In 1998, Fr. Joe Uhen, pastor of Santisimo Sacramento in Piura, Peru came to visit St. Anthony on the Lake as a missionary priest.  What transpired after that visit is a successful twinning parish relationship unlike any other in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.  

Parroquia Santisimo Sacramento/Piura-Perú Friends
A note from Cheryl Pierce who heads up one of the Medical Missions to our sister parish in Peru:

I have hesitated to post more news about Covid19 - if you are like me, I have had to stop reading and listening to the news reports, it can be so overwhelming and depressing. But once again I have been reminded of the huge differences there are when you live in the USA compared to a poor country like Peru. Already second to Brazil in total number of cases, our friends and families of Santisimo Sacramento in Piura are really suffering. Peru was one of the first to lock down and set curfews in an effort to contain the virus, even provided funds to people that were unemployed - seemed like all the right things. But, curfews and lockdowns don't work in a country that had 44% unemployment before the pandemic and a large number of people living day by day, begging and bartering for food. They can't stay home and "wait" out the pandemic. They must go out every day to look for food. And the virus spreads...

Piura has 5 ventilators in the whole city, the hospitals are not equipped for a pandemic. People are sent home to be cared for by their families. If they are lucky and have funds, they may go home with a tank of Oxygen, but as soon as it empties - they must beg for money to get it refilled. And now - there is an unexplained shortage of Oxygen to fill the tanks. Please PRAY our friends in Peru!

Click here if you'd like to donate to our Sister Parish!

Padre Joe Uhen has celebrated 25 years of priesthood!

• Read Padre Joe's Letter 

View pictures from our October 2019 Peru Trip

• Santisimo Sacrament Peru Trip Photos

These videos tell the story of how we are making a difference in Santisimo Sacramento.

Santisimo Sacramento's parish school is Mother of Good Counsel which opened the first classrooms seven years ago.This is a video of a new addition that is being constructed whereby they will be able to accommodate well over 1000 students in the near future.

In January, 1999, 11 members of St. Anthony on the Lake visited Peru to see what we as a parish could to do help the over 40,000 members of Padre Joe's parish. We were blessed to find it a community of faith filled, beautiful people who dwell in homes consisting of dirt floors, bamboo walls, tin roofs, with no running water or electricity. From that fact finding mission, evolved our current Family to Family Program where families from St. Anthony sponsor families in Peru donating $30 per month to supply the Peru family with rice, beans, powdered milk, vegetable oil and various other sundries. To date St. Anthony on the Lake sponsors over 350 families in Piura.

Subsequent annual visits have included 210 St. Anthony parishioners who've made the pilgrimage, many having traveled more than once.

In September each year, Padre Joe Uhen, comes to St. Anthony’s to visit along with two to three of his staff members. While here, Fr. Joe celebrates at each of our weekend masses and gives us an update on his parish, Santisimo Sacramento. Each of his staff members also speak to our parish thru Fr. Joe’s interpretation and tell of the many thanks that their people send to all of us at St. Anthony’s.

Learn more about our Sister Parish:

Areas of Impact

Donation Request List

Family to Family Giving

Peru Container Information 

Peru News

Peru Trip Photos

Please contact Maureen Michaels at [email protected] or (262) 691-9170 X1101 for information on how to support our sister parish or visit our online giving opportunity through WeShare.