Msgr. Gerardo Žerdin, Croatian bishop and missionary in Peru in the region of the Amazon river, founded the Nopoki Center for Investigation and Intercultural Formation. The aim is to educate future school teachers for work within their native communities, in order to preserve their roots, language and customs, and ensure material and cultural prosperity. See also 32 Kreković's paintings. |
Nopoki Center for Investigation and Intercultural Formation, PeruGerardo Žerdin is a Croatian Franciscan born in 1950, and a missionary in Peru since 1975. He is living already for 32 years among Peruvian Indians as a priest, and since 2001 as a bishop appointed by the rescript of Pope John Paul II. Msgr. Žerdin learned several Indian languages, and now basic Christian prayers are available in these languages. Extremely important work is devoted to Indian children, first to teach them to read and write, both in their native languages and in Castellano. A very interesting film is available on DVD, prepared by Msgr. Gerardo Žerdin and shot by Boris Šegota, a Croatian cameraman. The film, issued in 2007 by the Apostolic Vicariate of San Ramon, Peru, is entitled NOPOKIUniversidad para indigenasIt describes the efforts to found the Nopoki University for Peruvian Indians, which has just started to operate. This very nice film is accompanied with spoken description in nine languages: German (DE), English (EN), Castellano (ES), French (FR), Croatian (HR), Italian (IT), Hungarian (HU), Polish (PL), and Slovenian (SL). A very complex and notrivial task to start the university is undertaken in cooperation with the Catholic University in Lima, and with support of some other institutions, for example Wings of Hope from Canada. One of the aims of the mentioned film, as well as of this article, is to draw attention of the world public to this project which needs further support for its successful realization. During the academic year 2006/07 the Center had its first 57 students. They started their studies aiming to become techers in primary and high schools within their own local communities. A new University campus for Nopoki Center is planned to be built in Atalaya. In September and October 2007 parisheners of the Čakovec area, north of Zagreb, Croatia, were collecting money in order to help building the Nopoki campus for Peruvian Indians. On that occasion Msgr. Gerardo Žerdin delivered a talk about the project in Čakovec, and the mentioned film was shown after a mass. CONTACT Mons. Gerardo Zerdin Apartado 28 San Ramón (Chanchamayo) PERU Teléfono: 331703 Fax: 331130 Bishops in Međugorje in 2002MSGR. Gerard Anton ZERDIN, OFM, Bishop Coadjutor of San Ramon (Peru)Msgr. Gerard Anton ZERDIN, OFM, a missionary and the Bishop Coadjutor of San Ramon, Peru, was in Medjugorje from July 4 to 6, 2002. Msgr. Zerdin initially comes from the Franciscan Province of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Zagreb, Croatia. This is what he told us about Medjugorje: MSGR. Gerard Anton ZERDIN, OFM: We read about THE Medjugorje apparitions in newspapers, we received people who showed us some materials, and we were especially touched by the desire of people to come closer to God, to use every occasion to come closer to God. They have seen that a door towards God was open and they came closer, asking for grace, wanting to transform their lives. This is a great value. This is what we want: to come always closer to God through the sacraments, to be transformed, to become better, to be more Christian. I came once to Medjugorje for a couple of hours with a pilgrimage of Altar Boys from Zagreb. It was really short. This time I stay two days. We have come to see, but even more to experience. Yesterday, we were at Holy Mass, today we went to the Apparition Hill to meditate on our vocation, on our missionary work; we went to ask God, to ask Our Lady to send us missionaries, labourers that we need, so that the Word of God may spread until the end of the world." Source: wap.medjugorje.ws |
Biskup Žerdin u Čakovcu predstavio misijsko djelovanje u PeruuČakovec, 2.9.2007. (IKA) - Vjernici župe sv. Nikole biskupa u Čakovcu upoznati su 2. rujna s misijskim djelovanjem Katoličke Crkve u južnoameričkoj državi Peru. O tome im je svjedočio biskup peruanske biskupije San Ramon Gerard Anton Žerdin, redovnik Hrvatske franjevačke provincije sv. Ćirila i Metoda, koji boravi u domovini posjećujući franjevačke župe. Biskup Žerdin predvodio je prijepodnevna misna slavlja u župnoj crkvi Sv. Nikole biskupa u koncelebraciji s domaćim župnikom i samostanskim gvardijanom fra Stankom Belobrajdićem i župnim vikarom fra Josipom Vukojom. Na misnim slavljima u nagovoru nakon Evanđelja uz animaciju župnika fra Stanka te na poslijepodnevnom susretu u Katoličkom domu vjernicima je predstavljen biskup Žerdin, a upoznati su i s djelovanjem misijske biskupije San Ramon i njezinim projektima. Biskup Žerdin i njegovi roditelji povezani su s Čakovcem jer je on bio isprošeno dijete za koje su se njegova majka i otac zavjetovali upravo pred slikom sv. Antuna u čakovečkoj župnoj crkvi kamo su često dolazili sami, a kasnije i sa sinom. Fra Gerard Anton Žerdin rođen je u Čentibi u Prekmurju 1950. te je 1975. kao bogoslov na poziv svog predšasnika u biskupstvu kao dragovoljac otišao za misionara u Peru, gdje je kasnije zaređen za svećenika, a 2001. imenovan je biskupom biskupije San Ramon, koja obuhvaća nepregledne prašume uz rijeku Amazon i u kojima u klanovima ili plemenskim zajednicama živi više indijanskih plemena. U svom 32-godišnjem misionarskom djelovanju mons. Žerdin bio je župnik u mjestu Atalayi, no misijsko djelovanje obavljao je otkrivajući domoroce vozeći se čamcem po rijekama ili hodajući prašumama. Kao misionar sa svojom je subraćom i suradnicima prolazio različite faze djelovanja od pronalaženja načina kako i čime pomoći Indijancima te do iznalaženja mogućnosti konkretne pomoći ljudima koji govore različite jezike. U tom približavanju, ostvarivanju dijaloga i povjerenja puno je radio s djecom koja su bila prvi vjernici u evangelizacijskom poslanju. Uslijedilo je prevođenje osnovnih molitvi na indijanske jezike, uz koje je službeni jezik španjolski, a zatim i osposobljavanje pojedinaca iz plemena za animatore koji okupljaju tamošnje vjernike i pripremaju ih za sakramente i za dolazak svećenika. Misijsko djelovanje prošireno je na način da se djeca uče čitati i pisati za što im je Crkva osiguravala pribor i konkretno početno obrazovanje. Biskup Žerdin vjernicima je kroz izlaganje i film prikazao najnoviji projekt osnivanja sveučilišta za Indijance "Nopoki", koje je njegova biskupija utemeljila uz pomoć i u suradnji s Katoličkim sveučilištem u Limi. Protekle godine na to sveučilište, smješteno u Atalayi, u pripremnu godinu studija upisalo se 57 studenata koji će ove jeseni započeti s redovnim studiranjem, a također su ove godine na tzv. formacijsku godinu upisani novi studenti. Mladi, koji su okupljeni iz različitih plemena te danima putovanja udaljeni od svojih obitelji na sveučilištu, gdje im Katolička Crkva osigurava smještaj, hranu, pribor i udžbenike te profesore, odgajaju se da budu učitelji u osnovnim te srednjim školama, odgajatelji u vrtićima i suradnici u evangelizaciji, a uz to uče i zanat. Sveučilište tako odgaja i obrazuje studente da sačuvaju svoje korijene, jezik i običaje, a da istodobno mogu pomoći u razvoju svoje zajednice da bi njezini članovi imali život dostojan čovjeka, istaknuo je biskup Žerdin u razgovoru s okupljenim vjernicima nakon prikazanog filma koji je pripremio uz pomoć snimatelja Borisa Šegote. Sveučilište je sada smješteno uz župu u Atalayi, a biskupija je osigurala prostor gdje će se graditi novi sveučilišni kamp u kojem će osim odgoja i obrazovanja studenti obrađivati zemlju da bi si djelomično pomogli u pokrivanju troškova boravka i studiranja. Na kraju susreta župnik fra Stanko Belobrajdić rekao je kako će, počevši od nedjelje 2. rujna i u idućih mjesec i pol dana do Misijske nedjelje, župljani prikupljati novčane darove za taj misijski projekt i tako pomoći da se započeti studij može dalje nastaviti, a čitav projekt uspješno razvijati. S dvije autorske pjesme biskupa Žerdina pozdravila je u ime nazočnih aktivna župljanka Ana Žišković. Source: IKA, 2. rujna 2007. |
Is there anything else that CROWN (Croatian World Network, www.croatia.org) can do for the Nopoki University in Peru, except only publishing the above information? I think the answer is yes. The CROWN can offer the Nopoki University additional information about a famous Croatian - Peruvian painter Kristian Kreković (1901-1985), whose masterpieces dealing with Peruvian culture are kept in Museu Kreković, a gallery in Palma de Mallorca in Spain which keeps 150 of his works of art. The gallery has been opened by the Queen Sophia of Spain in 1981. Kristian Kreković has contributed enromously to the knowledge about Peruvian history via a series of exhibtions entitled Past and Present of the Fabulous Peru in 1950s, organized under the auspices of the Peruvian Government in several countries with enormous success: in Washington, Madrid, Barcelona and Vienna. Kreković's works of art have contributed, and will no doubt contribute also in the future, to selfconsciousness and selfrespect of the "bronze race" of Peruvian Indians. Kristian Kreković became a citizen of Peru under the initiative of the then president of Peru, as well as honorary citizen of the town of Cusco, a famous archaeological site of Incas. Therefore I am free to offer the Nopoki University to exhibit in their halls the reproductions of portraits made by Kristian Kreković. I provide just a part of the collection of 80 portraits that this painter has donated posthumously to his homeland Croatia in 1994. Here I want to express my gratitude to the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia for sending me the photos of indeed beautiful Kreković's portraits, which are kept in the city of Zagreb. |