Please welcome Reverend David Cottingham, CSSp, to The Basilica of Saint Mary. Fr. Dave is visiting us this weekend to speak about the Spiritans missionary work around the world. CSSp stands for the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, also known as the Spiritans.
An international religious community, the Spiritans are engaged in a wide range of missionary activity in over 60 countries throughout the world with a focus on Asia, Africa, and Latin America. In the US, they are dedicated to working with those who are marginalized and in poverty by providing education, parish ministry, and retreat ministry. The Spiritans are committed to deliver basic human needs, promote justice and peace, provide education and economic development among the most impoverished. They provide career teaching skills, establish medical services and schools and work in refugee camps. Some examples of their economic development work include farming, women’s sewing cooperatives, parish bakeries, women’s empowerment, and technical skills training.
Fr. Dave served in Spiritan missions in the District of Kilimanjaro and in Arusha, Tanzania, as well as in Taiwan.
Our second collection today supports the work of the Spiritans around the globe. To learn more about the Spiritans, please visit their website at spiritans.org.