P.- What can you tell us about the social and political situation of Guatemala?
R.- The solution to the socio-political problems of the country exceeds our ability to act as a Church. Nevertheless I believe that as a Church we can still do a lot if we encourage a positive attitude to projects aimed at creating jobs, if we help to create a welcoming attitude towards those projects for generating electrical energy, as long as the population and its rights are respected; if we help in the formation of local political leaders with civil, human and Christian values.
P.- How would you describe the socio-religious makeup of your diocese?
R.- The Diocese of Quiche, in Guatemala, has a unique history and configuration. It’s to be found in the western mountainous region of Guatemala, but it also has low land, especially in the north at the Mexican border. It has an extension of 8,300 square kilometers. There are some eight hundred thousand people who belong to different linguistic groups: quichés, ixiles, quekchíes. It was the backdrop to the cruelest and bloodiest chapters of the civil war in Guatemala. Popular census puts the catholic population at 54%, the evangelicals at 30% and the rest practice other faiths mainly from the Mayan traditions.
P.- What are your more pressing needs?
R.- The population is poor, as there is no opportunity of work outside subsistence agriculture. I calculate that about 15% of the population works illegally in the United States. There are however regions where there is a certain economic development like Chichicastenango, which is a tourist attraction for outside visitors. In Chajul yand in Ixcán there are farmer associations who have export organic coffee to Europe and cardamom to the Middle East.
Sects
P.- What about the sects, what is their situation?
R.- First let us look at how they appeared in Guatemala in the first place. The liberal regime, at the end of the XlX century introduced Protestantism believing it World bring with it the development of a business attitude in the soul of the population. Another government push for the growth of evangelism happened during the armed civil conflict. According to North American strategic analyses the Catholic Church had stopped supporting North American interests in the region and the church’s influence had to be put in check. During the persecution the Catholic Church suffered in Guatemala and in particularly in Quiché, in the eighties in the XX century, to become an evangelical was as it were the equivalent of a safe conduct. Many became evangelicals at that time. The growth of the evangelicals peaked around the year 2000.
P.- How can the advance of the sects be stopped in your diocese and in Guatemala?
R.- In recent times, I relieve that many became evangelicals because they find a religious experience in these church communities which they don’t find in the Catholic Church which often times is very busy in solving problems of poverty and health. I don’t think there is going to be a mass return to the Catholic Church but it is necessary to facilitate in greater measure an encounter with Jesus Christ and with spirituality. The V Latin American Bishops Conference that met in Aparecida (Brazil) pointed to that diagnostic for dealing with the phenomenon of the sects in general in Latin America.
The Marthyrs of Quiché
P.- How is the cause for beatification going, of the three priests and seven catechists of Quiché, who were assassinated during the civil war as they exercised their pastoral duties?
R.- During the internal armed conflict and the persecution waged against the Catholic Church, three priests, Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, were killed by members of the Guatemala army between June 1980 and February 1981.With them an uncounted number of catechists, directors of small communities of Catholic action and ministers of the Eucharist were also killed as well as many thousands of the civil population because the counter insurgent strategy classified them as collaborators of the guerillas. The people venerate their family members as martyrs. Through the initiative of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart and the Diocese we have taken the first steps in the process of canonization of three priests and seven catechists who also represent all those who died in those circumstances. We have started with great illusion. I can’t say how long it will take.
Augustinian Recollects
P.- How do you see the presence and work of the Augustinian Recollects in Guatemala?
R.- This year, 2008, it Hill be 50 years since the Augustinian Recollects first arrived in October 1958. The work we have done has been generous, competent and with much sacrifice. Two things we have to face: the lack of sufficient vocations in the Consolation Province and the rising average age of the religious. Guatemala, however, is one of the places where the thirteen religious who work there have the lowest average age. The development of Vocations work fills us with the hope of staying and broadening our presence in the mid term in Guatemala. God willing the Province will open a ministry in Quiché. For the moment I see that as difficult.
Pastoral Plan
P.- What pastoral projects or programmes are being pursued in your diocese today?
R.- Since arriving in the Diocese in 2005 various priests and other pastoral agents expressed a desire to start putting together as soon as possible a new pastoral plan since the previous one was out of date. It’s been a long process since every stage has been consulted and the work methodology not always accepted. Finally in April 2008 we will reach the stage of identifying and specifying the general pastoral lines that will guide us for the next few years.
P.- What are the strong ideas and lines of action in a future pastoral Project?
R.- We have identified four nuclear areas: evangelization (emphasizing the missionary acumen of the parishes); family (this embraces the young people, man and woman); social pastoral work and promotion of the person (with special emphasis on families of migrants) and church communion (referring to spirituality and internal unity of those who form the Church)
Aparecida
P.- What repercussions will the CELAM Final Document from Aparecida have in Guatemala?
R.- I have no idea yet. However I sense there is an acceptance of the document. There is interest in knowing it and I hope this will translate into accepting its proposals. I believe that what happens in the mid term will be more effective than what might appear a few months alter the publication of the document. The Final Document from Aparecida has a serene and mature proposal to guide the Church and form people to be disciples and missionaries of Jesus Christ, with the aim of making sense of life and motivating them to make an impact on our culture and society. I believe Aparecida will stimulate, motivate and enlighten us for many years to come as long as its words are changed into attitudes and action.
Worries
P.- What have been the most important themes in the report presented to the Holy Father?
R.- In preparation for the visit ad limina Apostolorum, each bishop has individually answered a questionnaire sent by the Congregation for Bishops in which we are asked about the most varied aspects of the diocese and the realities of the region. Just the questionnaire has twenty five pages. Each section corresponds to one of the Dicasterios of the Holy See. In this sense all aspects are important.
P.- Any particular worry about Quiché?
R.- For me personally as bishop what worries me most is the poverty of the people, the lack of opportunities, migration and the breakdown of family life. From the Church’s point of view what most concerns me is the internal division between the laity who say they belong to Catholic Action and those who identify themselves as belonging to the Charismatic Renewal. These tensions favor the growth of the evangelical groups as some move over to them. We have to increase the number of aspirants to the seminary. I would be happy if one or two joined every year. At present I have seven seminarians. There are still wounds from the war to be healed. The processes of rebuilding the Mayan identity in the new context of globalization and inculturation of the faith require continued attention.