ASJ Partners With Catholic Church To Teach “Love And Limits” To Honduran Families

March 29, 2017

Last week, in a brief, joyful graduation ceremony, sixty participants received diplomas saying they had completed “Love and Limits,” a session led by ASJ (formerly known as AJS) that teaches practical strategies for working with children and families.

Stronger families make stronger communities, ASJ knows, and many parents in Honduras struggle with listening and understanding their children, while also lovingly placing and enforcing limits.

These representatives will be able to take these lessons not just to their own families, but to the dozens of children going through catechism in each church, and to other families in their parish.

“My experience was very good, in that I could apply it to my own life. I have a daughter, and I learned how to improve my communication with her,” said Nora, a participant who also leads child ministries in her church. “We as mothers don’t know everything, but we learn along the way,” she added, smiling.

“I work with some difficult families where there is irresponsible parenting, and many different life situations, but we are going to work as a team to address that and to see what we can do with the families,” she added.

All attendees emphasized this commitment – they wanted to “scatter the seed”, sharing the lessons they learned with other families.

“I’ve learned a lot – these reflections allow us to learn so we can later teach,” said another participant, “What I most liked was to discover the values and talents that are in our church… It encourages me to continue firmly in my commitment of working in the church.”

Participants estimated the trainings would soon reach around 400 children participating in catechism classes in different churches.

“Thanks so much, from all my heart, for having dedicating this time,” Father Dimas Rivera told ASJ staff, “It was a dream that we had and we’ve been very satisfied, it’s exceeded our expectations.

“We learned so much that we will have to sit down and review some elements and create a strategy to be able to bring it into practice,” the priest continued, “starting with a pilot program and later implementing throughout the Diocese.”

“May God continue to bless the work of ASJ,” he closed in prayer.

In this and other projects throughout Honduras, ASJ facilitates trainings that give new skills and knowledge to leaders who can then spread the information within their own churches, organizations, and communities. In this way, ASJ’s work can be a catalyst for justice everywhere from the Supreme Court to the family dinner table.

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ASJ-US and ASJ-Canada Joint Statement on Honduran Elections

December 2, 2025

ASJ-Canada and ASJ-US Congratulate the Honduran People, Call for Full and Transparent Results As sister organizations committed to justice, peace and hope in Honduras, ASJ-Canada and ASJ-US extend our deepest congratulations to the people of Honduras on the peaceful conduct of their national elections on November 30, 2025. With the initial tally showing an extraordinarily close vote, we call on election authorities to do what is necessary to ensure a transparent count of the remaining ballots in order to guarantee public trust in the final outcome. We commend the Honduran voters for their dedication to democratic participation and their commitment to shaping the future of their country through civic engagement. We also recognize the efforts of electoral authorities, civil society organizations, the international community and the thousands of volunteer observers who worked to ensure a transparent, orderly, and secure process. We are especially proud of our sister organization, ASJ-Honduras, for their unwavering commitment to democracy demonstrated through their electoral observation efforts, their analysis activities, and their consistent call for a fair and orderly process. Now that such a process has been achieved, the work turns to counting the votes with accuracy and transparency. The results remain close, increasing the possibility of a contested result. We support the work of the election officials at the National Electoral Council to give Hondurans confidence in the final results by conducting their count with rigor and transparency. We remain hopeful that the spirit of peaceful participation in the democratic process embraced by the electorate will carry forward into the post-election period to come. We look forward to continued collaboration with ASJ-Honduras as we all work together toward a just and hopeful future for all Hondurans. Matthew Van Geest President, Board of Directors ASJ-Canada Russ Jacobs President, Board of Directors ASJ-US

Artisans of Fraternity, Guardians of Hope

November 28, 2025

A call to action for Honduras

November 2025 ASJ-US Statement about Honduran Elections

By Elizabeth Hickel • November 25, 2025

The Association for a More Justice Society-US Supports the Network to Defend Democracy; Calls for Free and Fair Elections in Honduras November 25, 2025

Context Updates on the 2025 Elections in Honduras

November 13, 2025

Honduras’s Institutional Crisis Deepens Ahead of the 2025 Elections

HOPE

By Elizabeth Hickel • November 12, 2025

Dear friend, I couldn’t stop looking at the picture. Of course, there had been plenty of inspiring photos from this summer’s Prayer Walk for Peace and Democracy. The sea of blue and white rising and falling as hundreds of thousands walked the Honduran hills through Tegucigalpa, flowing like a never-ending stream. Catholic nuns praying their rosaries alongside Pentecostals dancing in the streets. But the picture that still knocks me flat is the closeup. The one of the two men standing side by side (picture enclosed). They are exhausted, and the shorter collapses into the taller. The tears mostly hold joy and relief, but they are mingled with something darker. After all, there had been threats—promises of harm done to themselves and their loved ones if they led their followers through the streets of Honduras in prayer. Despite the fear and intimidation, Pastor Gerardo Irías and Monsignor José Vicente Nácher forged ahead. They knew Honduras needed unity and, above all, prayer before the looming November 2025 presidential elections. As an ASJ supporter, you know that these kinds of threats aren’t out of the ordinary, and your support has helped slow and reverse violence in Honduras. Today, I am writing to share a way you can continue standing with brave Hondurans like Pastor Gerardo and Monsignor José in hope. The Evangelical pastor and the Catholic archbishop put the word out as widely as they could to their churches, hoping to mobilize 20,000 to walk and pray. Instead, an estimated 230,000 walked in the capital of Tegucigalpa alone. It was a historic moment. And without your past support for ASJ, it may have never happened. After all, two years prior, Pastor Gerardo and Monsignor José didn’t even know each other’s names. They first met in 2023 at ASJ’s offices. They were two of many civil society leaders convened by ASJ to discuss safeguarding democracy– especially before the election in 2025. It was at that meeting that they shook each other’s hand and learned each other’s name. It was at that meeting–and many subsequent meetings–where old religious prejudices began to be replaced by trust and mutual affection. So, when the moment came this summer to act, Pastor Gerardo and Monsignor José knew what they had to do. And they knew that they had to do it together.