May 13, 2021
On April 23rd 2021, three Spanish-born MSC priests and seven lay catechists of the indigenous Maya people became “blessed” and were beatified in the Cathedral of Santa Cruz del Quiché, Guatemala.
Last year, Pope Francis signed a decree which recognised all ten as martyrs, and on April 23rd, Guatemalan Cardinal Álvaro Leonel Ramazzini celebrated the beatification Mass in El Quiché. Three priests of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, namely Jose Maria Gran Cirera, Juan Alonso Fernandez, and Faustino Villanueva, were beatified along with seven lay people: Rosalío Benito, Reyes Us, Domingo del Barrio, Nicolás Castro, Tomás Ramírez, Miguel Tiú, and Juan Barrera Méndez, who was just 12 years of age. All ten were killed in Guatemala at various stages between 1980 and 1991, in “hatred of the faith”.
Champions of the poor and vulnerable
It is estimated that 200,000 people, including Catholic missionaries, priests, and nuns, were killed in Guatemala between 1960 and 1996, when the country was by ravaged by conflict between its government military regime and a number of leftist groups. In the 1980s, a time when dictatorship was in full force in Central America, the Church found itself the victim of constant persecution for its role in championing the poor and defending human rights.
During this time, to stand for what was right in the name of peace was to stand against the military regime. The ten martyrs were unashamed and unafraid in their faith, assisting those in need in every way they could. From spiritual guidance and visiting the sick, to serving their communities and attempting to right the wrongs of an unjust regime on a local level, both the MSC priests and the lay people maintained the use of the Bible and the rosary despite the very real danger this posed. They eventually sacrificed their lives for their beliefs, and were killed by those in power who considered the teachings of the faith a threat to the system as it stood.
“I do nothing but preach the word of God.”
The three Spanish MSC priests died terrible deaths for their faith and for their friendship towards the country’s most marginalised people. Fr José María Gran Cirera was shot repeatedly alongside his friend and sacristan Dominic Batz while leaving Mass on horseback on June 4th 1980. Fr Faustino Villanueva was shot in his home, by two young men who visited the parish house, after celebrating evening Mass on July 10th 1980. Some months later, at the end of January 1981, Fr Juan Alonso Fernandes wrote to his brother, saying “I have the feeling that I am in danger. I don’t want to be killed in any way, but neither am I ready, out of fear, to abandon this people.” He was living and working in the north of the country, a particularly hazardous area. On February 13th 1981, he was forcibly detained by the military for questioning. Unbowed, he told them, “What we preach, anyone can hear. If you want to know what I say, just go to church. I do nothing but preach the word of God.” Fr Juan Alonso was released that night, but was intercepted on his way to visit a community the following day. He was tortured in a ravine, and then shot in the head three times.
Twelve-year-old Juan Barrera Méndez, known as Juanito, is particularly noted for his dedication to his faith. He received the sacrament of Confirmation himself, and acted as a spiritual guide for children preparing to receive their First Holy Communion. He was captured in a military raid on his community, and was tortured cruelly before his death; his passion was indestructible, and his name and his testimony are still well-recognised amongst Guatemalan children today.
“Missionaries on the move”
In an interview with Vatican News, Bishop Rosolino Bianchetti of Quiché reflects, “Our martyrs were truly missionaries on the move… They went from house to house, keeping the faith alive, praying with their brothers, evangelizing, imploring the God of life. They were men of great faith, of great trust in God, but at the same time of great dedication to bring about a change, a different Guatemala.”
MSC Superior General, Fr Mario Abzalón Alvarado Tovar, gave sincere thanks to all involved with the beatification at the recent Mass. “The three religious Missionaries of the Sacred Heart and the seven laymen today beatified as Martyrs are the prophetic voice that continues to resonate and call us to recognize the situation that was experienced in El Quiché and in Guatemala in the 1980s,” he said. “Thousands of brothers and sisters who were killed for the sake of justice and their faith committed to building the Kingdom of God. It was a whole system of death – genocide – that destroyed the lives of these ten new Blesseds. They are the sign that this unjust barbarism that bled an entire nation should never be repeated in Guatemala again – never again! Unfortunately, situations like this continue to happen in different parts of the world.”
“Wounds that continue to bleed”
Fr Abzalón continued, “We are encouraging our MSC brothers to be convinced that the best way to honour the memory of those who gave their life is to remain committed to eradicating the causes that led these three Missionaries of the Sacred Heart and seven laity and so many others to shed their blood. Causes that remain open, wounds that continue to bleed in Guatemala and throughout the world, through violence, exploitation, poverty, injustice and corruption. Our mother earth continues to be violated and destroyed. The Common Home needs us so that, inspired by the new Blessed Martyrs of Quiché, we raise our voices and give prophetic, living and coherent witness, as the three Missionaries of the Sacred Heart and the seven laity, today Blessed Martyrs, did.”
As many communities in Guatemala continue to face extreme challenges and severe hardship, including poverty, exploitation, and forced migration, we remember the sacrifice of the El Quiché martyrs, and we pray for all who continue to struggle in their home country, and in similar situations around the world.
“We are united with MSCs and the wider Chevalier Family around the world in celebrating this day and praying for the local church in El Quiché and Guatemala as it continues the work of evangelisation, service and worship, justice and peace, and the dignity of all its peoples, especially the indigenous communities.”
– Fr Carl Tranter MSC, Irish Provincial Leader
Read more about the beatification of the martyrs of El Quiché
May 5, 2021
The motto of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart is the same as ourselves; after all, we are family. It is short and to the point, but also profound, rich, and as relevant today as it ever was. It is, “To be on earth the Heart of God.” You could spend a lifetime considering what this might mean or you could simply look at what it is like when it is put into action.
In my first piece on my mission to South Sudan, I spoke about two of our sisters that I met by coincidence in Juba. They were on the same flight as me, but on arrival in Rumbek they still had a long journey before they got back to their community in Mapourdit, a former refugee town that has grown up around the hospital and school the Church built. The trip would take them along flooded roads, where they would need to wade hundreds of yards across water up to their waist, and through insecure areas, where violence is still depressingly commonplace. It is only journey of 88km, but could easily take them up to half a day, if not more.
Deo gratias
Still, they didn’t complain. They were used to it. In fact, they were used to considerably worse as the Daughters have been here for over twenty-five years. In that time, they have had to contend with the struggle for the independence of South Sudan, the subsequent and tragic civil war, imprisonment, far too many snakes, plenty of rats, you name it really. In the booklet for the celebration of the Silver Jubilee of the mission the Daughters in South Sudan, they used two words to express what they felt after all that time: Deo gratias or thank God.
The reason I’m writing the article now is that last Saturday we travelled to Mapourdit to celebrate the 80th birthday of one of the community, Sr Rita Grunke. Sr Rita has been here since 2004 and has devoted herself to the community building, especially among the local women. She would spend extended periods of time travelling around the countryside, building up grassroots development, and sleeping out under the stars in a rough, but practical, tent.
Living out the Good News
I was especially privileged to celebrate Mass for her that morning, with the other sisters, the members of the wonderful Comboni community next door who run the hospital, and the local people that have helped to build up the mission over the years. It was simple and beautiful as we broke the bread and shared the word of God together under a corrugated metal roof next to their kitchen. On the wall looking down on us was a painting of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart by a South Sudanese artist. In 1875, St Daniel Comboni, who was one of the pioneers of the Catholic mission in South Sudan, wrote to our founder, Fr Jules Chevalier, and consecrated the entire country to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.
Almost 150 years later, we continue in that same gentle, but powerful spirituality. In many ways so much has changed and moved on, yet at the same time the needs remain the same. Religious sisters, brothers, and priests have set up schools and hospitals, working with local clergy and lay people to build a better future. Now with the arrival of the new bishop elect, we are looking towards a renewed sense of evangelisation that moves beyond just providing the necessities for survival. It is a living out of the Good News and the building up of the local Church. It is encountering the love of Jesus in the people that we serve and together building up the Kingdom of God. For that opportunity we can only say, Deo gratias.
Fr Alan
Read more from Fr Alan’s missionary journey in South Sudan:
PLEASE HELP US TO TRANSFORM LIVES IN SOUTH SUDAN
Apr 29, 2021
The advent of May, the month dedicated to Mary, brings us longer evenings, warm sunshine, blossom in abundance – and above all, a sense of hope and quiet joy in the certainty of brighter days to come.
This May, we remain restricted in our movements as we take tentative steps towards emerging from national lockdown. In keeping with the time-honoured tradition of honouring Mary throughout the month of May, we invite you to create your own May altar in your home, a daily opportunity for reflection, thanksgiving, and peaceful prayer to Our Lady.
You can prepare your altar on any small, flat space, such as a table, a shelf, a windowsill, a bookshelf, or a mantelpiece. A statue or picture of Our Lady is placed in the centre of the space, on a white or blue piece of cloth, and the altar is then adorned with flowers of all types. Many people choose to use wild flowers, which are in plentiful supply at this time of year, while others prefer to use flowers traditionally dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, such as white lilies (symbolic of her purity) or roses (a symbol of her love of God).
Complete your altar with a candle. Take some time each day to light this and pause in quiet prayer, on your own or with family, in a moment of rest and reflection amid the hustle and bustle of our daily lives.
Many people pray the rosary daily at their May altar, asking for Our Lady’s intercession. Below, you’ll also find Pope Francis’ Prayer to Mary during the coronavirus pandemic.
You can browse a selection of Our Lady statues and candles in our Cards & Gifts section, if you would like to find something special for your May altar at home.
With every grace and blessing of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart for a peaceful, prayerful, and healthy month of May.
Pope Francis’ Prayer to Mary
O Mary,
you always shine on our path
as a sign of salvation and of hope.
We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick,
who at the cross took part in Jesus’ pain, keeping your faith firm.
You, Salvation of the Roman People,
know what we need,
and we are sure you will provide
so that, as in Cana of Galilee,
we may return to joy and to feasting
after this time of trial.
Help us, Mother of Divine Love,
to conform to the will of the Father
and to do as we are told by Jesus,
who has taken upon himself our sufferings
and carried our sorrows
to lead us, through the cross,
to the joy of the resurrection. Amen.
Under your protection, we seek refuge, Holy Mother of God. Do not disdain the entreaties of we who are in trial, but deliver us from every danger, O glorious and blessed Virgin.
Apr 28, 2021
As Joe Walsh Pilgrimtours Ltd. have ceased trading, we are now unable to fulfil any outstanding 2020 pilgrimage bookings, which were awaiting a rescheduled date due to COVID cancellations.
Any mission friends who had booked a place on our 2020 Lourdes or Fatima tours with JWT may submit an Aviation Regulation claim form to apply for a refund.
Each claim must be made by the individual who was booked on the pilgrimage; unfortunately, we cannot make a claim on your behalf. You can download a copy of the claim form here for your use.
For further information, the following helplines are available:
- Aviation Regulation: (01) 661 1700
- JWT Helpline: (01) 242 0800 (Monday – Friday: 9.00am – 1.00pm & 2.00pm – 5.30pm)
Please visit www.aviationreg.ie for further updates.
We look forward to journeying together on pilgrimage once again when it is safe to do so. In the meantime, you are very welcome to join our community of faith in daily prayer from the Sacred Heart Church on the Western Road, Cork, via our live stream.
Apr 23, 2021
Blessed are the martyrs of El Quiche Guatemala. Faith’s response to injustice.
Article from the Italian newspaper, Avvenire 23/04/2021.
Ten missionaries, priests, catechists, pastoral workers and also a 12-year-old boy are raised to the altars. Their engagement was against violence during the civil war.
It was a day in August 1995. The farmer was working in his field, as usual. The hoe inadvertently moved a stone, stuck in the dark earth. It was then that he noticed the strange object: a closed book in a plastic bag. With difficulty, on the thick black
cover, he can still read the golden writing: “Holy Bible”. The photo of its ruined pages, on display at the Human Rights Office of the Archdiocese of Guatemala (Odha), is the most authentic memory of the civil war that bloodied the nation between 1960 and 1996.
Genocide took place in the highlands of Quiché: tens of thousands of civilians were massacred. Women, men, children and old people; the overwhelming majority poor and indigenous: a tragically “normal” situation in a country where poverty has the colour and
features of the Mayan people. A people, however, deeply believing, capable – riding the wave of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, of the Latin American Bishops’ Conferences and of the work of evangelization carried out by Catholic Action – of reconciling
the Gospel and their daily commitment to the construction of the Kingdom. Thus was born the prophecy which incited priests, bishops, laity, catechists and pastoral workers to denounce the vicious system of exclusion fostered in the blood by the small land elite
and its representatives in the military governments. It was enough to have a Bible in the house to be tortured and killed. Violence has not extinguished faith. The sacred books and symbols were buried, but people continued to read and pray them, in secret.
“They buried the Bible, put flowers and candles in it,” says Fernando Bermúdez, a missionary for thirty years in Guatemala with his wife, theologian and author of digital religious affairs. In the evening, the community met there to remember certain passages,
thus resuscitating the Word. Witnesses to the end. Like the Spanish priests, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart José María Gran Cirera and Juan Alonso Fernández and Faustino Villanueva, the sacristan Tomás Ramírez Caba, the catechists Rosalío Benito Ixchop,
Reyes Us Hernández, Domingo Del Barrio Batz, Nicolás Castro, Miguel Tiu Imul and Juan Barrera Méndez, just 12 years old. All murdered in hatred of the faith between 1980 and 1991, as recognized by the decree which Pope Francis authorized for promulgation on
January 24. And as such, they will be beatified today at the Rosary Institute of Santa Cruz de El Quiché. The Mass will be presided over by Cardinal Álvaro Leonel Ramazzini Imeri, Bishop of Huehuetenango.
The city is decorated with flowers and murals for this great celebration that not even the pandemic can erase. “It is a recognition of the faith of the people of God who go on pilgrimage to Quiché. There, the Church was persecuted, paradoxically, by “co-religionists”.
“The soldiers and paramilitaries who massacred civilians and tortured priests and catechists professed to be Catholics. To justify themselves, they accused the victims of being subversive and communist. Nothing is further from the truth. Their non-violent defence
of the dignity of the oppressed was rooted in the Gospel “, explains Nery Rodenas, director of Odha. It was precisely this latter office – created by Juan Gerardi, longtime bishop of Quiché and also a victim of death squads – that exposed the “official lie”
of the “Nunca Más” (Never Again) report. A meticulous work of reconstructing the historical memory by collecting testimonies on the ground: 6,000 arrived from Quiché alone. “I accompanied the future blessed Nicolás Castro and Reyes Us. One day, they asked me
to help them hide consecrated hosts in a container with corn husks. It was the only sure way to take them to their villages, a day’s walk away. They knew they risked horrific death if found. But they told me that neither they nor their communities could renounce
the Body of Christ”, Bermúdez remembers. “They killed Nicolás on the night of September 29, 1980: a commando broke into his house and tried to kidnap him. He resisted and they hit him with three bullets in front of his wife, mother and children. He was 35.
Less than two months later, it was Reyes’ turn.” “The example of these martyrs”, concludes Rodenas, “prompts us to work with an even greater impetus for the truth and justice of the Kingdom, for which they lived. And for which they died.”
Archdiocesan Television
https://www.youtube.com/…/UCaX9JrFxj84pLq3lbAp…/featured
https://canalcatolico.tv/ click on live TV.
Apr 21, 2021
Looking back on my previous entries, I think I begin all of them with the same idea, namely that it is a busy time here in Loreto Rumbek. Being something of a traditionalist, I’ll continue in that vein, at least for now anyway. Since I wrote last, we have had a number of welcome visitors and one big celebration.
The first arrival was the truck. Once a year a large container lorry trundles northward from Nairobi to the border post of Nadapal between Kenya and South Sudan, before passing through Juba and finally arriving at our school. It is a mammoth journey at the best of times, but with the terrible road conditions, the beginning of the first rains, and persistent insecurity it can be perilous. Its arrival is greeted with great enthusiasm and I think the best description is that it is like Christmas with really sensible, practical presents. The basics that we can pick up in any Dunnes, Spar or Woodies back home are luxuries here. There are really no local shops that can supply the needs of a school, let alone a clinic or an agricultural project. The truck was filled with mundane essentials like school uniforms, tools, desks, two sowing machines, medical equipment, and textbooks. There was also a small fridge for me. The absolute luxury! While I’m writing this in 40C, I’m sipping some ice-cold water. It is like a little corner of Heaven!
Last Wednesday the Governor of Lakes State, along with the local Minister for Education and the Minister for Labour paid our school a visit. They took the time to walk around the compound with Sr. Orla, dropping into the clinic and taking look at our primary school. The clinic is tearing busy, looking after over four thousand patients a month, while the primary school is closed due to Covid restrictions. Thankfully, we received word last night that they will begin to reopen on May 3rd, allowing life to return to some measure of normality. Anyway, back to the Governor and the Ministers. They spoke at length to the students about the importance of education and how they were committed to fighting early forced marriage. How these words will be transformed into action remains to be seen, but even the public commitment itself is a powerful witness for the rights of young women to be allowed to determine their own future.
On Thursday we welcomed Bishop-Elect Fr. Christian Carlassare to Rumbek. Our Diocese has been without a bishop for almost ten years and his arrival was greeted with wonderful enthusiasm. He is originally from Italy, but has lived and ministered in South Sudan since 2005. As the only two schools currently open in the state, the students from Loreto joined the boys from La Salle Catholic Secondary School to provide a guard of honour. In his opening speech he shared his vision for the future drawing on Galatians Chapter 3 to have a community of faith unified in the love of Jesus. He dropped by the school yesterday to say thank you to the students and to meet the team here. There will be exciting times ahead. Please do keep him in your prayers.
In addition to all the arrivals, we also had to celebrate a birthday. Loreto Secondary School officially became a teenager last Tuesday, celebrating thirteen years educating the girls in Rumbek. To mark the occasion Sr. Orla, the director, and Mrs. Njuguna, the principal of the school, turned a sod for a new grotto for Our Lady. We had a simple prayer service with all the students, teachers, and support staff, followed by a celebration of music and dance in the dining hall. Considering its humble beginnings, it is a truly remarkable achievement. We have gone from a situation where people were predicting no girl would want to attend the school when it opened to today, where we had an entrance exam for ten places in Senior 2 and Senior 3 and over 160 applicants turned up! It has been a long road, but people here and those who support the school have kept the faith.
We are beginning end of term holidays this coming Friday, so many of the girls and staff will be heading home. We will have around sixty students staying with us, because they come from far away or they are at risk of an enforced marriage. It should be a quieter, gentler couple of weeks. After all they busyness, it will be welcome.
Ben Nhialic areer keg a way,
Fr. Alan.
Read more of Fr Alan’s journey:
– Looking for a Sign on the Way to South Sudan
– Building a Better Future in South Sudan
– Chirstmas greetings from Fr Alan in South Sudan
– A Cup of Sugar and Maybe a Goat
– Mock Exams and Real Life in South Sudan
– As Easy as Baking a Cake
– Holy Week on the Move
HELP US TO TRANSFORM LIVES IN SOUTH SUDAN
