu).

In Asia, Father Thomas J. O'Brien has witnessed God's love for more than 15 years in Vietnam by overseeing skills training projects for people with physical disabilities. During almost two decades in the country, Maryknoll has helped thousands of poor Vietnamese children, youth and women along with people who endure physical and mental disabilities.

Father O'Brien, who is from The Bronx, New York, previously served in mission in the Philippines as pastor of a parish. He also has served with Maryknoll's Peace and Justice Office and the Office for Global Concerns in Washington, D.C.

Articles About Maryknoll Founders
Both magazines also feature a story contributed by Luisa Callahan Heffernan that explains the family bonds that she and her husband share with two of Maryknoll's founders -- Bishop James A. Walsh of the Maryknoll Society and Mother Mary Joseph Rogers of the Maryknoll Sisters. Jim Heffernan is a great-grandnephew of Bishop Walsh and the great-grandson of Timothy Walsh, the architect who designed the Maryknoll Seminary Building at the Maryknoll Mission Center in Ossining, New York. Luisa Callahan Heffernan is a distant cousin of Mother Mary Joseph.

"Though Jim and I took a much different path than our Maryknoll relations," writes Callahan Heffernan, "we share their love of other cultures. We lived in Ghana, West Africa, during the 1990-1991 school year and taught at a boys' vocational high school. In 2002, I traveled with our 13-year-old son Myles to Haiti to do a weeklong mission trip through our church. Two years later, our daughter Celia and I headed on another short-term mission trip to Mexico to build houses for the poor of Tijuana. Last year, Celia spent six months in Peru volunteering at an orphanage and school."

A companion article by magazine managing editor Margaret Gaughan explores the legacy of Mary Josephine (Mollie) Rogers, who, as Mother Mary Joseph, founded the Maryknoll Sisters only a few years after graduating from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. The story features Elizabeth Carr, the school's current Catholic campus minister, as it explains Mother Mary Joseph's discovery of her mission vocation as a student and the continued interest in her legacy at the school today.

The January-February issues of both Maryknoll magazine and Revista Maryknoll feature articles about the Maryknoll Sisters, including commemoration of the congregation's centennial during 2012, along with the work of Maryknoll Lay Missioners. A story about Maryknoll Sister Teresita Rellosa tells about her responsibilities for the poor who struggle for land rights in her native Philippines. A story about Maryknoll Lay Missioner Nancy Tyrolt explains the new life she brings to a child with cerebral palsy at the St. Vincent de Paul Orphanage in San Jacinto, El Salvador.

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 (maryknollsociety.org).

Editors: Interviews with the editors and/or the people featured in the articles can be arranged. Those serving in foreign countries might be located in remote regions and difficult to contact.