History
Priests from the Society of African Missions (SMA) have made summer visits to parishes in the Peoria Diocese since the 1990's. These visits provide 'another pair of hands' for parishes and also provide opportunities for African priests to share their experiences serving on the African continent. The Archbishop Fulton Sheen Catholic Academies grew out of this sharing.
Fr. Michael Adrie has made summer visits to a number of parishes in the Peoria Diocese. In August of 2008, Dcn. Joe Dockery-Jackson from St. Pius X parish in Rock Island and his son John, accepted Fr. Adrie's invitation to visit him in Ave-Afiadenyigba in Ghana, West Africa.
In planning the trip, it became clear that the region's schools were not meeting the needs of the community. As a result, a part of the trip was a 'fact-finding' mission to understand the needs and opportunities of the people of Ave-Afiadenyigba. The experiences of that visit are chronicled in Joe's journal of the trip.
While in Ave-Afiadenyigba, Joe and John met with a variety of tribal, government, religious and community leaders. It soon became clear that community-based economic development was also needed to sustain and support families. There was universal support for both the educational and economic development efforts.
Following Joe and John's mission visit, the Parish Council of St. Pius X Parish in Rock Island agreed to support the creation of a coalition of parishes and individuals to support educational and economic development opportunities for the Ave-Afiadenyigba community. This web site is an open invitation to participate in that coalition.