AMERICA/PERU - Quechuas in Peru : “We want the Holy Father to know at this time of suffering that he has the support of our humble prayers offered for his recovery”

Lima (Fides Service) - Quechua speaking Catholics in Lima as individuals and as a community are praying intensely for the Pope since they first heard that he had been admitted to hospital Fr. Juan Serpa parish priest at the church of Our Lady Monserrat and St Sebastian, told Fides. Fr. Serpa is in charge of spiritual assistance 35 Quechua communities in the capital. “We pray for him at Mass and during Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and ask the Lord to help him and give him the strength to continue carry his cross with love. We are all so sad that the Pope must suffer so much. We love him dearly and we pray to God for his speedy recovery”.
Father Serpa also said that the 160 pupils at the parish’s Nuestra Seňora de Montserrat boarding school follow with great attention and trepidation news about the Supreme Pontiff. They immediately formed a “chain of prayers and sacrifices to be an affectionate embrace around the Holy Father to help him at this moment”.
Institute Nuestra Seňora de Montserrat, run by the parish, is a boarding school for poor children from depressed areas of Peru. The school provides everything for the pupils even clothing. The school curriculum includes religious instruction, all round education and technical training. Many school leavers when they have obtained their diploma return to their communities and villages in remote regions to assume positions of local authority, some start small businesses. Many go on to further studies and the Institutes helps them financially. Others are employed by the school itself or offer to stay to help newcomers settle in to the new environment.
Father Jose Chuquillanqui parish priest of Holy Spirit church in Manchay, one of the poorest districts in Lima said that his people too are praying for the Pope. “People are taking various initiatives to let the Holy Father know how concerned they are and how they love him and pray for him. We offer the daily Mass and recitation of the rosary for his intentions and his health. On Sunday there will be special prayers for the Pope in the Our Lady of the Rosary chapel which can seat 2,000 people. On Monday 800 children from local primary, middle and high schools will gather for special prayers for the Pope. A new technical high school under construction in Manchay will be called after John Paul II as a sign of gratitude for his continual defence of the poor and the excluded. The school will also bear the name of Trent, because the school is being built thanks to funds offered by the Province of Trent in northern Italy (R.Z.) (Agenzia Fides 4/3/2005; righe 31; parole 445)