Catholic Charities of Corpus Christi will host the 2014 Dinner and Dialogue with Bishop Michael Mulvey on Thursday, Sept. 25, at the Congressman Solomon P. Ortiz International Center. The bi-annual fundraiser helps support the programs and services of Catholic Charities and the Mother Teresa Shelter.
Special guests from Brazil will share information about their unique drug and alcohol rehabilitation program called Fazenda da Esperanca (translates to Farm of Hope). The Fazenda da Esperanca is a Catholic community that takes care of young drug and alcohol addicts, showing them a new way of life by living each day according to the gospel through community life, spirituality and work.
The story of Fazenda da Esperanca began in 1983 when a German Franciscan parish priest, Father Hans Staple, called a group of young men and women in his parish in Guaratinguetá, Sao Paulo, Brazil, to meet every morning after the Mass and meditate on the message of the Gospel of the day. In 1998, the first Fazenda outside Brazil was inaugurated in Germany, near Berlin. Today there are six Fazendas in Germany. Others followed in Russia, Philippines, Paraguay, Argentina, Columbia, Guatemala, Uruguay, Mexico and Mozambique. At present, there are more than 70 Fazenda centers in Brazil and 10 other countries, with more than 2,000 boys and girls undergoing rehabilitation, with some 20,000 graduates worldwide.
The dinner with Bishop Mulvey will begin at 7 p.m. Free valet parking will be available. Individual tickets, sponsorships and special underwriting are available. New this year is a Clergy Sponsorship. For more information, to purchase tickets or for sponsorship and underwriting opportunities, please contact Shannette Hoelscher at (361) 442-2224, ext. 24 or [email protected]. Payments can also be made through PayPal at www.catholiccharities-cc.org.