South Texas Catholic Monthly (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 34, No. 1, Ed. 1 Friday, January 1, 1999 Page: 1 of 20
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VOL. XXXIV, NO. I
2nd Synod of Corpus Christ) January 1999 SI.00
Our Lady of Guadalupe
The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was
carried from Sacred Heart Church to Corpus
Christi Cathedral on
Dec. 12, the Feast
Day of the Virgin,
who brought a
message of hope to
the poor and needy
over 400 years ago
in Mexico. Bishop
Roberto presided at a
Mass at the
Cathedral
following the
procession.
Our Lady of
Guadalupe is
patroness of
the Diocese
of Corpus
Christi.
STC photo/James Bamhardt
Bishop hand delivers aid to Honduras
A long road ahead
By Paula Espitia
TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS—A woman’s white shoe
lay crumpled in the middle of a dusty road near the
banks of the Rio Choluteca in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
The dirt road—once paved—spanned the river by a
bridge, so that travellers could easily cross from one side
to the other
Then came the early November onslaught of Hurricane
Mitch.
Now there is no bridge, just a drop-off overlooking the
barren, muddy river banks that had been lined with
homes. Men, women and children can be seen sorting
through piles of rubble and removing mounds of dirt
from inside the shells of the homes that remain.
“It’s overwhelming and sad to witness this. It’s one
thing to hear about it and another to actually see it. Each
of these homes was inhabited by a family, their memories
and their lives," said Bishop Roberto Gonzalez as he
toured vacant neighborhoods on a Dec. 14 one-day-trip
to the Honduran capital.
The visit also included a meeting with Archbishop
Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga of the Archdiocese of
Tegucigalpa, who was presented with a check for
$60,000 from the Diocese of Corpus Christi and another
one for $150,000 from the US Bishops Committee for the
Church in Latin America. The funds will be used to
rebuild the country—an endeavor that may take a decade
See AID, page 17
STC photo/Paula Espitia
Bishop Roberto hands Archbishop Oscar Andres
Rodriguez Maradiaga checks from the diocese and the
U.S. Bishops. The diocesan funds will be used for a
housing community in Tegucigalpa. The archbishop said
the community will be named after Corpus Christi.
No time for self-pity
By Paula Espitia
TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS—Fausto Villatoro has pul
his life as a law student on hold. He will spend the rest of
the school year helping his mother and nine brothers and
sisters put their homes and lives back together.
Villatoro said he and his family are among the lucky
ones. Their lives were spared after the early November
impact of Hurricane Mitch on their home of Tegucigalpa,
Honduras.
“The first day we were very depressed. Now we are
figuring out a way to build our lives back up," said
Villatoro, who lost all of his material possession, including
his law books, due to the flood waters which filled his
home.
Archbishop Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga of the
Archdiocese of Tegucigalpa said that such attitudes of hope
and perseverance are common among his people.
“I have never found a person who was blaming God for
this. They were just giving thanks because they were
alive," he said. “The people have always been close to the
Church because our country has always been a country of
faith.”
“There is hope," he said. “Our nation is very poor. For
them, their only strength is hope. It may take 10 years to
rebuild, but that doesn’t matter."
Cappuchin Friar, Father Jose A. Carrion, said he can
personally relate to the plight of the Honduran people. He
See HOPE, page 17
Pope urges -deferrso of hurnoni i/'y/jcj tn uuy imgjj
• Bishop Roberto’s statement on Iraq bombing — See page 19
By Lynne Weil
VATICAN CITY (CNS) —
Pope John Paul 11 urged protec-
tion of human rights in his
annual World Day of Peace
message and said that only
ethical treatment of people,
populations and the environ-
ment will lead to peace.
Among other things, the pope
decried arms trade with warring
countries, the recruitment of
children as soldiers, the use of
anti-personnel mines, and
unbridled consumerism —
which he said is “no less perni-
cious” than Marxism, Nazism or
fascism because it ignores
“negative effects on others."
The pope’s statement for
World Day of Peace, observed
each year on Jan. 1, was pub-
lished Dec. 15 at the Vatican.
Society can lay lasting founda-
tions for peace only “when the
promotion of the dignity of the
person is the guiding principle,
and when the search for the
common good is the overriding
commitment,” the pope said.
“But when human rights are
ignored or scorned," he added,
“and when the pursuit of
individual interests unjustly
prevails over the common good,
then the seeds of instability’,
rebellion and violence are
inevitably sown.”
In presenting the document,
Archbishop Francis Nguyen Van
Thuan, president of the Pontifi-
cal Council for Justice and
Peace, pointed out that the Jan. 1
World Day of Peace observance
will be the last of the millen-
nium, “a historic turning point
between a time which is ending
and another which is starting; a
turning point which requires of
everyone a new understanding.”
In his message, the pope
noted the observance Dec. 10 of
the 50th anniversary of the
Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and said the document
“acknowledges the rights which
it proclaims, but does not confer
them, since they are inherent in
the human person and in human
dignity.”
The basic right to life is the
foremost human right. Pope
John Paul wrote.
“This involves a positive
choice, a choice for life,” he said.
“The development of a culture of
this kind embraces all the
circumstances of life and ensures
the promotion of human dignity
in every situation."
See POPE, page 19
Is something missing in your
life? It could be God and the
fellowship of good friends.
According to Jill Currey, an
area high school junior. Youth
2000, A Eucharistic Prayer Rally
to be held at Incarnate Word
Academy’s Dougherty Hall Jan.
15-17 is the perfect avenue to
become “closer to God and make
other longtime friends.”
? Erin Barker, a high school
senior, said the experience—
which combines music, media-
tion. fellowship, talks and
I adoration—is a wonderful way
j to find and meet Jesus in the
Eucharist, while 10th grader
Travis Bailey admits that its just
“really cool!"
All young people, from 13 to
30, are encouraged to attend the
weekend, which began as a
response to Pope John Paul Ills
challenge to young people at the
1989 World youth Day in
Santiago de Compostello in
Spain. "It is you young people
that the task first falls of bearing
witness to the faith and bringing
into the third millennium the
• Gospel of Christ, who is the Way,
the Truth, the Life," said the
pope.
This will be the third Youth
2000 for Catherine Aguilar, one
of the adult coordinators for the
1999 Youth 2000. She said she is
glad to be part of the event
because she has seen it change
the lives of the youth in atten-
dance.
“What impressed me most
was the teenagers," said Aguilar.
“To walk into a room where
hundreds of teens are praying
the rosary or praying before the
Blessed Sacrament was amazing
to me. It was like going to
heaven with a bunch of
See YOUTH 2000, page 15
Getting closer to God through Youth 2000
afhaflie
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Espitia, Paula. South Texas Catholic Monthly (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 34, No. 1, Ed. 1 Friday, January 1, 1999, newspaper, January 1, 1999; Corpus Christi, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth855856/m1/1/: accessed June 11, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .