Faith

Patients wait for treatment as a generator provides electricity to the rural clinic.

Propagation of the Faith

Friday, September 26, 2025Faith

Each year, every parish in the Archdiocese of Boston welcomes someone from the missions to speak about their diocese, religious order, or organization. Sometimes, that organization is one of our Pontifical Mission Societies, and sometimes, the speaker is me! Such was the case a few years ago when I spoke at all the Masses at Holy Family Parish in Rockland about the great work that is supported by The Society for the Propagation of the Faith.
It was during my talk that I noticed an older gentleman who looked to be asleep. His wife was nudging him to know avail; he was simply not waking. Then, he slumped against her, and she and I both realized that he was unconscious.
As I asked if there were any medical professionals present (there were not), multiple people called 911. An ambulance arrived so quickly that we barely had time to say three Hail Marys. The man was alert by the time he was taken out of the church.
I finished my remarks this way, "Had we been in the missions when this happened, Mass would now be over. Father would most likely be the only person not only trained in first aid but also the only one with a vehicle to transport that man to any emergency health care, if any was even available. When you support The Propagation of the Faith, you allow Father to have basic first aid training, transportation, funds for fuel, and help to set up rural clinics."
On my recent trip to Ethiopia, I saw a different twist on this situation. While visiting the village of Jajura, we met the Sisters of The Institute of the Maids of the Poor. They serve the local parish of Saints Peter and Paul, where there is no resident priest, as well as run a small health clinic.
The clinic treats patients with minor injuries and illnesses. Their prize possession is a microscope so that they can run blood tests. Medicine is limited as is the care that can be given in a more serious situation. Sister Abneg told me that when a pregnant woman presents herself at the clinic with complications, there is little they can do. With no resident priest, there is no transport to the nearest hospital, about an hour away, over incredibly rough roads.
Mother and baby death rates are high in the area because of the lack of an ambulance. Because a used ambulance costs over $25,000, they have little hope of acquiring one soon. Unless, in this Jubilee Year of Hope, someone feels called to help save mothers and babies in Ethiopia.

- Maureen Crowley Heil is Director of Programs and Development for the Pontifical Mission Societies, Boston.