Fr. Ángel Herrán celebrated 50 years of mission in Peru this October. A journey that took him from his native Bañares, a small town in La Rioja (Spain) to the most remote areas of the Latin American country. In this interview, Fr. Herrán shares how God’s call led him to give himself with faith and love to his missionary work.
“My vocation began in Bañares,” Fr. Ángel recalls, “when I was just a child. When I was 10 years old I found out that some of my schoolmates had gone to study at the Augustinian Recollect school in the city of Logroño. The teacher asked who wanted to go too and three of us raised our hands. We were 61 young men who entered that year”. It was in the city of Salamanca where he completed his studies and was ordained priest. Shortly after, “Father Provincial told me: ‘You have to go to Peru, they are asking for missionaries’. And I said, ‘delighted‘.”
“Carrying the word of God and working for the social betterment of these communities has been my life. I am grateful and, if I could, I would walk the same path again.”
At the age of 25, in 1973, he arrived in Querocotillo, at a time when the community had no electricity and could only be reached by horseback or motorcycle: “Those were the most difficult years,” says Friar Herrán, “but also the most gratifying because the people welcomed me warmly and came to listen to the word of God. It was there that I saw the true meaning of the mission. He remained there for six years.
His work was not limited to Querocotillo. Fr. Herrán worked in various communities in Tacabamba and then as a vocation promoter at St. Ezekiel Moreno Seminary, where he had the opportunity to travel to the most remote areas of Peru. “It was a challenge and a blessing,” he mentions. “It was a challenge because I had to go out in a van, in a pickup truck, in whatever, on horseback, to visit the young people who had any concerns and talk to their families, to their parents.”
“Thank you, missionaries, for renouncing yourselves and bringing salvation.”
As president of the NGO ARCORES Peru, he promoted drinking water projects, improved kitchens and greenhouse systems. “It was an immense joy when we finally reached a community with this progress. Everyone would get together and have a big party. For me, those were very beautiful years and it was a way of uniting evangelization with human promotion. The two things have to go hand in hand.”
On October 29, 50 years after his arrival in Peru, Friar Ángel Herrán has no doubts about the path he has chosen: “The Lord of Miracles brought me here. I have lived in nine or ten different communities and I have been happy in all of them. If I were born again, I would choose again to be an Augustinian Recollect, at the service of God and of others. Thank you, missionaries, for renouncing yourselves and bringing salvation.