Misericordia Center in Santiago de Chile
Misericordia Center
The Misericordia Center, a place of peace and welcome for families, aims to be “The heart of Christ, beating night and day for the poorest persons.” All the spiritual and physical charity works of mercy (pastoral care, health, education) revolve around a Chapel.
Misericordia is born from the particular missionary experience of Romain and Renaildes de Chateauvieux. The couple was sent on a mission in 2007 by Fidesco (International Catholic NGO) in the United States, they lived for 2 years in a mobile home in the heart of a ghetto populated by illegal immigrants from Latin America. Traveling in an American schoolbus converted into a rolling missionary home, they travelled the continent, from the United States to Brazil, and carried out for three years a series of missions of evangelization and development in the poorest places of the Continent.
In 2013 they landed in a “Favela” in Santiago de Chile and decided to set up a local Missionary Center, Misericordia.
History
The foundation of Misericordia comes from the extraordinary missionary experience of Roman and Renaildes Chateauvieux. In 2007, they were sent by Fidesco (International Catholic NGO) on a mission to the United States, where they lived for 2 years in a mobile home, in the heart of a ghetto populated by illegal immigrants from Latin America. After this experience, Romain and Renaildes were sent by the Episcopal Conference of Brazil and worked with CELAM on the project “Mission Tepeyac”. They traveled on an restored School bus transformed into a missionary mobile home. They travelled throughout the continent, from the United States to Brazil, and for three years performed a series of missions of evangelization and of development in the poorest places of the continent. They lived these three years as a fundamental experience of Mission for the poor. Welcomed today by the Archbishop of Santiago, Chile, they are encouraged to live the mission of Compassion and Evangelization in a “Favela”. They then decided to launch Misericordia in the desire to serve Christ, the Church and the poor.
Mission
Misericordia’s mission is to promote the integral development of the poorest populations in the heart of the underprivileged districts of Latin America.
Vision
Misericordia aims to be an “active and loving presence” in places of suffering, to be the “heart of Christ” that welcomes all men.
Principles
Through outreach work, Misericordia seeks to be an instrument for the positive development of the poor neighborhoods and of populations in need.
The project supported by The Caritas Pro Vitae Gradu Charitable Trust
In the largest slumps of big cities (Santiago de Chile and Buenos Aires), volunteers share the daily lives of those who are facing poverty, violence and drug trafficking. They want to bring the Light of Christ to these places of despair, and nurse and bandage the Christ’s wounds, the suffering of the poorest.
In the current Misericordia Center in Chile (phase 1) several projects are developed linked to education. Welcoming around fifty children of the neighbourhood everyday. Through concrete actions, Misericordia offers these children a true alternative to the “law of the street”. As well as strong knowledge, in order to allow them to become actors of their own lives.
On the other hand, the Misericordia Center offers several health-linked projects. The first one welcomes around thirty pregnant young girls. They are guided through their pregnancy, during which they shape their maternal vocation and prepare themselves to welcoming Life serenely. A second project welcomes homeless people and develops a rehabilitation program for drug addicts and alcoholics.
We supported the extension project, specifically the phases 2 & 3 through our donations. The Center aims at welcoming a hundred children and creating the best infrastructures for music, dance and theatre academies, which really drives the children towards excellence. The building of phase 3 will be dedicated to education whereas the existing one (phase 1) will be exclusively turned into the Health Center (free clinic, pregnancy monitoring, drug and alcohol rehab programs). The extension of the chapel to 200 seats shall allow the development of the neighbourhood’s spiritual life. A cafeteria will be built in the phase 2-building, meant to foster happy encounters between guests and the volunteers of the Center. The “Misericordia Store” will offer evangelisation tools for neighbours of the Center.
