Leading Up to Holy Week and Short Chapel Update

Towards the end of Lent our local parish was host to a diocesan gathering of parish “confradías”- which are home-based prayer groups that are also caretakers of beloved holy statues or paintings. Along with the bishop, about 1500 people attended- many dressed in traditional outfits. These groups foster a devotion to the particular saint, or to a moment in the life of Jesus or Mary captured in the image they venerate.

The confradías and the popular piety they foster served an important role during the time in the 19^th century when the Catholic Church in Guatemala was persecuted through an anti-clericalism that left the country with few priests. Popular piety served to maintain and transmit the faith, and continues to be a vital expression for parishioners here.

Interestingly, while the Catholic Church sided with the wealthy and the powerful during the 19^th century (causing the anti-clericalism during the reign of liberal governments that had power then), during the conflicts and civil war of the late 20^th century the Church was seen by the government as inappropriately siding with the indigenous poor- and so worked to discredit and reduce the influence of Catholics. The local pastor here tells me that the United States’ CIA even funded Protestant missionary activity here in order to weaken the Catholic Church’s influence by depleting it of its members. (I haven’t been able to research this, though.) But the result of intensive American Protestant missionary activity is that towns and neighborhoods are now dotted with many small independent Protestant churches (charismatic and often virulently anti-Catholic). In addition, Mormons from the United States have asserted a strong presence here in recent years- all of the towns I have visited have Mormon churches, which are usually the most beautiful and modern buildings in the town. (In an effort to reject the yoke of colonial religion and the religious influence of American and European culture, many now seek to reclaim their ancestral pagan religions- seen even in some of the Mayan school projects required of the kids.)

Our parish has twelve of these confradías, and each year on the feast day of the saint whose image is captured in the statue or painting, the group in charge of the image builds an elaborate “float” (called a “procesión”) that is carried throughout the town on the shoulders of 20+ men (with replacements switching in and out throughout), accompanied by music, crowds and fireworks (usually long rolls of firecrackers and mortar-style noise-makers). The procession can last for hours, and ends at the parish for Mass. Mass is followed by another lengthy procession with all of the accoutrements of the first round, as the image is returned to the home where it is kept during the rest of the year. Our town of Parramos is often host to a war of sound- with highly amplified music and ecstatic preaching powered from within small Protestant churches were few are in the seats, but a mighty sound blares out into the neighborhood and even reaches my house at NPH. The Catholics do their part with the processions and fireworks, often beginning at 4am. I have often said that the noise pollution here has been one of the most difficult things for me to get used to.

Sadly, relations between Catholics and Evangelical Protestants here is generally not good. Each side tends to think of the other in terms of caricature: Catholics perceive the Evangelicals as led by pastors with no formal theological training, focused too much on individual religious experience, avoidance of vices like alcohol and tobacco, and pentecostalist-style worship.  Catholics are perceived by Evangelicos as idol-worshippers (reinforced by the regular processions through town) and drunkards (abuse of alcohol is indeed a problem here).

During the processions, the streets are covered with “alfombras” (literally, “rugs,” but made with pine needles, flowers and flower pedals, fruit, and colored sawdust), that those in the procession walk over.

The procession this day was that of the “Holy Innocents,” the patrons of our parish. It was amazing to witness the display of faith and piety by all who attended the event and walked in the procession, as well as that of those who elaborated the “alfombras” and lined the streets to watch it all.

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CHAPEL UPDATE

I had hoped to have a more celebratory update on the chapel construction prior to Easter, but we are still a few weeks away from signing a contract for construction. Happily, we have the final plans and bids from four contractors. Getting the project approved so that the money can be sent down here is a bit of a complicated process, put into place some time ago by NPH-International to avoid graft and corruption in the homes. In the parish we could work a bit more “on the fly,” and parishioners trusted that if we ended up with extra money for a project, we would have no problem putting it to good use. Here, we need to account for every dollar we need before the project can be approved and begin, which is difficult with something as detailed as a furnished chapel built to seat four hundred people. Also, because cash flow is so tight, we need to have the money in hand before starting.

Fortunately, we have enough money ($190,000) to build the structure and move the power lines that currently hang above the site. We’ll need about $40,000 more for things like the altar, sound system, pews, bell, etc. But I am confident we can get started soon; I will worry about funding these other items once we get moving. And I suspect that other donors may appear and help out once that they see that this project is a reality and in process. If need be, we can prioritize those items, and I can even work to fill in whatever gaps remain after I return to the States in June 2015. I think it will only take seven or eight months to build, and so I will be here see it completed and (I hope) consecrated by the bishop.

I promise to post again as soon as I have more information about the construction schedule, as well as updated images of the plans.

Wishing all who are following my journey here at Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos a Blessed Easter. Please continue to keep me and the kids here in your prayers, and be assured that I will remember you in my prayers, especially those at the altar as I celebrate Mass on Easter Sunday.