Mission Mexico

Joy comes from making a difference to others. Mission Mexico provides hope to the lives of real people living in the poorest region of Mexico. Together we help our brothers and sisters to have a better future, to sow hope among those who suffer.

Discover the best kind of joy

Matthew 25:35

What is Mission Mexico?

Mission Mexico is an outreach by Catholics of Southern Alberta to some of Mexico's poorest people. Since its beginning, it has focused on school construction, literacy, health, housing, and micro-economic self-help projects. Much of the funding for these projects has come from families and students who have committed just a loonie a week as their partnership with their brothers and sisters in marginalized Mexican communities.

Mission Mexico serves the poor in La Montaña, a region in the State of Guerrero, Mexico.

Why La Montaña?

The year was 2000 – the dawning of a new millennium. Pope John Paul II declared it a Jubilee Year. At St. Mary's Parish in Cochrane, Alberta, Fr. Fred Monk proposed a Jubilee Project. Girls in a remote village of the mountains of southern Mexico, known as La Montaña, needed a new dormitory in an orphanage, operated by the Sisters of Immaculate Mary in Tlapa, Guerrero. If every parishioner would give one loonie per week, St. Mary's could raise the required $100,000.

Following that success, Fr. Fred travelled to Mexico to look over the completed project. At that time, he visited throughout La Montaña with Alejo Zavala Castro, Bishop of the Diocese of Tlapa. Bishop Alejo took Fr. Fred to many of the truly poor villages in his diocese and instilled in Fr. Fred – and by extension, in us here at our own diocese – a vision for partnering with these folks who are the poorest of the poor to affirm hope and dignity in their imageness of God. Mission Mexico was born, now an official outreach of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary.

Mission Mexico has funded micro-economic projects, thereby encouraging agricultural and small-business initiatives, adult literacy programs, health projects, construction of a high school with student accommodations, and student bursaries for young people who would not otherwise have the opportunity to pursue a higher education. As well, Mission Mexico has helped with post-hurricane disaster relief and other unexpected emergency situations.

Since September 2013, Mike MacDonald has been officially part of the Mission Mexico Team. Mike is a former Calgary Catholic high school teacher who has lived most of the past thirty years in southern Mexico, serving much of that time as assistant to Bishop Alejo Castro. He has been available to offer hands-on assistance and the lived-out gospel message to the people served by Mission Mexico. You can read about his experiences in his blog on the Mission Mexico website. In 2017, Fr. Fred Monk retired from active ministry and Mission Mexico became the responsibility of Mission Council of the Diocese of Calgary. Mike MacDonald continues employed as Mission Mexico’s on-site coordinator in Mexico.

Read more about Mike MacDonald and Mission Mexico’s ministry through Mike’s blog here

My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

I wish to affirm the ongoing support of our Diocese for Mission Mexico. Since the new millennium the financial support of the Catholic faithful from the Diocese of Calgary has provided much needed health and education projects for the Indigenous Peoples in the mountains of the State of Guerrero which is the poorest region in the country of Mexico.

On December 12th we celebrate the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. As patroness of the Americas the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe recounts Mary’s appearance in 1531 to a poor indigenous man in Mexico. Speaking to him in his native language she requested that a church be built in Tepeyac, the area where the poorest of the poor were living at that time. Mary promised to be present in that church “to listen there to their lamentations, and to remedy all their miseries, afflictions, and sorrows.” Therefore we designate December 12, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, as “Mission Mexico Day” in the Diocese of Calgary.

On this day I encourage the Catholic faithful to consider a financial donation to Mission Mexico through their parish or online at www.missionmexico.com. This financial assistance is very important, and it is also welcome at any other time of the year.

In Advent, Matthew (4:16) tells us that when Jesus began his ministry of proclaiming the Good News in Galilee, the prophecy of Isaiah 9:2 was being fulfilled: “The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death, light has dawned.”

For more than twenty years, the Diocese of Calgary has tried to be a light of missionary outreach, to address the “darkness” and “shadow of death” experienced by the indigenous peoples of the Mountain, peoples who live in more than 700 towns and villages where with the exception of faith, hope, and love the basic necessities of life are truly very scarce.

As the People of God, let us join Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, as she continues her mission to help “remedy” the many “miseries, afflictions, and sorrows” of our brothers and sisters in Mexico. In gratitude for what we have and are willing to share, I thank you for your generosity and in the sacrifices you make to support Mission Mexico.

Yours in Christ,

+William T. McGrattan
Bishop of Calgary

How do I give beyond the loonie?

For the people in La Montaña, Mission Mexico is a true gift from God. There are people who are alive today because of Mission Mexico; there are people working hard to change the realities of their villages because of Mission Mexico. Your monetary gift is what makes this possible. Explore the options below to share your gift beyond the loonie on Mission Mexico Day.

Eligible charitable donations of at least $20 to Mission Mexico are entitled to an official tax receipt.

Charitable Registration Number: 10790-9939-RR0076

Mission Mexico

Mission Mexico is an outreach ministry of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary.