History of Sister Relationship 

November 1989 – A group from the RCIA went to the premiere showing of the movie "Romero".

Lent of 1990 – Our parish mission evolved around the situation in El Salvador. Mary Kay Meyer (Catholic Worker House), members of St. Peter’s Parish, and three Salvadoran refugees presented to us the stark reality of El Salvador.

Those who had seen the movie "Romero" approached Father Gregory asking if we could start a sister relationship in El Salvador, just as St. Peter’s parish had. His response was that we should take it a step at a time – the first step being that we should form a Peace and Justice Committee.  In 1990, the Peace and Justice Committee began.

January 1992 – Father Gregory received a call from Father Jerry Waris of St. Peter’s Parish. He invited him and one parishioner from St. Robert’s to be a part of the St. Peter’s/St. Regis delegation to El Salvador.

March 1992 – Father Gregory and Bonnie Schlich traveled to El Salvador to observe, listen, and learn. They returned to present to the parish the possibility of beginning a sister relationship. Father gave a slide presentation of their trip, guest speakers came, and a parish vote was mailed out. A total of 685 were sent out. The returns were 87% Yes and 13% No.

The next step was to select a community. We received five profiles of communities from which to choose. They were presented to the Peace and Justice Committee and it was a unanimous vote to select Cinquera. On July 1, 1992, our spiritual journey of working with the poor of El Salvador began. 

August 1992 – The first delegation to Cinquera. Since then, there have been 19 delegations to Cinquera. A total of 44 people have made the journey to El Salvador - many have made return trips. Over the years the delegates have witnessed the rebuilding of Cinquera. The bond of friendship continues to grow as each delegation returns to El Salvador. Cinquera and St. Robert Bellarmine are two faith communities joined together by the Holy Spirit.