Bishop Santos
25 years of solidarity with the poor

Today the diocese of Santa Rosa de Copán, Honduras, celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of the ordination of Monseñor Luis Alfonso Santos, SDB, as bishop. There was an outdoor Mass at the site of a future diocesan formation center with most of the priests of the diocese and more than 600 people, many of them campesinos who drove to Santa Rosa in busses and pickups, some for more than three hours.

In his homily he noted that the day he was ordained here as bishop he received a delegation of Salvadoran and Guatemalan refugees. In the eighties there were 8,000 Guatemalan and 40,000 Salvadoran refugees, mostly in camps, in the diocese. Until they returned to their countries the diocese was one of the groups helping them.

So, from the very beginning, Bishop Santos took the side of the poor as had a previous bishop, Monseñor Carranza Chévez. Monseñor Santos’ motto as bishop was "to evangelize the poor"

We need bishops and priests who have the preferential option for the poor, he said. But he warned his priests to avoid being aligned with any of the political parties, for “You’ll become their slaves,” and they’ll try to buy you off with bribes.

Speaking of the coup d’état – he called it a coup – he noted that there will be even greater poverty now. The situation is now not one man or another but how to arrange the economy so that people have houses, food, shoes, etc.

He noted how last year during his ad limina visit to Romeo he got to speak with Pope Benedict XVI for ten minutes, including speaking with him about the environment, a concern the Pope shares.

In his homily, Monseñor Santos noted that because of his outspoken opposition to open-pit cyanide leeching gold mining, including the San Andrés mine in the diocese, he has lost friends which has hurt him. But, he said, one must speak up.

Noting the desperate situation of Honduras he noted that “We’re tired of all these thieves,” and “We have to leave these deadly waters.”

But he noted that the people is fed when it has hope.

During the offertory procession people brought forward baskets of fruits and vegetables and foods and crafts as a sign of offering the goods of the earth back to the Creator. Most were carried by campesinos who work the land – and try to eke out a subsistence for their families.

It was a blessing to be there – with five folks from Iowa who helped serve food to all those who came. It was also a joy to be able to hang behind the altar the banner that St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Ames sent in March with signatures of parishioners.

It was a blessing because the diocese is a sign, a witness, trying to be good news to the poor. In the next few months we in Caritas hope to develop a funding proposal for an agriculture and development in two or more of the poorest municipalities in Honduras which happen to be in the diocese.

It is also a blessing because the bishop and others have taken prophetic stands.

Today there appeared a short article on the news site of the Catholic News Service <http://www.catholicnews.com/data/briefs/cns/20090804.htm> where Monseñor Santos is quoted as stating boldly that the wealthy elite were behind the coup. He also told the interviewer:

"Some say Manuel Zelaya threatened democracy by proposing a constitutional assembly. But the poor of Honduras know that Zelaya raised the minimum salary. That's what they understand. They know he defended the poor by sharing money with mayors and small towns. That's why they are out in the streets closing highways and protesting (to demand Zelaya's return)."

"There has never been a real democracy in Honduras. All we have is an electoral system where the people get to choose candidates imposed from above. The people don't really have representation, whether in the Congress or the Supreme Court, which are all chosen by the rich. We're the most corrupt country in Central America, and we can't talk about real democracy because the people don't participate in the decisions."

A larger story will be published on the interview with Monseñor Santos; I look forward to reading it.

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The photos in this post and others on the bishop's celebration can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/johndonaghy/sets/72157621948728698/