- About Us
The Constanza Mission...
was founded by Deacon Joe Vitello after a fact finding trip that both he and Deacon Bill Kane conducted in May of 2005. Deacon Vitello was so moved by the terrible conditions he saw in the City of Tireo that upon his return he spoke with the Pastor of St. Jerome Parish, Fr. Thomas Wyndham, about the establishment of a mission in Constanza, a small village in the City of Tireo.The pastor gave his overwhelming support both spiritually and financially with a generous tithe. The parishioners of St. Jerome also quickly adopted this mission as their own and continue to provide support in many ways.
While we are still in the very early stages of formation much has been accomplished even in this short period of time. To date our mission teams, consisting of volunteer doctors, nurses and administrative staff, have made three trips to Constanza. With the help of nuns of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, several clinics were conducted where the medical needs of the poor and afflicted were attended to. Most of these people do not have the resources to pay for treatment and if they did the condition of the emergency clinics there in Constanza are deplorable, when compared to the level of standards that developed nations are accustomed to.
Patients were diagnosed and treated for a variety of maladies including skin disorders, parasites, fractures, cancers and AIDS. Mothers brought their infants and toddlers for wellness checks. While people walked several miles to these clinics, we made house calls to patients who could not come. One such visit was to a 28 year old husband and father of four who had fractured his leg in a traffic accident 11 month earlier and was bedridden that whole time. Without financial resources or a medical support system in place he was destined to die a slow death while his leg rotted before his eyes. With a lot of divine intervention and the financial contribution of some wonderful parishioners, our team was able to have him transported to Santo Domingo where he received immediate attention and surgery. Today the prospects of him returning to work to support his family are greater than ever.
While much was accomplished on these missions we are barely scratching the surface. Our team is small and our needs are great. To continue our work we need the continued help of a committed medical staff, doctors and nurses. We need translators to work with our medical and administrative staff. We need donations of over the counter and prescription medicines. We need financial support to help us plan and implement both short range and long range clinics and medical infrastructure.To see how you can support us please visit the How To Help section of this site.
The Parish Mission of St. Jerome
632 Bridge Street | North Weymouth, MA 02191
781-335-2038 | jmvit@aol.com
