San Francisco de Asis

In October of 1989, St. Peter’s Parish voted to establish a twinning relationship with the members of San Francisco de Asis parish in Mejicanos, El Salvador. This relationship would include spiritual support of one another and financial support of the parish in El Salvador as needed. Visits would be exchanged on a regular basis and there would be an exchange of letters between the members of the two parishes.

It is the hope of all involved with the sister parish relationship that the outreach will continue and that there will always be blessed people from St. Peter’s who wish to be visitors to El Salvador or involved with San Francisco de Asis in some way.

Each fall around the time of the anniversary, St. Peter’s hosts a Fiesta to raise funds for projects at San Francisco de Asis and to send delegations to visit San Salvador. This has been a wonderful time of sharing among the parish and community building among the family of St. Peter’s. Food, fun, and games are the order of the evening and its success has increased each year.

2009 Fiesta Committee

Kristen Campbell, Sandra Castillo, Diane Marrin, Barbara Martin, Maria Pelto  Julie Spaeth, Craig Watz

Delegation: Nancy Caccamo, Sadie Johnson, Kathy Woods, Javier Gallo

Bus Trip 2009

 

 

 

 

 

2009

2009

It is the hope of all involved with the sister parish relationship that the outreach will continue and that there will always be blessed people from St. Peter’s who wish to be visitors to El Salvador or involved with San Francisco de Asis in some way.                                            From History by Jane Brummel

Dear Brothers and Sisters

St. Peter’s Parish

Please receive a warm greeting on behalf of our parish.  We are very encouraged to know that the people of the United States are working for justice and we share the joy of knowing that you have a new president.  We hope that there will be positive changes, especially concerning the migrant community and other groups that continue to be marginalized by society.

With regards to the questions you sent us, we will try to respond based on what we have lived and observed in the Municipal and Legislative elections process.

The ARENA party won the mayor’s office of San Salvador, which for various years was in the hands of the FMLN.  It is clear that ARENA used the strategy of bringing people from other municipalities after changing their address to permit them to vote in the capital city.  Despite this reality, however, fraud could not be confirmed.  But we cannot avoid accepting that this was not the only cause for the FMLN’s loss in the capital.  We do not believe that Violeta Menjívar’s campaign was done as successfully as possible.  She made many efforts in the communities, but they were not things that called much attention from the general public in spite of the fact that they resolved problems.  We believe she did not know how to conduct a good campaign.  On the other hand the fact that she is a woman also had a negative influence because of the machista culture in which we live.  Some members of the party were not in agreement with her.  There is also no doubt that the people wanted a change and perhaps they saw that Norman Quijano (ARENA) offered changes not promised by Violeta (even though we know that later he will not complete them as promised).  Violeta’s campaign slogan was “Violeta Continues”, while that of Funes is “Change is coming.”

The FMLN effectively will occupy 35 seats in the Legislative Assembly; the majority required to approve laws is 43 votes.  ARENA counts only 32 seats, but at the time of voting they join with the other right-wing party (PCN) which has 11 seats, making a majority, so the structure has not changed much.

Results from the Legislative elections:

Following is a consolidated presentation of the quantity of votes and the deputies according to political party, in which it can be seen that with an insignificant quantity of votes received, the PCN was able to obtain a third of the number of deputies obtained by the FMLN because of the assignation system for deputies.

As you can see the FMLN obtained the largest quantity of valid votes and thus can be predicted to win in the future.  However, the triumph of ARENA in San Salvador has caused some fear in some members of the FMLN because the victory of ARENA will begin a million dollar campaign through the means of communication, such as the Central Government which spends public funds on announcements of the achievements of the ARENA party in order to convince the public that they are the best option.

Our parish is raising consciousness among parishioners and members of the civil society over the need to participate in the electoral process, to exercise their rights and be vigilant to avoid and denounce any fraudulent acts.

We feel overall content, however, there are doubts and confusions.  In Mejicanos and in many other municipalities, the FLMN won.  Undoubtedly, the people in these places have become conscious and have opened their eyes to the hard reality of the previous neoliberal governments.

The part which confuses us and disturbs us is the dirty campaign and the fraud, both obvious and hidden, that has allowed ARENA to win the capital.

This is worrisome because a new electoral process is beginning and one asks, “Will it be clean?”  “Will the means of communication, owned by the same people in power, continue misinforming the population?”  “Will hundreds of Nicaraguans and Hondurans be brought in again to vote for the party in power in exchange for a few dollars?  The surest answer is that they will continue to do it, and we can do little more than worry.

We know that many people have already opened their eyes and desire a change and want to look for a new method that will better address the interests of the majority.  The problem is that the same owners of everything are also the heads of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, and there will always be fear and a lack of confidence in any voting process.

We joyfully wait for better times, hoping that Monsignor Romero and those others who offered up their lives will encourage us for the elections in March.

Sincerely,

 The Sister Parish Team

Dear Brothers and Sisters from St. Peter’s Parish:

When I opened my email this morning with the intention of writing to you and sending our Christmas greeting, I found the letter sent by Diane Marrin on behalf of Fr. Sharbel and everyone in the parish.  I was very happy to receive your Christmas wishes and the news of what you are doing in the parish for Christmas.  It is wonderful to see the bond we share and the interest and concern that you have in our parish and the Salvadoran people.  We consider it an important gesture to send letters to your government asking that they not permit manipulation of the Salvadoran elections.  This is very important for our people, because for the first time there is the possibility for a change in the politics of this country.  We hope that this change will be for the betterment of the neediest Salvadorans.

This Christmas we find ourselves caught in the midst of a severe economic, social, and political crisis.  There is no work, wages too unsteady, violence that does not end and instead seems to be increasing, and politicians who continue being among those least respected by the people.  The political system is the institution in which people have the least amount of confidence, and our youth are very disillusioned.

In the midst of this very negative situation we are preparing to celebrate Christmas with much hope.  For this year we’ve organized a Christmas vigil with all of the communities that will be held today, Saturday.  We will all gather in front of the church and there will be theatrical representations of Christmas scenes, caroling, raffles, presents, piñatas, etc.  We will be celebrating from 5 pm until 10 at night.  We hope around 600 people will come.  In addition, today we will inaugurate the nativity scene in the church.  It is a very original and unique nativity scene prepared by a Passionist working with the youth, and we hope to be able to send you a photo of the nativity.

The 28^th we will have the parish assembly to evaluate the past year and plan the coming year.  This next year is especially important for us for various reasons: we will celebrate the 30^th anniversary of the death of Fr. Octavio in January.  June will mark the 30^th anniversary of the death of Fr. Rafael Palacios and November will be the 30^th anniversary of the Passionist community in Mejicanos.

For January we have already planned various activities to celebrate the anniversary of Fr. Octavio: a week of themes about martyrdom, a congress about martyrdom with the two parishes where Fr. Octavio worked, and a march and pilgrimage with the two parishes and a final mass with the participation of artists.   We hope to document these activities and send you further information.

Now I would like to speak of behalf of our parish to wish you all a very merry Christmas, full of blessings from our God.  The greatest act of God’s love to humanity begins in Bethlehem and ends at Calvary.  In Bethlehem, God makes Himself small and insignificant to be among us and live at our side, suffering and loving amidst our disappointments and joys.  On the cross He is in solidarity with all of humanity and especially with those most crucified.  I feel that our sister-parish relationship is also based in this principle of humility and solidarity.  We humble ourselves to understand, grasp, and accept our brothers from another culture and we stand in solidarity with the pain of another parish.  You and us, being from different cultures and social standings; we are capable of loving, understanding, and supporting one another.  This is also “Christmas.”

We wish you all the peace and happiness this Christmas.  An embrace from this parish to all our brothers and sisters from St. Peter’s,

Fr. Jesús María Ahechu

November 14, 2007

Dear Fr. Joseph Sharbel, Parish Council, brothers and sisters of St.

 Peter’s Parish:

 Please receive many greetings from all the members of San Francisco de

 Asis Parish.

 Once again, we had the pleasure of visiting with a delegation from our

 beloved sister parish.  The delegation’s visit was very important to

 us.  First, because through the brotherly interaction with these five

 brothers and sisters from St. Peter’s, we feel that we have strengthened the bonds

 of unity between our two parishes.  And second, because we lived

 together and shared our faith, our hope and our desires of building a

 different world with them.  By sharing all of this, we feel that we are not

 alone, then we realize that despite the distance between us and the

 different circumstances and living conditions, our faith is the same and

 that same faith drives us to live in solidarity.

 The dates that the delegation decided to visit are very significant to

 our town, because, commemorating the martyrdom of the Jesuits and their

 collaborators, we also commemorate the martyrdom of many men, women,

 youth, and children who dreamed about a different society and that

 compromised until it meant death for them.  All of these people shouldn’t

 be forgotten because the cause of their fight must continue alive in

 our hearts; but also because there has been no justice for their deaths,

 and because we continue having crimes that in our country that go

 unpunished, the most vulnerable of our society are always the victims.

 Thank you, because you all have made us feel that you carry us around

 in your minds and in your hearts.  The support that you have given us

 will be used to continue with our pastoral labor, to continue with our

 mission of building up the Kingdom of God among our people.

 We want to also thank the boys and girls that very enthusiastically

 wrote letters to the girls and boys of our parish.  Our children

 couldn’t send a response yet, but they are very happy to receive your letters

 and also send their greetings.  We hope to answer them in the future.

 We don’t want to forget to thank you for your economic support that

 permits us to carry forward, with more resources, our pastoral work.

There is much to tell and much to thank you for and one letter isn’t

 sufficient.  We hope that the delegation can convey all of our thanks

 and our happiness to have had them with us.

 All that there is to do now is send a brotherly hug from our entire

 parish to St. Peter’s Parish.

May God bless you, may Jesus Christ accompany you and the Holy Spirit

 light the road of all the members of our loved sister parish.

P. Jesús María Ahechu