This year the Pastoral Institute for the Family (INFAM), an apostolic work of Holy Cross Family Ministries, has been celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary “walking with the family” in San Juan de Lurigancho, Peru. Although the celebrations began back at the start of 2022, they culminated in the third week of September with a special series of events to mark the anniversary.
The anniversary week began on Sunday, September 18, with a symphony concert performed by a youth orchestra from the area. Then from Monday to Thursday, there were a series of presentations addressing topics of great pastoral importance for families today in San Juan de Lurigancho, including the role of women and the impact of the growing elderly population.
The week culminated on Friday, September 23, with a Mass of Thanksgiving presided by Fr. Aníbal Niño, C.S.C., Director of INFAM. Following the Mass there was a reception that include a celebratory toast and large cake.
Joining the pastoral team of INFAM and other invited guests from the surrounding neighborhood were Fr. Fred Jenga, C.S.C., President of Holy Cross Family Ministries; Fr. José Ahumada, C.S.C., Superior of the District of Chile-Peru; and Fr. Boby John, C.S.C., Executive Assistant at HCFM World Headquarters.
INFAM was created, as explained its founder, Fr. David Farrell, C.S.C., "to meet the needs of the poor families of Canto Grande, and for this reason, it must offer an integral service, where the prayer of the holy rosary and the social service to the families are not opposed, but meet in the way of service; in this way prayer leads to service and service leads to prayer.”
Learn more about Holy Cross Family Ministries
“The INFAM is a place that has served the community well over the years," remarked Fr. Jenga. "It has been as a good space for prayer, for rest, for comfort, for healing, for meetings, for learning, for celebration, and for discerning what God is inviting his people to be, and to do. The 25th year anniversary was meant to thank God for the foresight of our brothers in Holy Cross who worked hand-in-hand with the local people to start the Peyton Center.”
Fr. Niño expresed the same sense of gratitude, as well as hope for the Institute's mission in the future: "We are grateful to God for this journey that we have made together with Jesus and our mother the Virgin Mary. We pray that through the intercession of Father Patricio Peyton, we may continue with this legacy that God entrusted to him and that we continue today."