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MONTGOMERY: Church reaches out to Guatemala

By Maris Iati, Staff Writer
Marisa IatiStaff Writer
   MONTGOMERY — The Catholic Community of Saint Charles Borromeo in Skillman is joining hands in partnership with a community more than 2,000 miles away in Guatemala.
   The connection is part of the broader relationship between the American Diocese of Metuchen and the Guatemalan Diocese of Santa Rosa.
   ”There’s this Catholic Social Teaching principal of solidarity, which means we’re all one human family and our God calls us to be caretakers of one another,” said Katie Onka, pastoral assistant for service and justice ministries at Saint Charles.
   ”I feel that this is a tangible way that we can live that principle out and recognize our own blessings, but also recognize where we struggle and the blessings we can receive from another community.”
   Saint Charles is partnered with the small, rural community of Santa Isabel within the much larger Parish of Oratorio. Delegations from Saint Charles traveled to Guatemala in September 2010 and May 2011.
   ”Right now, we’re all about forming a relationship,” said Ms. Onka. “It’s like marriage, so you enter into a relationship of love; you don’t enter into a relationship to fix each other’s problems. There are a lot of preconceived notions of what Americans are like, so I think it’s helpful for them to see who we are.”
   Before the second delegation traveled to Guatemala, the project’s steering committee created a movie about the first trip, shared the video with the parish community and began pen pal relationships between its parishioners and the parishioners of the Parish of Oratorio.
   Ms. Onka said Saint Charles aims to eventually create a systematic change that will help lift the members of the community of Santa Isabel out of poverty.
   ”We’re not at that stage where we can say to the community, ‘what are your greatest needs,’ because we’re still trying to get to know them,” said Ms. Onka. “It’s going to be a long-term relationship.”
   Ms. Onka said the partnership is refreshing for Saint Charles because so many of the parish’s ministries have existed for decades.
   ”I think there are a lot of people here that are really interested in it, and we do have a Hispanic presence here,” she said. “They’ve really come forward to offer translations but also their own personal experiences and stories with culture.”
   The partnership has deeply impacted both the Saint Charles and the Santa Rosa communities, Ms. Onka said.
   ”Everybody that’s gone as a delegate has had transformational moments in their own lives in understanding the beauty of family and faith and the importance of just spending time with one another,” she said. “I think the communities down there are just dumbstruck that a community up here would care about them.”
   Ms. Onka said the project’s steering committee plans to continue to expose the Saint Charles community to the history, culture, social conditions and faith life in Guatemala.
   ”We started talking about this two and a half years ago, so I’m really excited for what the future holds for it,” she said. “The idea is that we would start with the community of Santa Isabel, but it could grow. Maybe it influences other communities in the area, or maybe we start there and then go to another village.”
   Queenship of Mary Church in Plainsboro also maintains a partnership with the Diocese of Santa Rosa. Representatives from Queenship of Mary did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
   ”It’s really neat to be involved in a project like this where there are lots of parishes involved because you really feel the support system,” said Ms. Onka. “There’s solidarity here as well as with Guatemala.”
   For more information about the partnership between the Diocese of Metuchen and the Diocese of Santa Rosa, visit www.ccsolidarity.org/GSP_currentprojects.asp.