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Pictures of the Memorial Mass in Morropon Reflection on the Life of Fr. Kelly in Peru |
Fr. Jack Kelly Leaves his Mark in Morropon
In the early 1960’s he was one of the men that encouraged the Augustinians to take on the mission territory in Chulucanas and thus extend their mission activity to one of the poorest areas of Latin America. He then volunteered to serve in that mission himself and stayed until deteriorating health, as a result of skin cancer, required him to return to the U.S. Most of his time was spent in the town of Morropon where
the great poverty of the people was always a central motivation of his
pastoral activities. He looked for ways to improve their lives, promoting the
building of wells for clean drinking water and to improve agricultural
techniques. In a place were few have money for medicine, he searched out less
traditional ways of responding to the needs of the sick. He studied
acupuncture and then went on to train several lay people in this ancient
techniques. In this way, some illnesses could be attended to without the need
for spending money, which few had, on modern medicines.
He was also deeply concerned for the education and guidance of young children whose families were too poor to care for them and thus ending up virtually abandoning them. With the Augustinian Sisters, who were founded to take care of girls in situations of danger, he promoted a house in Morropon to take care of them. Through his extensive contacts in the U.S. he was able to find funds to get this center off the ground and today it attends to a dozen girls whose families cannot meet their basic needs. The Augustinian Sisters named the center in honor of Fr. Kelly, as tribute to his long support of the project, calling it Hogar P. Juan Kelly (Fr. John Kelly House). To see pictures of the house click here. He touched the town of Morropon in many ways and thus one
of the sections of the town is named after him. A constant reminder of how
his gentle, humble and generous presence touched their hearts. Upon hearing of his death the town entered into a time of grief. The loud music, a mainstay of life in Morropon, was subdued, and the church filled up with people to pray and remember Fr. Kelly. The decided that they could unite to his funeral celebration in the U.S. by celebrating a memorial mass at the same time and day as the one in Miami. Click here to see pictures of the Morropon mass. Having left Morropon more than 10 years ago, it is striking of how much the people still remember and honor him for bringing the good news of Christ to the poor.
Scholarships Needed For many years the Augustinians have provided summer scholarships to allow very poor but good students the opportunity to earn a higher education degree. It is a six year program that takes places mostly in the summer and thus offers the possibility for the poorest people to actually get a higher education. By studying in a university for the three months of summer and then returning to their homes for the rest of the year to work and help the family, these young people are able to take the first step out of the cycle of poverty. As most know, without an education, there is no chance of breaking the hold that poverty has on them. Therefore many years ago we established a program to give students a scholarship of $150 to help cover their summer educational expenses. Literally thousands have been the beneficiaries of a program that has lasted over 30 years. Because of the aging reality of the Augustinians in the United States, they are no longer able to fund these scholarships. We hope to be able to at least finish with those that are partly through with their studies. Let us know if you can help sponsor one of these students for $150.
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Fr.
Jack Kelly who passed away on August 25th at 90 years of age, was
one of the most significant Augustinians to serve in the parish of Morropón.
Although he held a doctorate and served as president of the Catholic
Univeristy of Cuba before the take over of Fidel Castro, he remained
throughout his life a simple and humble friar and priest.
