Hundreds of local Catholics got the chance to pray with at least 15 orphans from Mexico last weekend. They made up the main choir for all Masses at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Scottsdale. The video above gives a real look at the lives of these orphans and more than 3,400 like them in eight other countries.
Deacon Jim Hoyt, southwest regional director for Friends of the Orphans, the children’s support network, also shares concrete stories about their lives each fall when he brings the children to the Diocese of Phoenix. The children continue their Southwest Pequeño Tour — we call them Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos, Our Little Brothers and Sisters — this weekend leading Catholics in English and Spanish songs at all Masses at St. Patrick Parish in Scottsdale.
After Mass, the pequeños display traditional dancing. They even invite select members of the crowd to dance. I caught of the diocesan superintendents dancing with the pequeños, as they’re affectionately known. Ten local Catholic and elementary schools sponsor more than 70 Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos orphans throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, according to a Xavier Facebook post. Hundreds of local students met the pequeños last week.
Their sponsorship makes them godparents. If you’re interested, here’s an archived video showing what local teenagers (godparents) experienced during trips to the orphanages.
