A large parish in the Archdiocese of Piura in Peru, Santisimo
Sacramento serves 40,000 Catholics in Piura and its
surrounding villages. The parish, which celebrated its 50th
anniversary last year, is located approximately 600 miles
north of Lima in an area that is very poor, with more than 40
percent unemployment.
Father Joseph Uhen has been pastor since his ordination in
1993. Originally from Milwaukee, Father Uhen graduated from
the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., in 1980.
While in college, he was inspired by the lives of Archbishop
Oscar Romero and Mother Teresa and felt a deep calling to
give his life to the church while serving the poor. He felt
called to work in Peru after hearing of the Shining Path
guerillas who killed more than 60,000 Peruvians – including a
dozen priests and religious – during the 1980s and ’90s.
Mass is celebrated at Santisimo Sacramento twice daily and
six times over the weekend at the main parish. According to
recent numbers, an estimated 10,000 Catholics attend Sunday
Mass at the parish. In addition, Father Uhen makes regular
visits to each of the 28 local village chapels, offering up
to eight additional Masses every week. To help accommodate
the spiritual demands, Father Uhen is assisted by local Opus
Dei, Franciscan and Jesuit priests, and a parish council of
more than 70 catechists and group leaders.
The parish staff includes 20 members who spend their days
distributing donated supplies and assisting with local social
service programs. Donations to the parish support a drug
rehabilitation center, a hospice, a women’s shelter, local
orphanages, a clinic and a parochial school, Mother of Good
Counsel, among other services.
Since 1996, the parish has welcomed hundreds of volunteers,
including high school youth groups, medical missions, parish
mission groups, university volunteers and families to help
serve the local community. Father Uhen estimates the parish
welcomes between 400 and 420 volunteers each year, although
this year’s number will be closer to 500. Together with
parish workers, the volunteers deliver food and clothing to
the needy, assist in various social programs, and construct
houses and chapels.
“Mostly they come from the United States, but they come from
other places too,” he said. “It’s just a bridge. It’s an
opportunity for (volunteers) to share the faith with the
people here and offer their talents and resources.”
And even though not everybody who volunteers at the parish is
Catholic, there is a strong spiritual component to the
volunteer work, Father Uhen said.
“The primary way we can come together is faith and sharing
that together and the good works that come along with that,”
he said. “Jesus said, ‘I was hungry and you gave me food to
eat, I was naked, you clothed me, I was without shelter and
you gave me a home,’ so those are the kinds of things that
happen when visitors come.”
In addition, the parish organizes a successful
family-to-family program, which matches Peruvian families in
need with American sponsor families. Currently, the program
provides food for more than 1,400 families. Each month, the
sponsor families pay for an assortment of rice, beans, corn,
lentils and evaporated milk to add to the Peruvian family’s
supplies. The two families also form a relationship through
exchanged prayers and letters.
“Even though it’s not enough food to supply them for the
whole month, it’s enough food to encourage them and motivate
them to try to do what they can to help make ends meet,”
Father Uhen said. “At least they know that they are not
alone.”
For Father Uhen, one of the most important jobs as pastor is
to help build and nourish a strong community where the people
can build each other up. That’s part of the reason the parish
encourages village chapels. Currently, there are 28 chapels
spread around the parish boundaries – each constructed in a
different village.
“(The chapels) bring people together to help each other,”
Father Uhen said. “If someone gets sick, they can all get
together and help them get some medicine. So it’s not just
about getting resources from the United States and others.
They themselves can work to get the resources they need to
help each other. So that’s part of our work, teaching that
kind of faith and communion.”
