Celebration spans 25 years, 2,000 miles

Sam Lucero reports in our Catholic Herald in the first three articles on the celebration of the 25 year relationship of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee with La Sagrada Familia Parish in the Dominican Republic.

At the time, there were only 14 priests, all foreign-born, in the diocese.

The plan, formalized between Archbishop Weakland and Bishop Ronald Connors of San Juan de la Maguana on April 20, 1981, would designate two priests to serve in the Dominican Republic.

There's no mention in the article of there since being any priests native to the Dominican Republic at the parish.

What began as an agreement to provide priests to staff the parish has blossomed into an opportunity for Catholics in the Milwaukee Archdiocese to experience the mission church, where the emphasis is no longer helping the poor, but walking with them.

Walking with the poor? I've heard that expressed as standing with the poor. The people running the mission trips like saying things like this. They tell us how, back in those unenlightened times of a few decades ago, mission was thought to involve going to poor countries to build things. But now,

As a way to participate in the sister parish relationship, numerous parishes in the archdiocese have established ties with villages of the parish, helping to build chapels or schools in those faith communities.