The parish priest, Luis Francisco Morales Reyes is in charge of the parish of Siquinalá Escuintla, in southern Guatemala, which has just over 26,000 inhabitants. About 60% are Catholics, while most of the non-Catholic inhabitants are members of Pentecostal sects and churches.
To serve the faithful, the parish priest has to visit villages up to 36 kilometers away. Unfortunately, the road conditions are extremely bad. The parish area is located next to a volcano, so the terrain is full of stones, rocks and solidified lava flows. In addition, very few roads are paved, and when it rains and the rivers rise, it is almost impossible to get around, so the trips take many hours. They really need an all-terrain vehicle.
The 37-year-old pastor writes: “The reason I am asking for a new vehicle is that ours is old and in very bad condition. It has covered almost 600,000 kilometers and breaks down frequently. The maintenance and repair costs are high, so, due to the economic situation of the parish, we are forced to spend time raising funds for repairs, and that time is taken away from pastoral work.” The parish priest often has to borrow a vehicle to visit the villages, and often has to go on foot. In this parish, which is one of the poorest in the Diocese of Escuintla, the faithful cannot raise the money necessary for these kinds of needs.
We have pledged 18,000 euros for an all-terrain vehicle for this parish at the foot of a volcano.