Honduras diocese will welcome Presiding Bishop, highlight partnership with Episcopal Relief and Development
Episcopal News Service. May 8, 2007 [050807-02]
Thomas Mansella, Contributor to the Episcopal News Service and coordinator of translation services at the Episcopal Church Center
Underscoring the partnership of the Diocese of Honduras and Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD), Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and ERD president Robert W. Radtke will visit Honduras May 10-13.
Hosted by Honduras Bishop and Province 9 president Lloyd Allen, the visit will highlight the commitment of local Episcopalians and ERD supporting primary health care initiatives, food security programs, and in addressing the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Honduras, one of the Central American nations with high rates of infection. These initiatives serve more than 200,000 people, leaders say.
"Our diocese is looking forward to welcoming our new Presiding Bishop," Allen said. "We hope that the visit will give her a chance to observe first hand the vitality of the ministry being carried out by our people for our people, and how they are able to accomplish so much in our diocese, a local context that, it is fair to say, is far removed from the domestic American experience of the Church. While it is being reported that membership is declining in some dioceses, in ours, and in fact, in all of Province 9, our church is growing fast."
The visit will emphasize "the effectiveness of the outreach programs being carried out with ERD's support, our vast needs and the scarcity of our resources," Allen said. "We hope the visit will encourage increased support for our ministry among the neediest."
While in Honduras, Jefferts Schori and Radtke will visit Siempre Unidos, the Diocesan HIV/AIDS project supported by ERD, will hear a presentation by the Anglican Agency for Development in Honduras (AANGLIDESH), and observe the Copan Health Infrastructure Project.
On Sunday, May 13, Jefferts Schori will preside and preach during a Eucharist at the Catedral del Buen Pastor, San Pedro Sula, Honduras. This will be the first time since her 2006 election as Presiding Bishop that Jefferts Schori will celebrate Eucharist in one of the dioceses of the largely Latin American and Caribbean Province 9 of the Episcopal Church.
The Presiding Bishop said she is very much looking forward to the visit, which will reflect the importance of achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to reduce poverty, hunger and preventable disease, and to protect the environment, among other efforts.
The MDGs are a good frame for the Anglican Communion's mission and ministry because they are "real evidence of what it means to love your neighbor as yourself," Jefferts Schori has said.
"They are concrete images that people can wrap their minds around," she added. "They are a specific way of addressing the Gospel challenge to care for our neighbors. They're achievable in our own day if we have the will to do it and, increasingly, this church is vested in that."
"This will be my first visit to Honduras to observe programs there," said ERD's Radtke. "I am pleased that the Presiding Bishop and I will have a chance to see first hand the result of the hard work the Diocese of Honduras is carrying out as they work towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. ERD's partnership with the people of the Diocese and the Bishop are among our oldest and best established and we look forward to learning more about their many accomplishments."
Episcopal Relief and Development is the international relief and development agency of the Episcopal Church of the United States. An independent 501(c)(3) organization, ERD saves lives and builds hope in communities around the world. ERD's programs work toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals, providing emergency assistance in times of crisis and rebuilding after disasters, enabling people to climb out of poverty by offering long-term solutions in the areas of food security and health care, including HIV/AIDS and malaria.
For more information visit:
The Diocese of Honduras
Episcopal Relief and Development
The Episcopal Church