MISSIONARY TRIP TO PERU AND BOLIVIA

Reported by Fr. Thomas Euteneuer, January 24-30, 2010

It seems that every time I go to Latin America, the fantastic pro-lifers there run me ragged, all the while telling me that I really need to get some rest! It is, though, a tremendous pleasure to join them in their fierce struggle to defend the still-pro-life cultures they have. Latin America is the main target of the virulent anti-life movement because they see in that great continent the bastion of Catholicism, which they seek to destroy. Our HLI pro-lifers and so many others are doing everything they can to prevent that, and they are doing it effectively. I was privileged during the week following the March for Life in Washington to travel with our new priest in Latin America, Fr. Juan Carlos Chávez, to Peru and Bolivia for a week of fruitful talks and visits.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE FAMILY IN LIMA

My main reason for going to Peru was because I was invited by the Peruvian Bishops' Conference to give a talk to the Second International Family Congress held in Lima. When Hispanics hold a pro-life conference they really do it right! They had 1,300 attendees at this conference. In my talk, I described the three-fold struggle for life in every society:

• First, we must defend the institutions of marriage and the family so that these foundational cells of civilization will not be broken down. This is a struggle that every single person of good will can and must engage in, including attacking contraception, which even many pro-lifers are unwilling to address.
• Then, in the battle for life, marriage and family must be fought at the level of law and policy. Pro-life laws need to be defended because the pro-abortion forces are at this very moment sending whole cadres of lawyers to Latin America to manipulate and change their pro-life laws.
• Finally, I asked them to fight the battle at the level of prayer. In reality, the heinous crime of abortion cannot be overturned by politics and protests alone. It is a spiritual battle in which we struggle not against flesh and blood but "against the principalities and powers of this world of darkness." (Eph 6:12)

I finished with the story of the famous Baptist Pastor, the Rev. Johnny Hunter, who led a team of prayer warriors to an abortion clinic in Buffalo in the early '90s. While they were praying that day, twenty-four women entered the clinic seeking abortions. The abortionist also arrived at the same time and heaped insults and abuses on the Christians saying that there was nothing they could do to stop his practice of abortion. Nothing, indeed! He did not reckon the power of prayer to change the hearts of the abortion-minded women inside the clinic listening to their humble prayers that day. Pastor Hunter was later told that one woman broke down inside the clinic and changed her mind about aborting her child, and a sort of domino effect happened. Literally, all 24 women in the clinic decided to keep their babies that day! The abortionist knew not the power of prayer and forgot that God will not be mocked! (Gal 6:7)

Clearly the highlight of the conference, however, was the talk of the sister of St. Gianna Beretta Molla, Sr. Virginia Beretta, who addressed the Congress with a very intimate and familiar talk about the family in which she and her 12 siblings were raised. She gave the most remarkable testimony to her loving parents, who raised their 13 children in the direst circumstances before, during and after the Second World War in northern Italy and how their family life was the source of three religious vocations and the inspiration for the heroism of her sister Gianna. As we all know, she is the canonized saint who died of cancer after refusing to abort her child to save her own life. Sr. Virginia was with her when she died and said that Gianna's one great sorrow was that she was going to leave four little ones without a mother. She noted that there was not the slightest hint of self-interest or self-pity in her at the end. No one who attended that Congress will ever forget Sr. Virginia's brilliant testimony to her loving parents and sister!

PERUVIAN BISHOPS HEAR HLI'S CALL TO INVOLVE MORE PRIESTS IN PRO-LIFE WORK

To round off the three-day visit to Peru, our HLI affiliate, called CEPROFARENA, ran me and Fr. Juan Carlos through a gauntlet of pro-life events: a Mass and pro-life talk to 200 people; a visit to a crisis pregnancy center founded through HLI's generosity; and numerous radio, TV and print media interviews.

Perhaps the greatest pro-life opportunity Fr. Juan Carlos and I had that week was the chance to address the meeting of the entire Peruvian Bishops Conference. We were able to speak to the 45 attending bishops of the fundamental need for their priests to be involved in the pro-life apostolate! In the Year for Priests, it was the chance of a lifetime to get the message to the whole leadership of the Catholic Church in Peru, and, judging from the reaction of the bishops, the message was very well-received. Fr. Juan Carlos received no fewer than five invitations from bishops to speak at their seminaries!

HLI'S MISSION CONTINUES ON TO BOLIVIA

Bolivia is an immensely beautiful country with the misfortune of being governed by the radical leftist government of Mr. Evo Morales, one of several Fidel Castro clones of Latin America who is attempting to re-paganize that traditionally Catholic nation. He is a practitioner of the pagan Aymaran Indian religion, and his vice president, Alvaro Garcia, was a founding member of a Marxist guerilla outfit in the 80s and spent time in jail for his crimes. That qualified him for a VP position, of course. With 75 to 80 percent of the population being indigenous Indians, Evo was easily elected four years ago and looks like he will win re-election for another five-year term later this year. Leading the majority party in Congress, he effectively has de facto dictatorial control over the whole country. We know this all too well in North America, too: when leftists are in charge, you can expect a lot more killing.

In the face of all this, the Bishops and the pro-life movement are organizing themselves for what will likely be a veritable onslaught of the culture of death on their pro-life culture. While the indigenous peoples in Bolivia are not at all proponents of abortion, and in fact stigmatize it quite harshly, the socialists and radical feminists are pushing for every type of immorality conceivable. The main feminist group is called Mujeres Creando (Women Creating) but really should be called "Women Creating [Chaos]"! One can see their sick slogans scrawled in black spray paint on walls everywhere around the country.

THE RICH MESSAGE OF LIFE IN A POOR COUNTRY

HLI's affiliate in Bolivia is the Association for the New Evangelization, called ANE Pro-Vida. We also work with the Family and Life Foundation, who have three crisis pregnancy centers in the country and are looking to establish more. All of these great pro-lifers are fully and completely Humanae vitae Catholics in their pro-life outreach. They hosted Fr. Juan Carlos and me for a whirlwind four days of talks and events, including one talk that I did on exorcism, which drew close to 1,000 people! When we arrived at the capital city of La Paz, Bolivia at midnight on Tuesday of that week, we had to deal with the challenge of the high altitude (2,600 meters or 8,530 feet), which was not easy, but thankfully youth and good health were on our side! Our four day schedule included the following events:

• One live and two taped television shows that have national audiences
• A radio interview and a couple of print interviews
• Talks to three pro-life groups and another group at the Salesian University
• A visit, Mass and the blessing of our crisis pregnancy center in La Paz
• A huge Pro-Life Mass and talk at the Basilica of Maria Auxiliadora (Our Lady, Help of Christians) that drew 500 people
• A pilgrimage to national Marian shrine of Our Lady of Copacabana situated on the magnificently beautiful Lake Titicaca with another Pro-Life Mass, and
• A strategy session with pro-life leaders and four bishops at the residence of the Apostolic Nuncio to Bolivia, Archbishop Giambattista Diquattro. The nuncio graciously brought the pro-life leaders together for discussions about unity and impact for their country. The local bishop, the secretary of the Bolivian Episcopal conference and the department head of the bishops' committee on the family were all present, and we all spent a marvelous several hours talking about the issues of life and the family.

As is usual, I offered to the bishops any form of help that HLI could provide in order to support the pro-life efforts in their country, and at least one bishop very seriously wants to take us up on our offer and get some things going! True to form, Fr. Juan Carlos will be returning to Bolivia in February for another round of talks at five seminaries, one of which was organized as a result of our visit to the Nuncio's residence. Both Fr. Juan Carlos and I considered it an immense blessing to have had the chance to do so much in such a short span of time.
When the trip finally came to an end, we were exhausted, out of money and materials, but we were "chocho" as the Bolivians say—"happy" that HLI had been able to help keep Latin America fighting the good fight for life for another day.