Reaching out to directly aid a Catholic parish devastated by Hurricane Katrina, St. Peter Parish of Washington, Va., has established a sister parish relationship with Father Joseph Trinh and his parishioners of St. Ann Parish and St. John Mission in Lakeshore, Miss.

Three members of St. Peter Parish drove 1,000 miles to the storm-wrecked Gulf coast to meet with Father Trinh and members of his congregation to explain their wish to offer aid and to connect personally with the people and their pastor. Bill Jarrett, David Kerr and James P. Gannon, representing St. Peter Parish, found a community in ruins, and a people in shock but still clinging to faith, hope and love for one another.

Father Trinh, a Vietnamese-American, is pastor to the two in this coastal community that was hit Aug. 29 by 150-mile-an-hour winds and a 25-foot storm surge. Lakeshore, a small community near Waveland, Miss., was at the eye of the storm and sustained near-total devastation.

St. John Mission Church was wrecked by the storm and may be beyond repair, Father Trinh said, while St. Ann Church survived but was damaged by wind and eight feet of water that filled the church and coated it with mud. The flooded priest’s home is mud-caked and turning green with mold inside, with all furnishings and equipment ruined. The priest has been living for a month in a shelter at an Air Force base while most of his homeless parishioners are either in shelters, away with relatives or living in tents or trailers on their rubble-strewn properties.

At an outdoor Mass Sunday, Sept. 25, Father Trinh gathered with about 70 of his parishioners for the first time since the storm. Amid tears and hugs of consolation, he prayed with them and offered his condolences for their losses. Standing under a pavilion shelter behind St. Ann Church, he told them: "The Church is not this building. The people are the Church. Care for one another in this time of need. The Church is family. It is family that keeps us alive."

The Virginia visitors came bearing a few gifts, including donated food and Mass vestments given by St. Peter pastor, Father Robert DeMartino, to replace those that Father Trinh lost in the hurricane and flood. After Mass, Gannon explained that the St. Peter men came to see how their parish could offer help. Earlier, Gannon had contacted the Diocese of Biloxi about its "Adopt a Parish" program that links one of its many Katrina-wrecked parishes with a parish from afar that wishes to offer aid.

The visitors offered temporary housing and support to any members of St. Ann or St. John who would be willing to come to Virginia. They also discussed with Father Trinh and his people how St. Peter Parish could help restore St. Ann Church and help individuals or families in need. They heard many heartfelt expressions of thanks.

After Mass, a tearful woman approached Father Trinh.

"Father, I have bad news — my husband is dead," she said.

The family had evacuated their home before the storm to stay with relatives, but her husband returned alone later to clear downed trees near their wrecked house. Working alone with his chain saw, he was killed when a tree fell on him. The woman has two children, no home, no husband, no income, and no idea what to do. This is but one example of the many sad stories heard from the local people.

With the strong support of Father DeMartino, St. Peter Parish is developing its "sister parish" program, which will include financial aid, moral support, future volunteer visits to the Mississippi parish, and donated goods. Special collections were taken up at all Masses at St. Peter Parish on the weekends of Oct. 2 and 9. Funds collected will be sent to Father Trinh to help clean up and repair St. Ann Church and help individuals or families in distress.

The small Rappahannock County parish has formed a task force called St. Peter’s Samaritans to plan and carry out the sister parish program. Possible future projects include Thanksgiving gift baskets, Christmas gifts for children, pen-pal programs involving kids of both parishes, and other direct contacts. The hope is to develop a long-term, personal relationship between the sister parishes that will outlast the destruction of Katrina.

For more information on adopting a parish in Mississippi, contact the Diocese of Biloxi through the Web site, www.biloxidiocese.org or James Gannon at 540/987-9536.