These are our brothers and sisters, not freeloaders.

More than 200,000 Salvadorans, the largest T.P.S. community, “would be far too many people for the country to absorb,” said Archbishop Wenski, pointing out that the virtual control of entire communities by drug and extortion gangs mean that El Salvador remains a perilous place for many.

“People who suffer from severe and persistent mental illnesses are among the most misunderstood, ignored and unjustly stigmatized members of our society,” the bishops write.

"There's no program, no script, no secondary mission that we are trying to accomplish."

The 188 parishes of the diocese will be placed into 57 groupings that will eventually become new parishes.