—Monsignor, you are a Panamenian by birth and blood, are you comfortable with your assignment as bishop of Guatemala?
To me being bishop in Guatemala, and this, regardless of my being a Panameñan by origin, was a call to extend a new service to this Church. This, I think, is fruit of the 19 years of dedication and service to the Church in Guatemala before my new assignment. Those were years of committed service and total dedication of the best of myself. I was hoping that the Gospel and Jesus Christ would find acceptance among the Guatemalans and become part of their life.
—You were a professor and then you became the dean of the university, how did you find the transition from the academic life to the life as bishop of Quiché? What difficulties did you encounter? How did you adapt to the situation?
My immediate preparation for the life of bishop of Quiché, a poor and rural area, I think, were the two and a half years of pastoral care of a humble parish in the city of Guatemala. It was a place of migrants from the interior of the country. Some of the migrants came from Quiché.
Previous to my appointment as bishop I taught Scriptures and Theology. While a dean of Theology in the University Rafael Landivar I was privileged to closely collaborate with the bishops as secretary of the Episcopal Conference. All these experiences introduced me to the academic, social and political world of Guatemala.
I had some identity crisis when I moved from the academic to the parish life, but then, this same experience served also as my preparation for the life in Quiché. It made the transition from parish to bishop life in Quiche a bit easier. The bishop in Quiché lives simply. In this place I formulated this strategy: to make myself accessible to whoever would come and knock at the door of the bishop’s residence. You know that one has to learn to listen, to analyze, pray and give counsel.
Visits to communities are made very difficult by the geographical conditions of the place. Road conditions, I admit, have improved a lot since the time of my predecessor. More difficult however were the conflicts among members of the communities. There are rival groups within the same church.
—What was the main problem you found in Quiché?
My six-and-a-half year experience in Quiché had one objective: to strengthen the Catholic identity of the Church in that region. Quiché underwent a very strong re-evaluation of the indigenous identities of the principal ethnic groups in the department, namely: the “quiche”, the “ixil” and the “queqchí”. Unfortunately, such evaluation was confused with the pastoral process of inculturation, although done with the best of intentions on the part of the concerned. In the mind of the Church inculturation is the goal of evangelization. This consists in letting the Gospel and the person of Jesus enlighten life in such a way that the thoughts and actions of the people, their culture in other words, is expressed and grows in the direction of the proposal of Jesus. The process often involves the strengthening of cultural values that are coherent with the Gospel and correction as well as the suppression of customs, world views and religious practices that are incompatible with the Good News. The social process of redefining and re-evaluating the Mayan identities needs another dynamics, and it has different objectives. It has to do with the need to reaffirm ethnic identities in the context of globalization.
In mixing these two processes, some persons, at the very start, spoke of finding the Gospel in the very heart of the Mayan culture. They ended up eventually in recognizing as Gospel only the cultural elements and they failed to point to the Christianization of the Mayan culture as a whole. It was my pastoral concern to help distinguish these two processes, evaluate the incidence, and clarify the mission of the Church. For six and a half years hardly did I succeed in establishing the bases for the development of this pastoral plan.
—Was the political and social scenario that complicated?
Quiché is a very vast territory. The geography is very irregular, making visit to communities very difficult. The farthest parish will take more than ten hours by car. And to get to said parishes, one has to get out of the jurisdiction of Quiché and enter through five other dioceses. The population of Quiché is almost a million. And it has a land area of 8, 300 sq. kilometers. The territory is not entirely inhabited. There are forested areas.
Poverty is great and the lack of opportunities for development is chronic. This is one of the reasons that brought about the war of the 80’s last century. The war caused much suffering, there were massacres and peoples were displaced from their settlements. The conditions of life have improved since that time, however, the department remains without opportunities to grow.
Migration seems the only way out. The number of “Quichelenses” in the United States of America, in fact, can easily reach 15 per cent of the population that remains. I believe development can come with the increase in quality and spread of education, with investments that provide works for the people. Unfortunately, there are ideological and political hindrances.
—How was the diocese ecclesiastically organized?
The Diocese of Quiché has 28 parishes. Four of these have no resident priest. There are only 35 ordained ministers in Quiché, a number that already includes religious and diocesan priests. This is very insufficient, thus, only half of the total population can be called catholic. With this lack of clergy, the people create their own religion. There are many Pentecostal groups in the territory. The religious sense of the peoples is strong, sad to say, their Christian formation is very weak.
The bishop is much welcome with joy, love and respect. The most satisfying experiences, I recall, were those encounters of formation with catechists and lay collaborators in the parishes and during my pastoral visits to the communities. People have genuine desire to know and learn better the Word of God.
—How is about new diocese entrusted to you? How do you describe it?
The departments of Quetzaltenango and Totonicapán form the Archdiocese of Los Altos. In these departments Augustinian presence can be traced back to 1958. There was, however, a time when we were absent from Quetzaltenango for almost twenty-eight years. And Quetzaltenango, also known as xelaju (with “x” pronounced as “sh” in English), is the second city of the country. It is a cultural, industrial, commercial and social center. The city was then the capital of the State of Los Altos in the 19th century, shortly before the western territory of Guatemala was made member of the Federation of Independent States of Central America. Majority of the autochthonous population is “quiche”. But in the northwest zone of the territory there are peoples who speak “mam”.
The department of Quetzaltenango is progressive and looks, with a sense of equality, towards the city of Guatemala. The contrary is true with the department of Totonicapán. This is perhaps the poorest in the country. The total population in both departments may only reach a little more than a million. Half of the clergy is composed of diocesan priests, the religious, the other half (Augustinian Recollects, Jesuits, Salesians, Paulists, Franciscans, Divine Word Missionaries).
It would be premature on my part to describe the situation of the Church in Los Altos. I still have to know it personally, or, I would only be repeating what others have already said. The diversity in the clergy, I admit, is great in many aspects. It is a treasure, and at the same time, a challenge in relation to communion.
—Do you realize that you are the first Augustinian Recollect to become archbishop in these modern times? What does this mean to you?
I do not exactly know what personal qualities or pastoral experiences led the Holy Father to appoint me to serve this archdiocese. My biblical and academic formation, yes, helped me become a theologian-pastor. And in times when there is need of doctrinal clarification, new evangelization and pastoral creativity; in times of theological difficulties, I can offer resources that meet the restlessness and desires of the human heart. As a pastor I did learn to discern the way of the Gospel, the way the Catholic Church understands it
Undoubtedly, the office of the archbishop of the second most important city of Guatemala puts me in a position that is both favored and disfavored. I recognize the great responsibility not to allow myself to be carried away by the honors and fame that go along with the office, rather, I need help to be able to focus on the challenges of the mission.
I was in Rome at the time I was named bishop of Quiché. This was in October of 2004. I had the opportunity to venerate the remains of St. Augustine when they were transferred from Pavia to Rome. This was in November of the same year. My prayer then was to be a bishop in the style of our Father Augustine: human and merciful to all, clear and firm in the truth of the Gospel, insistent in the unity of the Church, compassionate with sinners, and determined in the search and in the desire to please God only.
I chosen as my Episcopal motto a phrase from the first letter to the Corinthians (14, 4): Ut ecclesia aedificationem accipiat (“That the church may be built”). The Church is the Mother who brought us life and hope, who moves us to live in fraternity, who strengthens us in the way to holiness.
I do not know the complexities that await me, or the challenges that I have to face. But there is one thought that consoles me. The Church is not the work of man, but of God. The Lord watches over her. We, his servants, do everything we can, but it is the Lord who gives the increase. I entrust my self to him.
As far as Episcopal privileges are concerned, I cannot, at present, think of any in particular. I recognize the esteem and the distinction that one will receive. This, however, is no guarantee and is not immediately translated into obedience without resistance to everything the bishop proposes to be done for the Church.