Honduras

Current Mission Updates

2024 Updates

• New Missionaries for the San Pedro Sula Mission, Honduras.
  • On November 12^th, 2024 – Fathers Osman Solares (parish priest) and Daniel Peña (Parochial Vicar) took possession of the Nuestra Señora de Suyapa Parish, Chamelecón, San Pedro Sula.
  • Bishop Mons. Miguel Lenihan presided over the Eucharist for the installation of the new missionaries in their service to that parish community.
    

How can others support this mission?

• Supporting this mission can take various forms, and each contribution makes a difference. Here are some ways others can support the Fraternity’s mission:
  • Prayer: 🙏 Encourage others to pray for the success of the mission, the well-being of the priests, and the spiritual growth of the community. Prayer is a powerful force that sustains and uplifts.
  • Financial Support: Donations play a crucial role in sustaining the mission. Individuals can contribute financially to cover operational costs, support outreach programs, and provide resources for the parish community. Make a Donation- click here.

2023 Updates

Diocese of La Ceiba (6 missionaries)

Mezapa Mission:

Mission of Santa Rosa de Lima, Mezapa Parish, Atlántida, Honduras

Missionaries: Fr. Lorenzo Echeverría Argueta, MFM, Fr. Daniel Peña, MFM

• This is the first presence of the Missionary Fraternity of Mary in Honduras.
• Our missionaries started in 1997.
• The parish was created at the very arrival of the first missionaries, a parish of very simple people.
• Almost all the population is dedicated to agriculture, mainly to the cultivation of African palm.
• Pastorally, this parish serves 27 communities, most of them with a temple, where they can celebrate mass and the sacraments.
• Currently, the missionaries and the parishioners are working on the remodeling of their temple.
• Every Sunday they raise funds by selling food and organizing activities to collect funds and complete the work.
• A few months ago, they received Fr. Lorenzo who is the current pastor.

El Pino Mission:

Mission of San José Esposo, El Pino Parish, Atlántida, Honduras

Missionaries: Fr. Víctor Herrera, MFM, Fr. Roberto Palma, MFM

• This is the second presence of the Missionary Fraternity in Honduras.
• The parish was created in November 2011 and entrusted to the Fraternity.
• It is a parish of 13,000 inhabitants and a pastoral work serving 25 communities.
• San José Esposo is a community with many committed young people and a ministry that tries to help those most in need.
• The Fraternity, almost from the very beginning of this parish, started its pastoral program “Exodos Juveniles” to accompany youth in their spiritual growth. 
• Among the projects of this parish is the construction of the parish house.

Archdiocese of San Pedro Sula (5 missionaries)

Yojoa Mission:

Mission of Nuestra Señora del Carmen Parish, Yojoa, Cortés, Honduras

Missionaries: Fr. Rudy Matías del Cid, MFM, Fr. Jordanio Zurdo, MFM, Fr. Alvaro Col, MFM.

• This is the third presence of the Missionary Fraternity of Mary in Honduras.
• The parish temple has a lot of history dating back to colonial times.
• The building was completed in 1575 and made part of the parish in 1600 with the dedication of Nuestra Señora del Carmen (Our Lady of Carmel).
• Through many historical events it lost the parish status but it returned to recover its status on January 20, 2013.
• It is a parish of mostly rural reality and has a population of 35,000 inhabitants.
• A total of 30 communities are served by our missionaries.
• Most of the communities have a temple where they celebrate the Eucharist, but 3 communities still lack temples.
• Most of the chapels are in the process of being remodeled.
• The biggest challenges are emigration and extreme poverty.

Chamelecón Mission

Mission of Nuestra Señora de Suyapa Parish, Chamelecón, San Pedro Sula.

Missionaries: Fr. Jorge Donaire, MFM, Fr. Dionisio Cañas, MFM.

• This is the fourth presence of the Missionary Fraternity of Mary in Honduras.
• At the end of 2016, the Bishop of San Pedro Sula, Angel Garachana, asked that the Fraternity take care of a new parish.
• It is in an area called Chamelecon, on the outskirts of San Pedro Sula.
• As is typical with a city periphery, this community has great challenges, large youth population, many in situations of poverty, strong social problems of marginality and crime, but also many people with a very strong commitment to the church and evangelization.
• More than 100,000 people live in cramped quarters in this low-lying community, where an estimated 20,000 homes were destroyed or damaged and 40,000 people displaced by recent storms.

Diocese of Trujillo (2 missionaries)

Balfate Mission

Mission of San Esteban Balfate Parish, Colón, Honduras

Missionaries: Fr. Jilberto Tzaj, MFM, Fr. Osman Solares, MFM

• This is the fifth presence of the Missionary Fraternity of Mary in Honduras.
• On March 12, 2022, our missionaries started at the parish of San Esteban.
• This mission is in the northeast of Honduras, in the district of Balfate, department of Colón.
• Historically, San Esteban began in 1836 as a fishing village and now has growth in population with a lot of challenges.
• Pastorally, San Esteban has 18 communities and 81 small villages, many of them very difficult to access due to the bad state of the roads.
• The investment priorities in this place are oriented towards the improvement and construction of roads, delimitation, and demarcation of micro-watersheds, construction of housing projects, environmental sanitation works in the sanitary sewer system, improvement of health centers, improvement and construction of schools, and the construction of natural disaster mitigation infrastructure.

2022 Updates

• The youth movement at Nuestra Senora del Carmen Parish in Yojoa is making a big difference in the life of young people – youth evangelizing youth.

2021 Updates

• In April 2021, an additional priest joined the mission in the Diocese of La Ceiba.

2020 Updates

Diocese of La Ceiba (6 missionaries)

Mission of Santa Rosa de Lima Parish in Mezapa

Mission of Santa Rosa de Lima Parish in Mezapa

Missionaries: Fr. Carlos Emilio Mejia, Fr. Carlos Perechú and Fr. Victor Hernández

Mission of San José Esposo Parish in La Ceiba

Missionaries: Fr. Jilberto Tzaj, Fr. Walter Rodríguez and Fr. Rudy Matias

• A few months after the La Ceiba diocese was created, the new bishop Mgr.
• Miguel Lenihan asked the Fraternity to send more missionaries for a second parish. That is how the new parish was created in November 2011.
• Being named San José Esposo, it is a parish of 13,000 inhabitants and a pastoral work serving 25 communities.
• San José Esposo is a community with many committed young people and a ministry that tries to help those most in need.
• Among the projects of this parish is the construction of his parish house.
• Temporarily, the missionaries rent a house as the rectory. They expect to have, in the near future, their own rectory.

Diocese of San Pedro Sula (3 missionaries)

Mission of Nuestra Señora del Carmen Parish in Yojoa

Missionaries: Fr Mateo Ramírez and Fr José María Velásquez

• Bishop Ángel Garachana asked for missionaries for his diocese of San Pedro Sula. Thus, a new parish was opened in the town of Yojoa that would bear the name of Nuestra Señora del Carmen.
• The temple of this parish has a long history since colonial times, with the building being finished in 1575.
• It became a parish in 1600 with the dedication of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
• After many years it regained its parish status on January 20, 2013.
• It is a parish composed of a mostly rural reality and a population of 25,000 inhabitants.
• 30 communities are pastorally attended. Most of the communities have a temple where they can celebrate the Eucharist, but 12 communities do not, yet. Thus, they celebrate mass in homes.

Mission of Nuestra Señora de Suyapa Parish in San Pedro Sula

Missionary: P. Jorge Donaire

• At the end of 2016, the Bishop of San Pedro Sula; Bishop Angel Garachana requested that the Fraternity attend a new parish on the peripheries of San Pedro Sula.
• It is a community with great challenges, typical of a city periphery: large youth population, many in situations of poverty, people from many parts of the country looking in the city for the best place to live.
• This situation makes this parish a hard reality with many social problems of marginality and crime, but also a community with people of hope and very committed in the church and in evangelization.