In the darkness, lights

Preparing to celebrate the feast of St. Francis of Assisi tomorrow, I spent most of the day in domestic pursuits – washing clothes, some leaning around the house, dealing with trash, and baking bread.

Tomorrow I plan on going to Mass in the morning in Dolores, Copán. After Mass, I’ll head to Gracias to spend the evening with the Franciscan Sisters of the Holy Family (the Dubuque Franciscans) – sharing the feast of St. Francis with a part of my Franciscan family. One of the loaves of bread is for our meal together.

There has been much darkness here, as I noted in my previous post. But there are also many lights.

On the day of my ordination the rector of the country’s major seminary, located in Tegucigalpa, invited me to come and speak with the seminarians about my vocational discernment and the diaconate.

On Tuesday, September 20, I arrived at the seminary, after spending the night before in Gracias with the sisters. I preached at the evening Mass and then gave a talk at 8 pm. I have posted it in Spanish here but I haven’t yet translated it into English! I was also asked to preach at the morning Mass for those studying philosophy. I stuck to the readings and didn’t philosophize!

I left early which was good since I had a flat tire way up in the mountains of Intibucá – about 17 kilometers from the nearest town with a llantera, a tire repair garage. But, before the flat, I had the chance to see the rice fields near Jesús de Otoro, incredibly green. I also stopped just outside of the town of Intibucá to buy two pounds of strawberries! 

Friday, October 23, to Sunday, October 25, I spent in San Pedro Sula at a workshop on analysis of reality, sponsored by the Social Ministry of the northern and western dioceses. Padre Ismael Moreno, SJ, popularly known as Padre Melo, led the workshop. I need to review my notes, especially his analysis of the last fifty years on Latin America.

 

Padre Melo

There were five others from the dioceses of Santa Rosa and it was a delight to talk with them during the workshop. I gave a ride to the workshop to Rigo who is the Social Ministry coordinator in his village and in the diocese. On the ride, he shared a bit of his story. What impressed me is how he had little formal education but finished three grades through an alternative program.

The representatives of the diocese of Sant aRosa de Copán

I also met a young man whom I had met before here in the parish of Dulce Nombre. Walter is now living in the diocese of Trujillo on the northeast coast, doing a lot of youth work on the parish and diocesan level. He’s from a difficult and conflictive area here in the department of Copán. He returned with me to see his grandmother and some other relatives. He too impressed me. He only studied in grade school but he reads a lot and I found him very thoughtful.

There are good people who do marvelous things despite limitations. They reaffirm my long held belief that formal education is not the real standard for determining the effectiveness and worth of so many people here (and throughout the world.)

Last Thursday I had a delightful workshop with catechists in El Zapote del Santa Rosa. They had asked me to help them think through the Eucharist. I pulled together a few thoughts but also incorporated some insights from Bishop Robert Barron’s Eucharist, a work from 2008 which I found very helpful – personally and for my ministry.

Friday and Saturday we had our second training for members of the parish who will go on mission to other villages from October 9 to 16. Padre German has told them to go without money and without their cellphone. They will depend on the people in the village where they will go.  It sounds like Jesus sending out the disciples!

Seventy-three came and agreed to go on mission. Two of the sisters, Oblatas al Divino Amor, Padre German, and I led the workshop. I need to write some more on what we are doing. But it was impressive to find so many willing to spend a whole week in mission. I was really impressed by one young man whose mother died last week. He is active as a catechist and with the youth group in his village and is willing to take the risk of going on mission – even as he mourns his mother who endured a struggle with cancer before her death.

Sunday, I had a meeting with the youth leaders. There were only six of us, but it was a very fruitful meeting. Two of the groups wanted to plan events for the youth of the parish – one at the end of October, another in November. They finally agreed to a date for one at the end of this month, October 30, in Delicias, Concepción. Since this falls within the week of my visit to Ames, Iowa, I won’t be there, but I trust these young people who took the initiative. Padre German will be able to come in the afternoon for a Mass. I wish I could be there.

These are some of the signs of hope here in Honduras. There are more which I hope I can share in the coming weeks and months.

And the heliconia is blooming!

Berta Cáceres and the response of the church

Berta Cáceres was a Lenca woman who stood up for the Lenca people and advocated for the care of our common home, this earth which is God’s gift.

Her killing on March 3 in La Esperanza leaves Honduras without the gift of her love and struggle for the earth and for the Lenca people.

The world has responded in protest of her killing and demanding a just and prompt judicial process – something which is rare in Honduras.

I have not written until this moment but I have been deeply affected by this example of the persecution of another person committed to the poor and to our common home.

A question some may ask is, “Where has the Catholic Church been in this time?”

There has not been the outpouring of concern I had hoped – but there are small efforts.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the major role that the Jesuit-supported Radio Progeso has played in responding to the killing of Berta Cáceres. Padre Melo (Ismael Moreno, S.J.) was at the front of the crowd on the day of her burial, together with Padre Fausto Milla of our diocese and two Claretian priests. A friend who was there told me how Padre Melo’s talk was interrupted by the mourning rites of the Garifuna. Rather than being distraught, he invited them to come forward and pray the Our Father in Garifuna.  He invited representatives of other indigenous groups from Honduras and Guatemala to come forward and pray the Lord’s Prayer in their languages. The prayer was also offered in Spanish and English. A US clergywoman who works with refugees was among those at the front.

But what about other sections of the church, especially the institution?

Perhaps the strongest institutional response to date has come from the Vatican. Yesterday I came across a strong letter from Cardinal PeterTurkson from the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, dated March 15, lamenting the death and calling for an “independent and impartial investigation.”

On March 3, a letter was distributed which was signed by Caritas Honduras as well as several other diocesan offices of Caritas, together with various congregations of religious and parishes, mostly in the dioceses of San Pedro Sula and La Ceiba. I will translate this soon. I found it on the Caritas Honduras website but have not been able to access the site last night or today.

Caritas Honduras also had a statement on the killing of Berta Caceres dated March 11which I came across yesterday. 

The diocese of Santa Rosa de Copán had hoped that there would be a Mass for Berta Cáceres on the day of her burial and sent a priest with a special message. For various reasons they were unable to celebrate the Mass. This is my unofficial translation of the homily which was prepared for the funeral Mass.  (I will post the Spanish in my Spanish blog later since I only have the homily in printed version.)

Homily for the celebration of the funeral of Berta Cáceres
Parish of Our Lord of Intibucá
 Texts: Genesis 1, 1-31; Psalm 8; Luke 11: 21-27
 Brothers [and sisters]:
 We are gathered to entrust to the infinite and merciful love of God, our Father, Bertita Cáceres, whose death has filled with sorrow all of us citizens of Intibucá, of Honduras, and of the international community. At the same time we wish to console her family and her community with the tenderness of God, as the psalmist says.
 It is not our place to judge anyone; only God knows the depths of persons and only he knows that which is enclosed in the human heart. Therefore, his justice is always wrapped in mercy. In these moments, we turn our gaze to Christ who died for our sins and rose for our justification; be believe in him, we trust in him, and we hope in him.
 It is this Christian hope which we celebrate in a special manner in the holy Mass, since this sacrament is the memorial of the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, his Passover, which gives all of us Christians a profound hope in the moments of grief and sorrow. It is a  certain faith that life continues for all those who believe and hope in Christ.
 We have heard the Word of God in the book of Genesis, which reveals to us God as Creator; he created the earth, water, trees, animals and everything that exists and as the summit of work that generates life, he create man and woman in his image and likeness. We are not the owners of the earth, nor of the [natural] resources, nor of life. We are simply administrators. Our obligation derives from this. To care, protect, and defend this common home. The goods which the Lord has created were destined for the common good, not for the good of a few. Thus we believe that our sister Berta understood this and struggled much for this.; she consecrated her life and sealed this struggle with her blood: to defend our natural resources and the rights of the indigenous.
 In this respect, our bishops in the Fifth Latin American Episcopal Conference in Aparecida declare the following:
 “The Church is grateful to all who devote themselves to defending life and the environment. Particular importance must be given to the most serious destruction under way in human ecology. She is close to small farmers who with generous love very laboriously work the land, sometimes under extremely difficult conditions, to draw out a livelihood for their families and to provide all with the fruits of the earth. She especially cherishes the indigenous for their respect for nature and love for mother earth as source of food, common home, and altar of human sharing.” (472)
 Analyzing the actions against the environment, such as the ominous consequences for the present and future of our Latin American continent, our bishops point out, continuing to point out that
 “Today the natural wealth of Latin America and the Caribbean is being subjected to an irrational exploitation that is leaving ruin and even death in its wake, throughout our region. A great deal responsibility in this entire process must be attributed to the current economic model which prizes unfettered pursuit of riches over the life of individual persons and peoples and rational respect for nature. The devastation of our forests and biodiversity through a selfish predatory attitude, involves the moral responsibility of those who promote it because they are jeopardizing the life of millions of people, and particularly the milieu of peasants and indigenous, who are pushed out toward hillside lands and into large cities where they live overcrowded in the encircling rings of poverty. Our region needs to advance in its agroindustrial development toward appreciating the wealth of its lands and its human talents at the service of the common good, but we must mention the problems caused by the savage uncontrolled industrialization of our cities and the countryside, which is polluting the environment with all kinds of organic and chemical wastes. A similar warning must be made about resource-extraction industries which, when they fail to control and offset their harmful effects on the surrounding environment, destroy forests and contaminate water, and turn the areas exploited into vast deserts.” (473)
 As the diocesan church we are grateful for the testimony and the struggle of Berta Cáceres in the defense of our natural resources, and we are in solidarity with our Lenca indigenous brothers [and sisters], making our own the words and sentiments which his holiness, Pope Francis directed to the indigenous in his recent visit to Mexico, by affirming to them:
 “In a systematic and structural way, your people have been misunderstood and excluded from society. Some have considered your values, cultures, and traditions as inferior. Others, dizzy with power, money, and the laws of the market, have stripped you of you lands and have implemented actions which contaminate them. How sad! Would that we all make an examination of conscience: forgive us, forgive us, brothers [and sisters]. Today’s world, despoiled by the throw-away culture, needs you.”
 With the words of Jesus which we have heard in the holy Gospel, we address the family of Berta: “your brother will rise; likewise we make clear our accompaniment, assuring you of our prayers.
 Brothers and sisters, let us renew the supreme act of handing oneself over to death which Jesus did to save us. Trusting also that the redemptive sacrifice reaches our sister Berta in so far as it is needed and that it be a source of forgiveness also for those who caused her death.
 The risen Lord strengthens our Christian hope: I am the Resurrection and the Life.

Four years after the Honduran coup

On June 28, 2009, Honduras President Mel Zelaya was arrested in the early hours of the morning and flown to Costa Rica.

Departing from my usual blogs that relate more to my personal experiences, I think it is important to reflect on what I see as the results of that event. These reflections are rather opinionated, but reflect what I see and feel from my ministry among the poor in western Honduras.

Zelaya, with all his many faults, had been moving closer to positions that favored the poor and undermined the power of the political and financial elites in Honduras. One move that especially threatened them was his proposal for a new mining law that would put more controls on the mining industry, would prohibit open pit gold mining (with its use of cyanide), and would impose higher taxes of the mining industries (which typically paid a 2 or 3% tax.)

The coup resulted in months of conflict and repression by government forces. The Resistance was largely peaceful though there was some minimal violence by the Resistance – throwing rocks and burning tires – but they lacked the weapons of governmental forces.

The coup resulted in a withdrawal of much international aid, except from the US. I believe it also permitted the increase of the influence of drug traffickers and organized crime in the country, even among the police, the military, and many levels of government.

The poor justice system which left most crimes uninvestigated and few convictions worsened. Impunity increased.

The power of the elites increased, especially in the National Congress which recently passed new mining legislation and a law that will permit setting up areas controlled by foreign governments or corporations as types of model cities.

In the face of this violence has increased to extreme levels, with multiple causes – poverty, drug-trafficking, organized crime, growth of gangs, vengeance killings (because the justice system doesn’t operate well), corruption in the police and military  - as well as in many other government agencies.

There is also increased repression of groups and people who work for social change, by both mining interests and large agribusiness leaders. There have been over 100 killings of campesinos in the Aguan region in northern Honduras because of conflicts between campesinos and the rich owners of African palm plantations.

The violence became so pronounced in the north coast department of Atlantida that not only the Claretian missionaries but also the bishops and the diocese issued statements, found on the Caritas website here.

An English translation of the statement of the diocese of La Ceiba can be found here. 

A Resistance movement began soon after the coup and garnered support of many sectors of society. The Resistance and other groups began to hold workshops on citizenship and consciousness-raising. The Resistance also formed a political party and chose the wife of Mel Zelaya, Xiomara Castro, as their candidate. According to most polls, she holds the lead among all the candidates. I have my reservations about the transformation of the Resistance into a political party, mostly because I believe that the process of transformation needs a process of political formation and consciousness-raising that the Resistance began but which seems to be less of a priority now than winning the elections this November.

But where are we now?

I believe the governmental system here is broken, partly because of the rigid two-party system that has shared power in the last 120 some years, partly because of the collaboration of police, military, with organized crime.

This week the national office of Caritas released a video and a study on violence in Honduras. The press release was pointed:

7. As factors and actors which generate crime and violence, they highlight: a) organized crime and drug-trafficking which have subordinated the gangs and have penetrated the institutions of the state; b) the gangs of young people, together with the “angry neighborhoods;” c) common crime; d) the illegal traffic of arms and the permissiveness of the Control of Firearms Law; e) the police and the military; and f) the communications media which, before informing and educating, contribute to the promotion of a culture of fear and violence.

8. Among the causes of violence and criminality these stand out: a) the institutional weakness of the State and of the whole system of citizen security; b) the social inequalities and inequity which exclude 25% of the youth from education, employment, and income; c) the transnational character of criminality; d) the violence within families and the migrations; e) the lack of public spaces and of recreation sites; f) the high consumption of drugs and alcohol, which is growing among the youth.

9. The [government] policies to prevent violence have not been made concrete in long-term actions. What have happened are temporary actions to react in the face of the phenomenon and not to prevent it. The experiences which arise from the citizenry have not been valued and have lacked the accompaniment of the States to these initiatives in such a way as to become public policies of prevention….

The evening of the day of the Caritas press conference Honduran President Pepe Lobo reacted with a speech that reflects several aspects of the problem here. A translated text can be found here.

Here are example of some problems I see in his approach:

“We managed to curb the rising trend of violence since 2006, combining prevention and control tasks to regain peace for all Hondurans in communal living spaces.”

Many would contest this.

“We decided to bring the military into the streets, as the majority of Hondurans feel safer.”

The militarization of police functions is, I believe, misguided, and many people fear a return to the 1980s when the military was responsible for torture and repression. The lack of a civilian police, based in the communities, with careful control of police personnel is a major cause of the problems of violence and crime.

“We have a deep conviction that the answers begin with the community; In that sense, my government has emphasized programs such as 10 Mils Bono, Bono Solidario for our seniors, Computers for Children, and has achieved 113 days of continuous classes, so we can say that the classrooms are open.”

These programs, except for achieving 113 days of continuous classes, are largely “charitable” projects which, I believe, help create dependency and are easy ways that political parties can use the bonos [free money or articles] to create political dependencies that make Tammany Hall look good.

Where can Honduras go from here?

I’ll leave that to another day, when I’ve had a chance to look at the Caritas study in depth.