Praying to the true God in face of the idol of gold

The community of Azacualpa in the municipality of La Unión, Copán, is in the middle of a serious controversy. The mining company wants to move the cemetery because there is a vein of gold under it. Some have agreed and been paid by the mining company to allow the removal of the bodies, but some have continued resisting. For now, the mining company is prevented by a judicial action from continuing the removal of remains from the cemetery

But the situation is critical. In early September the diocese of Santa Rosa de Copán released a strong statement against the situation of Azacualpa and the continuing mining in the diocese, especially the mining which has caused such devastation to the area – deforestation, destruction and contamination of water sources. To make visible the support of the diocese for the people, the Santa Rosa de Copán bishop, Monseñor Darwin Andino, went to preside at a Mass in Azacualpa on Monday, October 29.

GETTING TO AZACUALPA

When we met the bishop and the other priests in Cucyagua, we heard that mining supporters were blocking the road. When we reached the new town of San Andrés Las Minas, the parish priest of the area spoke with the police and they escorted us up to Azacualpa.

As we passed the curve up to the town, we saw a grand crowd of supporters screaming at us, but we passed through safely. 

But just past the turn, we stopped, seeing a large group of people who were hidden in the forest. They came out and filled the bed of one of the pickups. They had hidden from the crowd of angry supporters but wanted to come with us to Mass.

THE MASS

The Mass was celebrated beside the church. There were probably about 150 or more people there and we – the bishop, eleven priests, and a deacon (me) – accompanied them.

Providentially, the first reading from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians (4:32-5:8) spoke strongly of greed.

“no immoral or impure or greedy person, that is, an idolater, has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God.”

THE BISHOP'S HOMILY

Monseñor Darwin Andino, the bishop of Santa Rosa de Copán, spoke strongly.

He asked the people who was here first, the community or the mining company. The community, of course, responded the people. He then spoke of the Machiavellian efforts to divide the people in order to conquer them.

He emphasized that the church is not against development, but for integral development, that develops the whole person and the whole community.

His strongest words were framed in terms of the reading from Paul to the Ephesians. Henoted the motive of avarice, which is, in Paul’s word, idolatry. The mining companies want to remove the bodies from the cemetery in order to extract the gold, but, as the bishop said,

“More valuable [than the gold under the cemetery] is what is above – the people buried there. For greed and avarice, for love of money, it doesn’t bother us [the mining company]to destroy a mountain and to damage water.
For they only think of their money – money which is dirty (cochino), damned (maldito), and stained with blood (manchado de sangre)".

He condemned the money of the mining companies and also mentioned the killing of environmentalists for defending the environment.

He also urged them to continue their struggle and to realize the presence of the church with them.

“Be courageous. I invite you to not bend your knees, be strong.”

A part of the homily can be found here on You Tube.

THE PROCESSION

After Mass, the people walked in procession to the cemetery, led by a cross carried by three young men. 

The bishop and the priests accompanied them in their vestments. The people sang and at one point began to pray the rosary.

As we approached the road up to the cemetery we saw a small crowd of supporters of the mining company. Thanks to the presence of the police we were able to pass by, with no violence. But as we prayed and sang, the mining company supporters screamed at us. There was not a confrontation but a parting of the seas of anger with prayers and hymns.

In the cemetery

When we arrived at the cemetery, we passed through an empty space where a tomb had been and went to a spot in the middle of the cemetery.

I looked around at some of the above ground tombs – some still contained the coffins of the dead, but others had obviously been taken away.

We stood around and finished the rosary while young men prepared a hole for the cross. 

I noticed at least one older man grieving.

At one point I noticed that the bishop was holding what were bones of the dead. They had been found scattered at the back of some graves. Later someone picked up another bone, just in front of me.

The bishop then noted that Catholics respect the bodies of the dead. We hope for the resurrection and so we need to respect their remains. And so he buried the bones beside where the cross would be erected.

We prayed as the cross was erected and waited, praying and singing, as the young men filled in the hole. I was moved and went to help move the dirt, praying in penance for all that the nations of North America had done to bringing such pain and injustice on the poor here in Honduras. The mine is run by a Canadian corporation, but Honduras has suffered many decades of control and exploitation by US governments and corporations.

After the cross was erected, the bishop offered a space for the people to speak. One articulate man recalled the prayer of Agur, a passage from Proverbs 30: 7-9:

Two things I ask of you… Put falsehood and lying far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches; provide me only with the food I need; lest, being full, I deny you, saying, “Who is the Lord?” or, being in want, I steal, and profane the name of my God.

Looking down on the devastation

After praying in the cemetery, we were led to a place where we could look down on the mining operations. What tremendous use of resources to take the gold out of the earth.

As we were walking back, a young twenty-five-year old man told me how he had worked in the mine for a time but began to feel very uncomfortable with that kind of work. He quit his job, despite having a wife and two kids. What an example of courage and of conscience. These small acts of a man are signs of the power that is in each person, the power of that small voice of God we call conscience.

I think he is not alone. As I looked around at Mass and in the cemetery, there were a few spies. But there were even more young men and women present, praying and singing and participating in what must be risky for them. I admire their simple, yet profound, courage.

The struggle will surely continue, but it was good to be present where the church offered a sign of accompanying the people – not in a partisan political way, but as fellow human beings seeking dignity, justice, and respect for all.

I was glad to be there and I pray for these people and their community, in the midst of trials and sufferings.

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More photos can be found in this album on Flickr.

Praying for the dead

Today is the feast of All Souls, the Catholic day to remember all those who have died.

The commemoration here in Honduras is subdued. People go to the cemetery, clean the grave of their loved ones, and put flowers on the graves.

In the neighboring village of Candelaria there is a cemetery which serves both Candelaria and Plan Grande. The cemetery is on the top and the side of a hill. We celebrated Mass there this morning.

I had only been there once before – for the burial of Nicolas Sánchez which I wrote about in April 2014 here.

When I arrived there was a small area at the base of the hill prepared for Mass but there were many people walking among the graves. I joined then, praying and talking with them.

I met a woman whose sixteen year old son had died of malnutrition – twenty years ago, but the pain remains.

I talked with a woman whose son was killed by a falling tree about a year ago.

A young man spoke with me about his father who had died when he was eleven years old.

There were all sorts of tombs – small and large above ground tombs, simple slabs of concrete, some which look like drawers. 

Walking among the tombs, I saw several young girls from Plan Grande with baskets of flowers, spreading them over the tombs. They were not honoring any particular person but wanted to bring a bit of beauty.

Mass began with a hymn and then several people read the names of the dead. Gloria broke down after she read her husband’s name but she recovered and read a later part of the  long list.

During the Eucharistic Prayer Padre German asked me to read the list of the dead again, at the point where we remember those who have died. Five long pages.

I also thought of several friends who had died this year – in particular, Mary Sawyer and Father Pat Geary – though I did not mention their names. I also remembered the mother of a friend who had died this year.

After Mass, Jerry whom I will sponsor at his confirmation in a few weeks, invited me to go up to the tomb of his father who had been a policeman and was killed in February 2011. I was moved that he asked to be there to pray with him and to see what he and other family members had brought for the tomb.

Being at the Mass and walking amid the tombs with the people I live among is a great privilege.

Accompanying those who are mourning is part of what it means to be a follower of Jesus who became one of us and listened to the cries and tears of the people.

It is also, I believe, an important part of the ministry of a deacon – if God calls me to be ordained to the permanent diaconate next year.

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More photos here.