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Journey of Friendship Brings People together

Story and photos by LIZ QUIRIN
Messenger editor

On this, the fourth journey from the Belleville diocese to Guatemala Nov. 6-13, the travelers from the United States — some of them for a second or third time — received warm welcomes from their sister parishes in the Diocese of Jalapa in southeastern Guatemala and the Vicariate of Petén in northern Guatemala.

All of those who visited Jalapa came together at the diocesan center to celebrate the 45-year relationship the two dioceses have shared, beginning in the 1960s with priests from the Belleville diocese serving in Guatemala.

Bishop Julio Cabrera Ovalle addressed the group before a special liturgy to open the Jalapa Diocesan Assembly.
“We feel happy to have you with us in this assembly, and we tell you, and through all of you, all of the parishioners that your represent: Thank you for your solidarity and for visiting the sister parishes of Jalapa,” Bishop Cabrera said.
Bishop Edward K. Braxton accompanied the group to Guatemala and spoke of the relationship between the two dioceses.

During the assembly, visitors from the United States were asked for their comments. Dennis Vasquez of Columbia, visiting his sister parish for the second time, expressed his gratitude for the warm welcome he received.

Overwhelmed with emotion, Dennis thanked the people of Jalapa for their friendship.
Colleen Fitzgerald of Breese brought her daughter, Joan, to Jalapa to experience the struggles of the people there. At the time she spoke, Colleen had no idea of the impact of the visit.

At the end of the journey when the travelers exchanged stories, Joan said not only did she see and understand more about the people but she wanted to return to Jalapa to deepen her friendship with the people.

Father Jerry Wirth of Olney visited his sister parish for the first time. “I was totally shocked at the wonderful reception,” Father Wirth said. “I felt very humbled.”

This was Father James Long’s third visit to Guatemala. “The first time, the trip opened my eyes,” he said. “The second and third time, I have grown to love the people more and more.”

For Msgr. Vincent Haselhorst who no longer keeps track of the number of times he has returned to Guatemala, this trip was especially meaningful. He accepted congratulations on his 50th anniversary as a priest from Bishop Cabrera, and spoke of his six years as a priest in Guatemala.

“When I celebrated my 50th anniversary of ordination last June,” he told the assembly, “I began to reflect on some of the special blessings of those 50 years. And among the most significant blessings were the years when I had the pleasure of working here in the diocese of Jalapa.”

Msgr. Haselhorst spoke of his years in Jalapa as a “conversion experience.”
“Before I came here, I had a different set of values and priorities in my life, even as a priest, than I have today,” he said.

Msgr. Haselhorst said his six years of experience in Guastatoya taught him many lessons about the difference in our value systems and those of the poor.

As a young priest in Guastatoya he saw “many living in small houses with thatched roofs, using tree stumps for chairs, sleeping on dirt floors on straw mats, working long hard days for $1.00 or $2.00.”
That made him realize what is important in life — not the possessions we can accumulate but just and human living conditions for all people.

While most of the travelers spent their time in Jalapa, Father Brian Barker and Jackie Malinski of Pinckneyville went north to Santa Elena to visit their sister parish in the Petén.

The Petén is a vicariate rather than a diocese. It receives some support from Rome because of its designation as a vicariate. At the present time, Petén has no bishop, and the vicar general acts in the place of a bishop for confirmations and other events that would require a bishop’s presence.

Msgr. Thomas Flach was scheduled to travel to the Petén to visit his sister parish but became ill right before he was scheduled to leave. The vicar general, Italian Dominican Father Octavio Sassu shares pastoral duties in Dolores with brother Dominican, Father George Pittalisi.

Father Pittalisi said the people of Dolores try to make ends meet with subsistence farming. Dolores sits in a geographic corridor used by people to travel through Guatemala to Mexico and on into the United States.
“People don’t feel safe here,” Father Pittalisi said. “Violence in the countryside takes the form of robbery, rape and murder.”

That is why, Father Pittalisi said, the support from the sister parish program is so important. He pointed out a dental clinic the people of SS. Peter and Paul in Waterloo helped to construct as well as a parish center where catechists are trained and youth are catechized.

In the Petén as in Jalapa, the support and solidarity of the sister parishes continues to bring hope and help to all.