Foreign Missions
The Augustinian missionary spirit has been alive and a core element of the Order for centuries. It was the same missionary spirit that initially brought the Augustinians to the United States from Ireland in 1796. That very same call to global solidarity led the Midwest Augustinians to rebuild the Church in northern Peru at the request of Pope John XXIII in 1963.
Peru, a third world country with a developing economy, has suffered natural disasters, political instability, and economic uncertainty in recent past. Northern Peru, in the area near Chulucanas, is one of the poorest and most underdeveloped regions in the country. The missions we serve daily stretch from the desert area along the Pacific Coast to the Andes Mountains.
Bishop John McNabb, O.S.A. led the Diocese of Chulucanas as its first Bishop and is succeeded by current Bishop Daniel Turley, O.S.A; both Bishops are Augustinian missionaries from the Midwest Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel. The Diocese has flourished over the past 50 years to give birth to 22 parishes, one hospital, one Catholic university, and many projects to benefit and educate the local extremely impoverished community.
To grow the Augustinian Order in Latin America, our Province has developed priorities for the success of our Vicariate in Peru. The long-term goal of our missionary efforts is to incrementally strengthen the local Order with native vocations and financial sustainability so that it may one day be fully independent. We are nearing this dream each day.
The Augustinians began their mission in Chulucanas, Peru, starred above
Building the Native Church
Missionary Bishop John McNabb, O.S.A. once said, “Our best investment would be in the people, not in buildings. We arrived in Peru to promote the Peruvians, not to replace them.” Over 50 years later in 2014, we now see an incredibly rapid growth in native Augustinian vocations. In the entire country of Peru, there are about five dozen men in various stages of formation.
Similar to our formation program in the United States, the houses of formation are shared across the country between two other Augustinian Vicariates located in Iquitos (the Amazon Jungle) and Apurímac (in southern Peru, near Machu Picchu). Our novitiate is located in the country's capital of Lima, and our largest formation center is located in Trujillo, a city along the Pacific Coast.
The Midwest Augustinians have nurtured Augustinian Vicariate in Northern Peru, since it was formally founded in the Augustinian Order in 1986. With the growth of the Latin American Church, we are passing more responsibility into the hands of the native clergy. In 2010, Fidel Alvarado, O.S.A. became the first native Peruvian to serve as the Regional Vicar. Presently, 80% of the Augustinians in solemn vows in northern Peru are native Peruvians. We are even seeing that they, too, have embraced the missionary spirit by serving in distant countries: currently in Cuba, Algeria, and Rome.
Providing the Sacraments to God’s People
First and foremost, our missions exist to evangelize the local Church in Peru, as well as provide sacraments to the many thousands we serve. Some of those we serve live in very rural places, with limited access to the Holy Sacraments.
The Augustinians developed a Pastoral Plan in the 1960s to help the priests' reach go beyond their physical capabilities. Each parish is broken up into zones with a local team of lay people that are trained to educate the rest of their zone about the Holy Sacraments: their history, what they mean, and how to prepare for them. Groups of Augustinians then visit the dozens (and sometimes hundreds) of zones throughout their parish territory, administering the Holy Sacraments to all those in distant areas. Some zones can take up to one week to travel to; each zone is visited at least once per year.
Creating Opportunities through Education
The Augustinians have a reputation of being fantastic, impassioned educators. We bring those same core Augustinian values of Truth, Unity, and Love to our schools in Peru. We opened our St. Augustine School in Trujillo, Peru on March 11, 2013. Right now, we are investing money to build a high school near the grade school. The high school will be able to provide an Augustinian education to the local teenagers in this growing economic city and also help the Augustinian missions in Peru become more financially self-sustaining.
Walking with the Poor and Underserved
Many of the Peruvian people are considered "extremely impoverished" by standards defined by the United Nations. In addition to fulfilling the spiritual needs of the people, the Augustinians work hard to provide the necessities for the people of Peru. In the past, we have opened soup kitchens and pharmacies, built the only hospital in an entire diocese, started disease prevention and treatment programs, and a plethora of other programs designed to promote justice, peace, and the commitment to basic human rights. Our prayers go out to the Augustinian missionaries, the Peruvian Augustinians, those discerning an Augustinian vocation in Peru, and the many thousands of Peruvians served everyday by the Augustinians!
Profession of Vows of Br. Roberto Ugas, OSA
March, 2024: Augustinian Vicariate of Chulucanas in Peru Inaugurates Philanthropic Office of Development
On March 7, 2024, Prior Provincial Fr. Anthony B. Pizzo, O.S.A., and Fr. Richie Mercado, O.S.A., attended the inauguration of the new John McKniff Philanthropic Office of Development at the Augustinian Vicariate of Chulucanas in Peru.
This inauguration marks a significant milestone in the history of the Vicariate, and for the Midwest Province, and will enable the Vicariate to advance into the future.
The creation of this Philanthropic Office of Development was a joint project between the Vicariate, the Midwest Augustinian Province, and the international development group Spring Rain Global, Inc. The new Office will support the Vicariate’s growing advancement efforts as it becomes financially self-sustaining, an effort that has been underway since the Augustinians first engagement in Peru, in 1963.
Fr. John McKniff, O.S.A., the namesake of the new Philanthropic Office of Development, was actively involved in missionary work in Peru for over two decades, from 1972 to 1993. (Fr. John is an Augustinian “Servant of God” – with an active petition to be beatified.) During that time, he helped implement a Pastoral Plan for the Chulucanas Diocese, called New Image of Parish, that was intended to help engage laity in the evangelization work of the mission, to increase the amount of physical space the limited number of priests were able to support.
Since 1986, with the growth of the Latin American Church, the Midwest Augustinians have transitioned more responsibility into the hands of the local clergy. In 2010, Fr. Fidel Alvarado, O.S.A. became the first native Peruvian to serve as the Regional Vicar. Presently, the vast majority of Augustinians in solemn vows in northern Peru are native Peruvians.
In 2013, the Vicariate opened Colegio San Agustin (St. Augustine School) in Trujillo, Peru, serving grade-school-aged students and educating them in the Augustinian tradition and with our core values of Truth, Unity, and Love. The construction of the new school building (which is also the current location of the Development Office) was completed in 2020, and the first students attended in March 2020.
Further expanding the educational footprint in the region, the Augustinians administer Colegio Señor de los Milagros in Pacasmayo and Colegio Santísima Cruz (School of the Holy Cross), a school originally administered by a group of Franciscan Sisters from Iowa. Santísima Crus was reconstructed in February 2023.
During the 60-plus years of mission work in the region, the Midwest Province has been working to support the self-sustaining efforts of the Vicariate. In 2022, Fr. Richie Mercado, O.S.A., was commissioned by the Province to assist in evaluating ways to address the economic difficulty of maintaining social and apostolate works across the communities of the Vicariate into the future.
The Province identified the international development firm, Spring Rain Global, to support the establishment of a philanthropy office, to support the financial needs of the Vicariate. As a social enterprise, Spring Rain Global provides financial planning and philanthropy office support to nonprofits around the world.
The Development Office is currently undergoing capacitation training with Spring Rain, a six-pillar process that includes emphasis on leadership and governance, program development and management, philanthropy development, financial planning, database management, and ecosystem building.
The current priorities of the Office include funding scholarships for students, human development capital for teachers and staff in Augustinian schools, infrastructure projects (school chapel, classrooms, etc.), formation and vocation, and social justice projects (e.g. food pantries in Trujillo and Chulucanas). In the long term, the goal for this Office is to ensure the financial sustainability and viability of the Vicariate as a self-supporting organization.
For more information or to support the efforts of the Peruvian Vicariate of San Juan de Sahagun de Chulucanas, please contact the Advancement Office of the Midwest Augustinians.
