Corona virus and more in Honduras

COVID-19

The corona virus continues to plague Honduras, as it does most of the world. The major cities, Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula are hard hit, as are several of the departments on the north coast. Here in the department of Copán there have been fewer cases, though the situation seems to have worsened in La Entrada and Santa Rosa de Copán.

The president and his wife have been tested positive for COVID-19. He was hospitalized for about 11 days in the Hospital Militar and was released after on July 2. But many people don’t really believe it. There’s a photo of the president getting tested – beardless. He made the announcement with a beard. My guess is that there was sufficient time between the test and getting the results to grow a beard, but what this tells me is the growing lack of confidence of the people in the government.

There have been more tests, up to 2000 a day. Despite major backlogs of testing and reporting results, official reports (as of July 1) state that more than 52,350 tested with 29,262 positives and 542 deaths – in a country of more than 9.5 million people. The neighboring country of El Salvador has tested 170,000 for a population of 6.4 million. The positive rate person 1000 persons in El Salvador from the tests is about half of the rate in Honduras.

There are more and more reports of corruption and malfeasance in the responses to COVID-19. One of the most recent was a shady deal for mobile hospitals which appears to be a clear case of corruption.

There are also continuing pressures on the public health system, with people lining up in long lines at some public hospitals and continuing concerns about a collapsing health system.

ATTEMPTS TO OPEN UP

In an effort to re-open the economy about a week ago, the country had been divided into three types of municipalities (called regions, even though they are not contiguous.) Region one, which includes four municipalities in our parish, could begin opening up slowly. The other regions would have to go about reopening much more slowly. But this had to be revised.  In Tegucigalpa, in region three, they pulled back the small steps that they had taken toward reopening.

In an effort to cut down on the movement of people in the streets, the government proposed a new control mechanism. For the past few months, we could circulate once every two weeks, depending on the number of our IDs. The new proposal would let people go out to banks and supermarkets once every two weeks but in a way that people could circulate in their vehicles only once a month. It provoked all sorts of resistance, including sarcastic memes on Facebook, and only operated for one day. Supposedly the police will be now out in more force, enforcing the circulation of people according to the last number of their IDs. We’ll see.

There are continued serious concerns about human rights violations during the curfew. Also, there are very serious situations in the prisons, including positive cases and even deaths.

THE PARISH

The churches are opening up – but they are supposed to be enforcing strict measures of biosecurity. In the main church in Dulce Nombre, masks and social distancing are enforced, as well as the use of gel. 

Supposedly the churches in the villages, if they are having celebrations, are supposed to do the same. I don’t know what the situation is in other places, but they are complying to a degree here in Plan Grande.

Three weeks ago they were even giving out masks provided by the municipality and the people were told that masks were obligatory. That’s when I began to preside at the celebrations here. The next week I was there and one of the musicians was seated without a mask. I told him that he had to put on a mask; he said he had left it at home. I told him to get it, a bit more forcefully than I should have. He left and sent back a mask for his wife and daughter. There were others who didn’t enter or were told to stay in the last pew because they had no mask. I asked a few and they said they had no masks. I told them to ask the mayor for masks. But I decided to buy some masks when I read that a friend in Santa Rosa was selling them. I got 200 when I went into the city last week.

In the midst of this, the main church of the parish, in Dulce Nombre, has been broken into twice. In the first case, the office was broken into and money and an electric sander were stolen. about two weeks later the church was broken into. The donation boxes were stolen and the tabernacle was broken into. The thieves stole two ciboria, one of which contained consecrated hosts. Thanks be to God, the hosts and at least one of the ciboria were recovered. 

It seems as if the police did investigate and found a larger amount of stolen goods in a house in Dulce Nombre. My guess is that there was enough of an uproar that they had to do something.

NEW PENAL CODE

During this time of pandemic, a new penal code was supposed to come into force, passed by the National Congress which is ruled by the National Party. There are serious problems with the code, including lesser penalties for corruption as well as for instances of domestic violence and sexual abuse of children. The bishops have been rather critical and just recently Vatican Radio had an interview with the bishop who is president of the Honduran Bishops Conference who said that the law favors the corrupt.

But I was surprised a few days ago when I read the Facebook posts of some members of the National Party who work with city halls where the mayor is from that party. The post is below. I hope that this is a good sign of people looking out for justice and not just for their party.

MY LIFE

On the personal level, I’m doing well, largely staying at home, except for the days when I am permitted to circulate in car. However, this may change a bit. The Catholic Church in Honduras has managed to get salvoconductos, safe conduct passes, for clergy. (And this deacon is clergy.) We can circulate for church services Monday through Friday. This will enable me to get to come communities where there are persons preparing for the sacrament of matrimony and who are waiting for the final interviews (which I usually do.) There is a temptation to abuse this, but I am committed to giving the people a good example.

I’m doing a lot of reading and some praying (not enough). I’ve been cleaning the house a bit, finding things I’ve accumulated over the years. I keep trying to find ways to keep my mind active. I took ten hours of Spanish classes by internet and a four-week certificate program on abuse within families (as I mentioned in a previous post). I’ve also participated in a number of Zoom session, two from Maryknoll. I’m also trying to do a little more contacting friends by phone or Skype. A spiritual direction session last month really helped.

I’m also trying to walk out in the community at least twice a week. It’s partly for exercise but it ends up being a way to connect with people. What would normally take 30 minutes walking ends up being between ninety minutes and an hour as I stop and talk with folks, keeping social distance by staying in the road. It’s been a great experience as I hear what people are thinking.

Finally, a surprise. Sunday morning, four men from the coffee association in nearby El Zapote (which exports EL Zapote Coffee to Ames, Iowa) came by and dug a hole (2 meters by 2 meters, with about 1 meter deep) to plant an avocado tree. Since the ground is mostly clay, they added good black dirt, coffee husks (to aerate the soil), and cal. They told me to wait two days before planning the seedling. It will be a few years until I have avocados, but this was a nice generous gesture.

And so life goes on – as the people struggle to survive the poverty and the threat of COVID-19. Please pray for us.

ADDENDUM:

Have I mentioned that two cousins in Plan Grande have a tomato project, growing beef-steak sie tomatoes in a greenhouse. They are great (and cheap - about 45¢ a pound). I just hope that plants keep on giving.

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Statistics for COVID-19, Centro de Estudios para la Democracia  (CESPAD) and an international website, as well as nightly reports from the Honduras Department of Health.

What is going on?

What is going on here in Honduras?

Honestly, I am at a loss to understand or explain. So here are a few thoughts and questions.

I am reluctant to write about this because I don't have enough reliable information. But I want to share my doubts and questions.

COVID-19 continues to devastate the country.

There are dire reports that the public health system – already devastated by corruption, lack of supplies, and more – is near collapse. What that will mean I don’t know, but it could be catastrophic.

The Honduran president ,Juan Orlando Hernández, and his wife have tested positive for COVID-19, but many people don’t believe the reports. Reportedly the president was admitted to the well-equipped Military Hospital on Wednesday. Many believe he has faked it – for whatever reason. There are even memes with two photos – one of him being tested, the second of his announcement; he has not facial hair in the first, but has substantial facial hair on the second. I have no idea what is up; the test may have been a week ago and so the facial hair is just normal for one who hasn’t shaved.

This past week it was made known that the court of the Southern District of New York would be dealing with two Guatemalans whose testimony could further implicate the role of the president of Honduras in drug trafficking. As Insight Crime reports,

"The two cousins, Otto and Ronald Salguero, turned themselves in to US authorities and are set to appear before a court in the Southern District of New York (SDNY), according to a report by Univisión. Last December, the US Justice Department charged the two men with being part of a drug trafficking ring in Honduras and Guatemala led by Tony Hernández, the brother of current Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández. “These defendants conspired with the corrupt Honduran officials they bribed to facilitate the importation into the US of large quantities of cocaine for the Sinaloa Cartel,” wrote US Attorney Geoffrey Berman in the indictment. A witness in the case against Tony Hernández told US prosecutors that the Salguero cousins were present at a meeting where Joaquín Guzmán Loera, alias “El Chapo” and the former leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, gave Hernández $1 million to finance the presidential campaign of his brother Juan Orlando in 2013."

If the name Geoffrey Berman sounds familiar, he’s the US attorney who Trump is possibly firing, since he won't resign. Berman has been involved in investigating various practices of persons allied with the US president as well as in the case against the Honduran president’s brother for drug trafficking. Is there any connection?

Also, is there any connection between the announcement of the positive tests of Juan Orlando Hernández and the allegations coming from the NY Southern District?

I have no idea – but I think many people here are skeptical. But I don’t want to make any accusations, especially since I don't have complete information.

As I see it, what is clear is that there is not much confidence in the Honduran government. It continues to have the support of the Trump administration, but what about the Honduran people?

There are many more questions about what is happening here. Most interesting is that the Honduran administration keeps pushing two treatments of COVID-19, which were developed by Honduran doctors (one who is in the US) but do not seem to have had careful scientific testing. One includes the use of hidroxicloroquine which may have disastrous results for people with heart problems. (I don’t want them to use it on me.)

There are more questions than answers.

But there are also serious problems. Although the government has set fines for non-use of masks, there are many people who do not use them, even in Dulce Nombre. Some people complain about them being hot; some see them as a sign of fear and weakness; others see them as unnecessary since there have been very few cases of COVID-19 around here.

But, this week the country began a series of steps to re-open the economy of the country in stages related to the situation of various municipalities based on several factors (density of population, number of cases, and medical capacity.) Yet, I just saw a notice that these steps will not continue in the Tegucigalpa area, due to more outbreaks of the virus.

Pray for us.

If I get reliable information, I’ll pass it on. If you see anything wrong in this blog post, let me know so that I can correct it.

It’s confusing.

But the rains have begun, in force, and I’ve been able to rejoice in some beautiful views.

Plans gone awry, but grace abounds

Yesterday was my day to go out in my pick up; this happens once every two weeks. I had a lot planned. So I started out early and went to Dulce Nombre and talked with the pastor.

The main church in Dulce Nombre is slowly opening up. There are real efforts being made in the church for biosecurity. See the front door.

I also went to the Dulce Nombre city hall to see about getting a letter allowing me to go out and do parish work on the days when I’d not normally be able. They told me to come back in the afternoon. 

As we slowly reopen, I’ll be doing the final pre-marriage interviews in the communities, since it will be easier for me to get there. I even had one planned for yesterday.

I then went to Dolores where I had already arranged to get a letter from the mayor. An assistant mayor was a Delegate of the Word and he had the letter. It took me five stops to find him, but I left with the letter.

I headed to Santa Rosa to go to the bank and the supermarket. But on the way, down a curved road, I saw my front tire fly off and roll downhill. Of course, the car had to stop.

I got out and saw the damage and then went after the tire, which had rolled about 200 meters downhill.

As I brought the tire out of the grass, someone came and helped me get the tire to the car. He pulled out two of his emergency triangles and put them up. After talking, he went to find Raul who has a tire repair shop at the entrance to Dulce Nombre. He did all this and we didn’t know each other.

I had to wait at least half an hour because Raúl was very busy. As I waited cars passed and at least ten of the folks asked how they could help. Some knew me – though I didn’t remember their names.

Raúl came, assessed the damage and then went to get one of the large jacks he has in his business. He also was going to try to find some lugnuts to replace those that had fallen off.

I had to wait another 45 minutes or more, since Raúl had a lot of business. As I waited, in the hot sun, more folks passed and many stopped and asked how they could help. I assured them that help was on the way.

Raúl finally came and remounted the tire on the pickup. He told me to get new lugnuts on the tire since he had to use lugnuts from the other tires.

It was now almost noon and so I called to cancel the pre-marriage interview I had scheduled for 2:30 pm.

In Santa Rosa, I went to my mechanic. They put new lugnuts on the front tire. One of the posts had been broken but he told me that that is a long repair process and that for the meantime it is safe to proceed with just five. He also fixed a front light that had been broken with the impact.

It was noon when that was finished. I went to the bank and to two supermarkets and then headed back home. I stopped in Dulce Nombre and went to see if I could get the letter from City Hall. They were closed. When I stopped this morning, they told me they were composing a generic letter to use for some of the evangelical pastors as well as me. Who knows when it will be available? They told me, thouhg, that they'll take the letter to the church secretary (right next door to city hall.

While in Dulce Nombre yesterday afternoon, I spoke a bit with the pastor and we tried to arrange a way for me to get medicine out to a distant village. The family is very poor; the single mother has three grown children (16 to 22) and has taken in the three children of a sister who was killed by her husband in Guatemala. The Concepción city hall is helping with the cost of the medicine but it would cost her about fifteen dollars to get a motorcycle ride into Dulce Nombre. I am happy to be able to do this – a real diaconal duty.

I got home and put groceries away. I downloaded the session from the course I’m taking and watched it.

I then went to bed, grateful.

Yes, I was not hurt at all. The car suffered minor damages (which cost about $25). But most of all I had experienced the concern and care of so many persons – some whom I knew and others whom I had never met.

It is humbling to have so many people offer to help. It is a true sign of the grace of God present among the people here. In their poverty, in the midst of the pandemic, they are willing to help a gringo.

God is good – and has blessed us with so many good people.

Today, I went to take the medicine to the family. I went to Concepción for the note to the pharmacy that the municipality would pay for the medicine. Then I went to the pharmacy and then to the community, I talked a bit with the aunt and with the little kid who was one of those receiving the medicine. N the way back I saw someone by his house who had been planning to get married in the church. I stopped and talked with him and his wife and told them that I can come out and do the interviews whenever they have the documents they need. It will be great to help the seven couples from their village.

Now I’m home resting.

Tomorrow is the last day for the diplomade (certificate program) as well as for the Spanish classes I’m taking. Both have been good experiences.

One last point. It's been raining hard the last few nights, although it's generally been sunny and hot during the day. Some of the sunrises and sunsets have been amazing. Here's last Sunday night.

Presiding

The regulations on travel are very strict here in Honduras. I can leave Plan Grande where I live only once every two weeks.

As a result, I have only been to Mass once over the last three months. I have also, for a number of reasons not participated in celebrations here or in other places. I have my concerns about the lack of precautions and haven’t wanted to give a “bad example” by participating in gatherings of many people.

I did make four exceptions. I presided over one funeral in a distant village; I led prayers for the dead in the houses of two people who died here in Plan Grande; I led a funeral in church here. These made a lot of sense for me – burying the dead is a work of mercy and part of my diaconal ministry.

Today I walked out to the church and met one of the ministers. I asked her what the noise was about last night. They fumigated the church so that they could have Celebrations of the Word today.

The Honduran Bishops Conference has released protocols and the local authorities have gathered people to talk about the protocols for a gradual opening up of the country (although we will still not be able to go out more than once every two weeks).

The protocols include disinfecting the church before and after every service. The number of persons are limited and distancing must be observed. People who enter must have masks; they are sprayed with a disinfectant and have to use anti-bacteria gel. (In some places, with the electronic thermometers, temperatures must be taken.

The church was prepared. The people were good about the regulations and sat separated.

When Gloria asked me if I would preside, I said yes, even though I had not prepared a homily.

Since today is the Feast of the Blessed Trinity, I decided on a few points.

First of all, we are made in the image and likeness of God, who is community. So we too are not isolated individuals, but members of a community – called to respond to God and the needs of others.

Our God is, as the first reading noted that God is compassionate, merciful, faithful. And so we are called to be a God is. I decided to address the question of COVID-19 and the precautionary measures in this context.

There are a number of people who don’t take precautionary measures seriously and some consider the use of masks a sign of fear. I decided to address this directly.

I wear a mask not so much for me as for the community. It is not a sign of fear but an act of love, thinking more of others than me. Masks feel constraining – and, at times, they are hot. But they are ways of saying that this is not about my comfort but about the safety of others, of the community.

The feast of the Trinity is about our God, a God who is not a self-enclosed monad, but a community of love. It’s a community so filled with love – that God so loved the world to send the Son, who gave himself completely for us.

That’s not exactly what I said – but it’s what I want people to pray about these days.

I also spoke at the end of the Celebration on the why and how of precautionary measures. I also made sure that they knew the symptoms – and the need to contact the public health system if they experience these.

But the question remains: How can we live in the image and likeness of the Triune God – who is loved poured out for others? How can we live this love as Honduras begins a processing of reopening businesses and other institutions?

Slowly the churches will be opening her in Honduras. I hope this is done with care, because the vulnerable – the poor, the aged, the sick – are those who will be most at risk and will have fewer resources to respond.

And what will I be called to do?

Wait, listen, open my heart, pray, and respond with compassion.

Racism and violence - random thoughts from afar

Being confined to the village of Plan Grande where I live, I find myself doing a lot of reading and thinking – and spending too much time on the internet.

Reading and seeing what is happening in the US is deeply troubling. I’m writing this to unburden my mind and my heart.

RACISM

The level of violence and discrimination against people of color is alarming. The killing of George Floyd is just the latest case of blatant violence. Reading Facebook posts of some friends, concerned for their children of color, makes me wonder where and how the US has come to be a place where people fear to let their children go out alone, if they are adolescents of color.

I know a little of the history and sources of the racism and its effects. But I’ll dare to say that racism is only part of the equation. I think the problem is more complicated and we need to face the racism, materialism, and militarism that have pervaded the culture for centuries. I was going to write “decades,” but it’s almost a perennial triplet of social sin. Racism has been a major cause of the impoverishment of people of color in the US – and the world. The materialism of those in power is threatened by the poor, especially when they rise up or even raise the questions of injustice. And so those in power resort to the use of violence to sustain their control and domination.

Racism is only one part of the problem – though it is one of the most insidious aspects of many nations, movements, and persons in the world today. But I believe we need to think more broadly and act more deliberately, keeping our eyes on the vision of a world of justice and solidarity.

As Martin Luther King, Jr., said, a year before he was killed, in his “Beyond Vietnam” speech,

“Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go out into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism, and militarism. With this powerful commitment we shall boldly challenge the status quo and unjust mores and thereby speed the day when ‘every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight and the rough places plain.’”

Racism is major factor in poverty. Also, when those oppressed by poverty or racism begin to organize and demonstrate, the powers-that-be (political and economic) often use violence and the military or militarized police to try to keep them down.

VIOLENCE

There has been a lot of ink spilled and indignation spent in response to the killing of George Floyd – and rightly so. His killing is but the visible tip of the iceberg of racism and violence in many parts of the US culture. The violence of his death had revealed (literally, torn back the veil) and unmasked the institutional injustice of racism and domination by violence.

Some call this institutional violence. I am reluctant to call it violence because I see violence as largely instrumental, a means used for some other purpose. (Read Hannah Arendt’s On Violence for more about this.)

But this institutional injustice, this structure of social sin, is often hidden and not identified or condemned.

Witness the indignation that some have expressed over the riots that have at times accompanied the peaceful demonstrations. “We think that the killing of George Floyd as terrible, but rioting is terrible too.”

As a pacifist (for more than fifty years), I don’t condone any kind of violence, though it’s important to try to understand it in order to work for a world of nonviolent solidarity.

But there are a few things to consider.

First of all, who is fomenting the violence?

In the mid- and late-1970s, I was involved in nonviolence training, often preparing people to accompany demonstrations. We were aware that there were times when government provocateurs or agents of powerful institutions would try to infiltrate the demonstrators and try to provoke violence. Part of the training was preparing ourselves to respond to these provocateurs (as well as to persons who were becoming violent because of their indignation.) It was important to try to isolate them as well as to find ways to defuse any rush toward violence of any type.

I was not surprised when I read reports of persons trying to provoke violence in demonstrations and the influx of white nationalists into communities where there have been demonstrations.

Training for Change has some materials to help in this.

Secondly, the violence of the oppressed is often a desperate call for justice.

Martin Luther King, Jr., mentioned several times that “a riot is the language of the unheard.”

Less than a month before he was killed, on March 16, 1968 in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, he stated:

“And I would be the first to say that I am still committed to militant, powerful, massive, non­-violence as the most potent weapon in grappling with the problem from a direct action point of view. I'm absolutely convinced that a riot merely intensifies the fears of the white community while relieving the guilt. And I feel that we must always work with an effective, powerful weapon and method that brings about tangible results. But it is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our society. These conditions are the things that cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative than to engage in violent rebellions to get attention. And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the negro poor has worsened over the last twelve or fifteen years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice and humanity. (Emphasis mine.)

All too long we have not heard the cry of the oppressed or seen the violence and the poverty inflicted on those at the margins of our world.

Thirdly, the violence of the oppressed must be understood as part of a spiral of violence.

Dom Helder Câmara, the saintly and prophetic Brazilian bishop, who was a voice for justice and nonviolence in the world, even when the dictatorship forbade the Brazilian press to even mention his name, wrote a small book on The Spiral of Violence.

We must first recognize the violence (I would say the violent injustice) of the system that impoverished people, tries to kill their dreams, and makes it nearly impossible for them to live. Sometimes, in response, people will rise up and revolt, sometimes violently. This violence does not come out of thin air. It has its roots in the frustration of the lives and dreams of so many, especially the young. But, facing these calls for change, those in power often use the violence of repression, not only shooting at the demonstrators but sometimes engaging in strategies and tactics of imprisonment and tortures of dissidents.

This spiral can be seen most clearly in the history of many Latin American countries where the dictatorships or pseudo-democracies used torture, disappearances, and more to put down their people, most often with military aid and diplomatic support from the United States government.

Six weeks before his martyrdom Archbishop Oscar Romero, in an open letter to the US president Jimmy Carter, begged him to withhold military aid:

“I am very concerned by the news that the government of the United States is planning to further El Salvador’s arms race by sending military equipment and advisors… If this information from the papers is correct, instead of favoring greater justice and peace in El Salvador, your government’s contribution will undoubtedly sharpen the injustice and the repression inflicted on the organized people, whose struggle has often been for respect for their most basic human rights.”

Finally, it is important to remember that a major purveyor of violence in the world has been the US government.

In his “Beyond Vietnam” speech, Martin Luther King Jr said:

“I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today -- my own government. For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent.”

My situation in Honduras

“And what are you doing about this?” some may rightly ask.

I remember a grad school friend who challenged me on my pacifism. I don’t remember his exact words, but I do recall my reaction. And, in many ways, what I am doing now is a response to his challenge.

It is so easy for me to adapt an arm-chair pacifism, condemning violence from the safety of my white skin, my comfortable life style, my safe and secure home.

Soon after my friend challenged me, I heard that the Fellowship of Reconciliation was forming a group to go to Wounded Knee I expressed my interest in joining them. Nothing came of that.

But in 1979 I heard of a play program with both Protestant and Catholic kids in Northern Ireland run by the Irish Fellowship of Reconciliation. I volunteered and spent almost three weeks there, in the midst of the violence of “The Troubles.”

In 1983 I was hired to do campus ministry and justice and peace ministry at ST. Thomas Aquinas Church in Ames, Iowa. There, the parishioners were asking how to respond to the refugees from Guatemala and El Salvador. We discussed various options and did help one Salvadoran on his way to Canada. Later we helped a Guatemalan.

I begin studying the situation and in 1985 went with a group from a Lutheran Church in Ames to visit Mexico, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. The three days in El Salvador were life-changing. I later found a way to do more than a week-long visit. I spent two months in San Salvador in 1987, during the civil war in a poor urban parish. In 1992, I got a sabbatical from my work and spent seven months, mostly in the parish of Suchitoto. I arrived in El Salvador a day after the two parties at war declared that they had a solution.

I kept returning to El Salvador, but in 2007 I came to Honduras, to serve in the diocese of Santa Rosa de Copán, most probably until my death.

I was here, helping in the diocesan office of Caritas in 2009 when a coup overthrew and exiled the elected president, Manuel Zelaya. It was a time of great unrest and uncertainty. Some US friends asked if I would be leaving. “No. I am here to stay.”

So here I am. In 2016 I was ordained a permanent deacon for the diocese. I work and live in the parish of Dulce Nombre de María.

My concerns about violence and injustice are still strong.

I participated in some of the trainings that Caritas Honduras did on Conflict Transformation, and I helped with a few workshops in the diocese. I have helped a Dubuque Franciscan with some Alternatives to Violence workshops in the Gracias, Lempira, prison. This year, before COVID-19 closed down the world, we were planning on doing some major formation on violence, peacemaking, conflict transformation, and listening. I prepared some material for use in the bi-monthly days of prayer in the sectors of our parish. I’m hoping that we can take up this ministry of reconciliation after the pandemic is under control.

A little over a month ago I came across information on an online diplomado, a certificate program, on interfamilial abuse. It was being offered by a Center for the Prevention of Abuse against children and the vulnerable (CEPROME) of the Mexican Pontifical University. This center has done major work on training people for the prevention of abuse in the church and a good friend participated in their program on prevention of abuse in the church. The director was supposed to come to Honduras in July for the national clergy study week, but COVID-19 has changed everything.

The course has been helpful and I hope we can find ways to deal with the domestic violence and abuse in the parish and elsewhere.

It’s little that I do – but I hope that our parish and maybe even our diocese can become places where people learn how to work for a culture and a society of encounter, as Pope Francis calls it, where nonviolence and respect for all are the norm.