The Risen Parish

Last Sunday saw celebrations for the new parish community in Ate Vitarte - the area mentioned in a previous blog consisting of new ‘invasions’ of unused, barren and hilly land to the east of Lima. The parish has taken the name of the Risen One El Resucitado and counts roughly 75,000 people. Alongside religious sisters, catechists and a contemplative house of Chilean brothers, David Costelloe and Darren Reid from the St James’ Socety will be working to form one parish community from the nine zones which make up the parish area. The parish is typical of where the St James’ Society tries to work, it is a place to where people are moving with absolutely nothing, usually leaving communities in the high Andes where work is scarce and life hard enough. Seeing life in the city I wonder whether life could possibly be any better in these new shanty towns which usually have no running water or sanitation and where people are crowded into the most barren areas in houses made of wicker panels and a corrugated roof. But desperation is usually the underlying driving force and the lure of city riches has brought people to make this move for centuries now across the world.



Already the parish has a social worker to help assess and respond to those in greatest need, the Diocese of Chosica has built a hospital nearby and the Society is building on great work already being undertaken by two communities of religious sisters in the area. What clearly matters greatly to people though is that others are willing to live with them in these places and to be a part of life there.



The day itself was a great celebration - there’s an infectious happiness in so many gatherings of South American people. It was a day of singing, dancing and joy. But it is just a beginning in so many ways of much work still to be done. The community has taken on an ambitious title in choosing to be the parish of the Risen One - looking around it is all to easy to see people living out their own Good Fridays, all too easy to see the face of the suffering Christ. But looking at faces on that day it was possible to see that in a very real way faith does lead to hope and in that hope we do meet with the Risen Christ.