A NEW HERO
I am hitting 80 and have been reading Maryknoll magazine since I was a small child. It was always my real-life adventure story with the heroes in black, white, and grey habits all around the world.
Today the saga continues. And a new hero is Father Joseph Veneroso. The Spring 2024 issue is a keeper with a prayer poem reflecting divine beauty — “Laudate Deum” — and a Lenten meditation on the value of human suffering and disability embraced as mission, “In the Shadow of the Cross.” Father is always pithy with just the right words that go straight to the heart, and the photography is perfect.
Jan Hicks
Oak Ridge, Tennessee
MISSIONERS SAFE?
Some time ago, Maryknoll published an article about the new lay missioners who were being commissioned for their assignments around the world. Included in that list was a married couple being sent to Haiti. The article acknowledged that the situation in Haiti was precarious because of the political situation there and the general instability of the country. However, I recall that the article also expressed an expectation that the new lay missioners would be a sign of hope for that troubled land.
As the situation in Haiti has only gotten worse, I wonder about that couple and how they are doing. Would it be possible for you to inform the readership about their current status? Are they still in Haiti? Are they safe?
I pray and hope for the wellbeing of all the Maryknoll members in Haiti, as I also do for all the people of that suffering country.
Frank Hector Galvan
Beaumont, California
Editor’s Note: According to the Maryknoll Lay Missioners the missioner couple, Michael Lattanzi and Susan Silveus, had been visiting family and were not able to return to Haiti due to the escalation of violence. They are now in El Paso, Texas, where they have begun the process of reassignment. The other lay missioner, Sami Scott, had to leave her mission site in Gros Morne when criminal gangs took over even this remote rural area. Because Haiti’s international airports were closed, it was necessary for her to travel by land to the Dominican Republic, from where she left for the States. Scott hopes to return to Haiti.
HAMAS TERRORISTS
As a lifelong Roman Catholic, I appreciate the help that Maryknoll does for the poor. However, I was very disappointed in the Spring 2024 From the Editor letter. Israel is not in a conflict with Palestine. This false information has led to protests throughout the world. Israel is fighting the terrorist group Hamas after that group attacked Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023. When Israel defeats Hamas, then Palestine will be free.
Diane Brawdy Miller
Copley, Ohio
BOLIVIA UPDATE
Thank you for sharing in the Spring 2024 issue of Maryknoll what is now happening on the Maryknoll property in Cochabamba, Bolivia. I was a student there in 1970 and we had a large group studying the three languages the school offered, mainly Spanish [and also Quechua and Aymara]. It was a great group.
Now I am fascinated by the interesting projects taking place on that same land, but also thrilled that the center is continuing to offer language classes. It is a need and a great opportunity for missionaries to Latin America and other places. Please keep up the good work.
Sister Antona Schedlo FSPA
La Crosse, Wisconsin
JESUS LIVES
The arrival of each issue of your inspiring magazine is a wonderful day for me. The latest Winter issue is extraordinary, with the beautiful poetry of Father Joseph Veneroso and the introduction to the amazing dedicated life of Father Robert McCahill.
The magazine introduces me to the people of countries I will never visit and also to their struggles in life. God bless the Maryknollers who show them that Jesus lives.
Mary Lou Frandina
Buffalo, New York
SEEKING LETTERS
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the article about the work of Father Robert McCahill, a true inspiration of a life lived with Christ in every breath. It was mentioned in the article that Father McCahill has written an annual letter since 1984 which the National Catholic Reporter publishes. Do you know if it would be possible to obtain a copy of the annual letters?
Phyllis Smith
Walnut Creek, California
Editor’s Note: Father McCahill’s letters can be found on the National Catholic Reporter’s website at https://www.ncronline.org/authors/fr-bob-mccahill.
IMMERSION TRIPS
Thank you for the article “In Search of Lakota Spirit” in your Winter 2023 issue. It was so good to read about our forgotten Indigenous people of the United States. Last year, we had the opportunity to visit the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana. In the town of Browning, we went to Mass at Little Flower Church. How welcome we felt! The congregation sang a blessing song for all visitors. How touching! I would encourage all travelers to visit a reservation and support our Native Americans.
Theresa Chmielewski
Cleveland, Ohio
Editor’s Note: For information about Maryknoll immersion trips, please visit https://www.maryknoll.us/mission-trips or contact Zahira Sandoval at zsandoval@maryknoll.org or (773) 493-3367 ext.263.
Featured Image: Maryknoll Father William Woods, of Houston, Texas, offered homes and livelihoods to thousands of Indigenous families in Guatemala through a cooperatives project. Father Woods and his four passengers were killed in a suspicious plane crash in 1976 in Ixcán jungle. The photographer who took this picture, a mother of four and a friend of the missioners, was one of them. (Selwyn Puig/Maryknoll Mission Archives/Guatemala)
