April 15th, 2008 Posted in Quito Revisited | 1 Comment »
Risen Christ - Our Hope and Liberation
The Comité del Pueblo is a marginalized shanty town on the borders of Quito, the capital city of Ecuador. It was founded by the Communist, Leninist, Marxist Party of Eucador and, because of their opposition to the Catholic Church, the parish Church had to be built just outside the town. Despite threats of immenent violence, a small group from the community led by a Salesian brother initiated the construction of a church. When I arrived in 1985 to organise a parish in the town, I undertook the task of completing the building and furnishing it. Behind the altar where traditionally, in Catholic Churches, a crucifix stands, I decided to erect a statue of the resurrected Christ. I thought that it was appropriate that a people who were condemned to deprivation and suffering should, on entering the church, find some inspiration in the figure of Christ who also lived a life of suffering but which ended in the glorious triumph of the resurrection. The figure of the resurrected Christ is Christianity’s greatest inspiration and a source of strength to all believers.
The parish Church, San José Obrero
SAN JOSÉ OBRERO is the parish church. It was on rather elevated ground needing quite a few steps in order to gain access. The black door to the right is the garage, behind the church you see the roof of the hospital and to the right, up another flight, of stairs was my residence, a type of apartment. Below my department was the parish where all community business was discussed. As one could imagin, meetings were frequent and prolonged. I remember that even on New Year’s Day a meeting regarding potable water could not be cancelled although nothing of great importance was on the agenda! I soon discovered the dangers of giving an Ecuadorian a microphone. “Why say in four words when I could use forty” would seem to have been the guiding principle.
Comité in 1985
These are scenes from my parish on the outskirts of Quito going back some twenty years ago: no potable water, no sewage system, no electricity, dirt streets … few if any public amenities. From many points of view it was a scene of total abandonment and desolation. The shanty town would then have had a population of fifty to sixty thousand people. Who was to know?
Comité del Pueblo, 2005
Things have changed. The initial hope of betterment has been fulfilled. God be praised and thanked.
The time had come for me to move one.
Our commitment as missionary priests is to work
with the poorest of the poor.
Change is possible and we have all contributed towards that change.
The poverty of some homes was simply appaling. The tin/cardboard hut seen above housed a family of two parents and five children. The oldest was thirteen years of age but had never entered a classroom. The father was an alcoholic and often the children had to scrape the bins of the poor in order to find rags to clothe themselves or a crust of bread to eat. Unfortunately they were many others in the same situation.
Statues and images are used extensively to intensify religious piety. The sacred image tries to bring the divine mystery into the realm of human existence; to make more human what transcends all that is human and finite. This image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was made by a parishioner who knew no university training but who could give material expression to his inner spiritual intuitions and reflections. It is an expression of faith and devotion that captures the imagination of others and directs them on a spiritual path that leads to the Divine. The image, wrapped in a shell, symbol of St James the Apostle, patron of the Society of St James, of which I am a member, was made from the volcanic dust which fell over the city when the nearby mountain of Pichincha erupted. This fine dust was collected from the roof of the Church and the surrounding ground and was mixed with ordinary cement in order to create the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe.The story of Guadalupe is very simple, most endearing and very appealing. I built a church in honour of the Virgin of Guadalupe who is also the patroness of Latin America.
From a consulting room to a Hospital with seventeen specialities
The Comité del Pueblo (The people´s Committee – English name) began as a massive invasion organized by the Leninist, Marxist Communists of Ecuador. The first homes were small shacks, enlarged boxes, precarious huts with zinc roofs and sometimes walls of cardboard. In a similar way, what is today the Community Hospital of St Joseph the Worker, began in a small dark room: walls of cement still to be painted, a chair, a doctor seated behind a wooden table.
Things are different today. Today the Community Hospital of St. Joseph the Worker is a building of three floors, has a staff of over forty, and offers every form of specialty of a city hospital. Equipment came from Scotland, USA, Ecuador and other parts. I can recall many amusing episodes in the process of equiping the hospital: two gentlement removing an X-Ray machine from Belford hospital, taking it down to Glasgow in the back of a van and then sending it by ship to Ecuador.
I remember Jessica, my neice, flying all the way to Boston with an ecogramme donated by Archie McQuarrie. Insuring it for the flight would have been more expensive than the air ticket!
I remember arriving at Boston airport with an anaesthetic machine which I had taken apart (all 137 parts) in order to fit it into two cases, only to find that the laws had changed and weight was to be the determining factor. I was 234 lbs over weight. I managed to speak to the airplane pilot who gave me extra bags for carryinbg it. I arrived in Quito with four bags of my “personal belongings” and still 234lbs over the legal weight. There was an airport inspection of every bag coming off my flight but fortunately I was recognized, taken out of the long queue and ushered through a side door. Another time I drove from San Antonio to Dallas (a six hour journey, if I remember correctly) in the heat of the afternoon sun only to find that the dental equipment which I had expected to collect was no longer there and so I had to return that night empty-handed … I could continue! C’est la vie, as I always say in good Gaelic.
Church at the heart of the Comité
After years of waiting, a Church was build inside the Comité del Pueblo, in the very heart of the town. It is quite an ornate church but it was all done by local labour. The most interesting feature is that of the walls: they are all murals designed and constructed by a local artist. Because of the cost factor, angle iron and not lead was used. The stained glass was also created locally by painting ordinary glass and roasting it in the oven for several hours and then cutting it according to the required shapes. I broke many a piece of glass trying to cut it to the required shape. Jessica and Allan, my niece and nephew, had better luck. One side of the church depicted the five mysteries of the rosary introduced my Pope John Paul II and the other wall something of the history of the town. The Church had also a basement which was used as a community hall and catechetical rooms.
The strength and power of prophecy is seen in the figure of John the Baptist. (I like the Celtic Cross in the backgroud - I did it myself!)
We see some of the detail in the murals: the sun in a rather cloudless sky; the Parish Church and it was a communist regime that founded the town although they had by now been pushed to the side. There are other intricate forms and symbols which are also there but slightly more hidden.
Young catechists create their vision of the future
A retreat for the catechists not only implied talks but also other activities which would express their creativity and inner self. Working in groups they would be given different tasks. Here they are painting a stone and are then asked to reflect on how we are treating God´s creation; how our particular contribution changes nature for better and for worse. As catechists we would discuss what contribution we are making in our own small community, what is our mission in the community and how best we go about it …… and so the three days would pass – days of joy!
Gathering for the Mass was a central part of the retreat and a time of intense reflection and devotion. Generally speaking the catechists themselves would arrange the Liturgy. Hymns or religious song would be a part but more time would be spent on symbols which would be used from time to time to express more explicitly the intention of the prayer or of that aspect of the Mass. We see here the bread and wine of course, a clay beaker, a small plant – all of which have their own particular meaning. I dare not mention some of the symbols which have been presented at the offertory!
