On the border of Haiti and the Dominican Republic in the Dominican province of El Pinas lies the small border towns of Banica and Pedro Santana. This poor rural area on the border of Haiti is characterized by small communities known as campos where potable water is rare and where the ability of subsistence agriculture to sustain the men, women, and children of the communities is dependent entirely on the severity of the rainy season.   

In the story of the nearly twenty year relationship with the Diocese of Arlington, eight priests from the Diocese of Arlington have served an area characterized by spiritual, material and intellectual poverty.  

Spiritual impoverishment is great in the area.  Prior to Bishop Keating's 1991 agreement to provide assistance the area had been without access to priests and the sacraments for nearly eighty (80) years.  Thanks Be to Our Lord, eight priests from the Diocese of Arlington have worked tirelessly to minister to our brothers and sisters in Banica and Pedro Santana.   With praise and heartfelt thanks we offer our prayers for the workers in the vineyard:  Father Jerry Creedon, Msgr. Thomas Cassidy, Father Patrick L. Posey, Father Donald Rooney, Father John O'Hara, Father Daniel Gee, Father Christopher Murphy, and Father Keith O'Hare.  These priests have traveled for hours to some communities to celebrate the sacraments.   In Pedro Santana there are 30 chapels, 23 of which receive monthly visits from Father Muphy.  Some of the other remote campos receive visits twice a year. 

Intellectual poverty is also extreme in the area. Most of our brothers and sisters in the area can not read or write.  To address this basic need and right, Father Gee established a highly regarded Catholic school in Banica.  Construction of a state of the art reading room is now under way so that children and adults have assistance and open access to reading materials. 

Material poverty in the area is also great, especially in the outlying campos.  Volunteers from the Diocese of Arlington assist with USAID soup runs, a milk program, housing and latrine construction.

However as many many have said, the benefits of Banica and Pedro Santana to the Church in Arlington are greater than what we give to the residents of the area.  Numerous volunteers visit on a regular basis.  As Blessed Mother Teresa said, the poor give us much much more than we give to them.  In the disguise of the brokenness of the residents of Banica and Pedro Santana we see Our Lord himself.

Thank You Bishop Keating for understanding the benefits that the Church in Arlington would receive.