Surrounded by family, friends and co-workers, Father Steve Vellenga was honored by the COAR (Community of Oscar Arnulfo Romero) Peace Mission at its annual benefit on April 25 at the Center for Pastoral Leadership in Wickliffe.
Father Vellenga, director of the diocesan Mission Office and pastor of St. Mary Parish in Painesville, served at the diocesan mission in El Salvador from 1988 to 1995. He received the St. Romero Service and Solidarity Award at the benefit in appreciation of his ongoing support of the mission.
The event included Mass, a reception, basket raffles and vendors.
(See photo gallery above.)
Father Pat Anderson, director of human formation for Borromeo Seminary, celebrated the Mass with Father Vellenga and Father Andy Turner, president/rector of Saint Mary and Borromeo seminaries, concelebrating. Father Anderson spent a few months in El Salvador and Guatemala when he was a seminarian and has remained supportive of the mission.
In his homily, he talked about the voice of the Lord, noting we might be surprised at the calm tone God takes with us, unlike Satan’s voice, which upsets us.
“Archbishop Romero said he didn’t want to be ‘an anti or against anyone.’ He wanted to be an affirmer who builds us up,” Father Anderson said. Jesus gives us his body and blood and tells us he came so we would have life in abundance. He said we need to be builders like St. Romero.
The offertory procession featured gifts native to El Salvador such as maize and flowers; photos of people important to the country including St. Oscar Romero and the four church women who were killed during the civil war, two of whom were from the Diocese of Cleveland; as well as the bread and wine.
After Mass, the group moved to the Founder’s Room for the reception and award program.
Melanie Reda, COAR board president, welcomed attendees before Kyle Carter, COAR executive director, presented Father Vellenga with the award.
“All of us are truly blessed to be a part of this mission,” Carter said.
Father Vellenga recalled his first visit to El Salvador in 1984 with a priest friend, Father Paul Schindler, a longtime member of the diocesan mission. “I thought it might be a nice winter vacation,” he said. “It gets in your blood … I thought, ‘I can do this,’ and I went as a missionary in 1988.”
He said one of his jobs as director of the Mission Office is to promote the diocesan mission in El Salvador. “We are loved there … any money you donate to the COAR Peace Mission helps children. For many, it’s their last chance before they fall through the cracks.”
Carter said proceeds from the fundraiser will help pay for a new security system at the COAR Children’s Village.
COAR, a nonprofit founded in 1980 during El Salvador’s civil war, serves vulnerable children through residential foster care with access to high-quality education, holistic health care and recreational opportunities.