“Christmas without Vanity” is the slogan that mobilized the community of Neuquén (Argentina) to carry out a gesture of solidarity for those who have less: on December 24, in the atrium of the María Auxiliadora Cathedral, dinner will be offered to more than 200 people from the street.
The initiative arose from priest Diego María Canale, who for two years has been in charge of a María Madre de la Iglesia parish, in the Alta Barda neighborhood, where he accompanies many families who work in the garbage dump or seek a way of subsistence there.
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Month after month, the parish offers food and school supplies for the children at the start of school, and around Christmas they delivered homemade sweet bread, under the motto “From your hands to your brother’s hand.” To carry out these gestures, they use the generosity of the community.
In addition to the special days, the parish is in contact with the community in meetings with people who come for different reasons, the priest explained to ACI Prensa. “Whether for a job search, sometimes for a search for recovery, and an exit from problematic consumption.”
For more than a year, “every Thursday we cook in our parish for the between 80 and 100 people who are sleeping on the street in the city of Neuquén,” added Father Canale. “We do five tours throughout the city of Neuquén (…) north, south, east and west covered, and it ends sometimes at 12, 1 in the morning,” he said.
Since they began the task, they have already carried out more than 8,000 meetings “from person to person, with people either homeless or in a situation of strong economic vulnerability,” he noted.
In this context, for Christmas 2023, people from a community in the mountain range, where the priest served for 10 years, made their contribution to be able to have a barbecue at the garbage dump.
“This year we aimed for a little more and decided to do the same, but on the night of the 24th, because it was not only the food, but all the emotion that goes through all people, it also happens to you and me, on Christmas Eve ”said Fr. Canale.
When they started the collection for the “Christmas barbecue”, with the help of the radio program “La noche bien campesina”, in just 20 minutes they raised 11 goats and 900,000 Argentine pesos (around 800 US dollars).
The intention is “for people to have a different Christmas Eve,” he said. The people of the mountain range joined in once again with a large collection, and they already have 30 goats to share with the people that night.
Added to this are the donations that people are making, and many neighbors who are signing up to be volunteers that night, to serve the poorest and “also other people who are not homeless or are in a situation.” difficult economic situation, so they need to have a good dinner and the best place is in front of the cathedral,” said Father Canale.
Also included are those who “perhaps are going through a very difficult existential situation in their life, which is why they need a slightly larger table based on the situations they are going through.”
“That’s why we think about a table where no one is left out, where we all have a place,” he summarized.
“A Christmas without vanity” seeks to remind the community that “we all enter Jesus’ table.” For this reason, along with the work of the Catholic Church, social organizations, businesses, and other institutions in the province will be collaborating.
Likewise, they call on the community to “make a great Christmas table possible for the last of the last.” Those who wish to volunteer for the dinner can do so through a Google online form.
Those who can help with donations (toys, Christmas food, clothing, trays, disposable glasses and cutlery, non-alcoholic drinks), can take them from Monday to Sunday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. to the María Madre de la Iglesia parish, Alta Barda, (Los Pensamientos and El Ceibo) or make a deposit or bank transfer to the following Mercado Pago account: Owner: Diego Canale. CVU: 0000003100023334697931. Alias: vicariapastoral. CUIT/CUIL: 20264200750
Those who choose this contribution method are asked to send the receipt to +54 9 2994 112994.
Juliet Villar
I am a journalist, with a degree in communication from the National University of La Matanza in Argentina. I have work experience in non-governmental organizations. Since 2016 I have been dedicated to Catholic journalism, first at the Argentine Catholic Information Agency (AICA) and, since 2022, as ACI Prensa correspondent for Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Bolivia.