ATLANTA--Through appeals for the annual Mission Cooperative Collection last summer by St. Philip Benizi Church in Jonesboro and Christ Our King and Savior Church in Greensboro, the Atlanta Archdiocese recently sent over $7,000 to the Vincentian Fathers of Mary Immaculate Seminary in Asmara, Eritrea.

Over $168,000 was raised through the archdiocesan mission collection last year and will also benefit other causes.

The money for Eritrea will support various Vincentian ministries in the African country, which is experiencing political turmoil and border disputes following war with Ethiopia. It will help finance the construction of the St. Justin de Jacobis' Basilica, small worship places and chapels, school buildings and health centers for villages.

Another Vincentian project to benefit from the fund is the "Save the Children's Life" project where children of mothers who died in child bearing are brought and raised by the Vincentians and the Daughters of Charity until they are five or six, after which they are returned to their families. Through the project hundreds of children's lives are saved.

Finally, money will support lodging, tuition, school fees and relevant education facilities for aspirants and students for the Vincentian life. On Feb. 21 Father Weldemariam, superior of the Vincentians, said three men were ordained to the diaconate to become Vincentian priests.

Father Weldemariam reported in a letter in January to Father Richard Kieran, pastor of St. Anna's Church, Monroe, "The construction of St. Justin's Basilica is progressing. We are confident to have it ready for the Jubilee Year of 2000 even though we are running short of the necessary funds."