Profile of PERU and the Columban Mission 2002
Columban beginnings
This year we are celebrating 50 years of Columban missionary
presence in Peru. In 1952, three Columbans took charge of an area on the
northern edge of Lima, with pastoral responsibility for the people working
the large hacienda farms, mostly poorly paid and uneducated migrants from
the countryside, as well as the descendants of the ex-slaves from Angola.
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The first base of the Columbans was in the only working class area of the "barrio obrero" in San Martin. The total population of the northern area of Lima was about 50,000 in 1952, but due to mass migration from the countryside, movement out of the inner city by the poor and population increase, the present population is 1,800,000. |
Present day Columban personnel and ministries
Literally a new city has been created in these 50 years. In the late 70īs
there were 50 priests, between Columbans and Diocesan Associates, taking
care of 12 parishes, now we have 17 Columbans and 2 Diocesan Associates
with 8 lay missionaries, taking care of 10 parishes, including two in
a new area called San Juan de Luirgancho, and two more priests on loan
to the Prelature of Sicuani, in the southern Andes mountains. Also attached
to the region we have two Columbans working in Brasil.
Formation and growth
Add to that the fruit of our formation work over the past 15 years: two
ordained Peruvian Columbans, two nearing deaconate and 7 seminarians in
initial formation in Lima and you begin to get the picture of a busy workload.
Parish missionaries
Our latest initiative of the past five years has been the development
of parish missionaries, from our Columban parishes, going on mission,
at weekends, to the outskirts of Lima and also to the mountains for extended
periods of three to six months. Over 100 local Peruvian laity are on mission
with us in this way. From the beginning the Columbans worked with the
poor.
Medelin and its effects
But it was the Latin American conference of Bishops in Medellin, Columbia
in 1968, and later re-enforced by the gathering in Puebla, Mexico, that
gave the green light for a pastoral thrust, whose principal objective
is to empower the poor, so that they might find ways of standing on their
own feet, defend their rights, and not simply be victims.
Growth of Violence
The late 80's and 90īs were difficult times for the peopleīs movements
and for a church identified with the poor. The advent of terrorism and
the military response to it, brought about widespread abuses and violations
of human rights, by both sides, causing the death of about 30,000, the
disappearance of thousands of people and the persecution of legitimate
peoples' organizations, trade unions, community organizations and womens'
groups to small community or church led NGOs.
| Political developments - economy One of the knock on effects of this has been that the people defended themselves and continue to defend themselves by keeping silent and by being reluctant to get involved in community organizing. It also unwittingly brought to power an unknown politician, Alberto Fujimori, who, after an initial run of successes, turned out to be very autocratic, undemocratic and corrupt. Now we have a fragile experience of democracy once again, but with signs of party nepotism and corruption creeping in, things very difficult to keep out if there are not well formed political parities. The ordinary people have seen a 400% drop in the purchasing power of their monthly wage in the last 30 years, meaning that their wage will only by a quarter now of what it could buy in 1973. Unemployment and under-employment is high and 54% of the population are in poverty, 14% in extreme poverty. A recipe for social unrest in the future if frustration and desperation remains at present levels without any sign of solution, be it partial, in the next few years. |
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Peruvian Church
These changes in Peru, similar to other parts of the world, have their
reflection in the institutional church as well. The hierarchical church
is now very conservative of nature, with at least eight Opus Dei bishops
nationwide and an Opus Dei cardinal in Lima. Fortunately the Archdiocese
of Lima was sub-divided a number of years ago, allowing most of our parishes
to be in the new Dioceses of Carbayllo and Chosica, Opus Dei free zones!
Columbans today
Over the 50 years, the Columbans have founded 26 parishes in Lima, 16
of them now in the hands of the local church. The pastoral style of the
Columbans has always been one of lay involvement and even more so today,
as most of our 10 parishes in Lima have anything from 5 to 15 christian
communities which have to rely heavily on laity for their catechetical
programs, their human development and social services projects and their
sunday worship. It is common for communities to celebrate Mass once a
month and have well run lay-led liturgies the other three sundays of the
month. The church in Peru relies heavily on the involvement of women and
youth, but, thanks to a family based first communion program, there has
been an increase in the presence of the menfolk in the parish communities.
Future
The future may well be very different from the past 50 years, but the
seeds of evangelization have been sown, the Columban parishes are missionary
by nature and maintain the option for the poor as central to their work
of solidarity. So the future is bright because the church is the people
of God and they are alive and well in Columban territory in Peru!
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