Fonds 074 - Mission Mexico

During the Jubilee Year of 2000, Fr. Fred Monk of St. Mary’s, Cochrane, began collecting a loonie a week from parisioners to build an orphanage in La Montaña, a region in the State of Guerroro, Mexico. Upon successful completion of the project, Fr. Fred visited La Montaña and was taken to many poor villages in the diocese by Alejo Castro, Bishop of the Diocese of Tlapa, inspiring a partnership of hope and support that became Mission Mexico. Through donations, it has funded projects such as scholarships, micro-economic endeavors, construction and administration of the Champagnat High School of the Mountain, and many others that help improve quality of life in the poor areas. A major campaign is a school mail out on or around December 12, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe and designated Mission Mexico Day.
Fr. Fred retired from active ministry in 2017, leading to the formation of the Transition Committee in January 2018, a subcommittee to handle transferring control of Mission Mexico to the Mission Council of the Diocese of Calgary.
Other key members of Mission Mexico include Leslie Davies, who began working with the poor in Mexico in 2001 and served in the Diocese of Tlapa as a witness and human rights activist. Michael MacDonald became the on-site project coordinator in September 2013 after living in Southern Mexico and working as Bishop Castro’s assistant for decades.