(ANS – San Pedro Carchá) – In San Pedro Carchá parish, a mission community amongst the Maya-Q’eqchi people, inhabitants of Trinitá village with more than 250,000 inhabitants celebrated their new church after a year of hard work. The work was possible thanks to the New Rochelle Salesian Missions Office and the efforts of Kelli Bochnik and Fr Mark Hyde, who have worked tirelessly to help the Salesian missions.

Trinitá village is densely populated and still growing. They have long dreamt of a place big enough for all the Catholics in the area. For want of a church, various sects have already won over members. But thanks to New Rochelle the people’s great wish has now been met.

Building took a year, with huge sacrifices on the part of  villagers who worked day and night over the last 3 months in particular, to the point of exhaustion. No money was spent on labour, only on materials.

There were also 101 Confirmations at the blessing of the church. The bishop of Las Verapaces, Bishop Rodolfo Valenzuela Nuñes, a Salesian past pupil from Quetzaltenango (Guatemala), began the celebration by cutting the ribbon at the entrance and addressed to the people who had come for the occasion with a few words of welcome. The blessing inside the church was a moving occasion, for when work began, few believed it would come to this, and seeing the bishop sprinkling holy water was very moving for many of them. Fr Gerardo Enrique Hernández Torres, Rector of the Salesian community, the economer and the man responsible for the project, Fr Vittorio Castagna, and Wilson Paau were also there, the latter a young Q’eqchi ready to begin his novitiate with the Salesians in Colombia.

The bishop's words stressed the strong sense of Church, using a Q’eqchi hymn that says “Laa’o li Santiklees”, meaning, we are the Church. The bishop also thanked the Salesians, who have worked for more than 78 years for the Q’eqchi.         

Published 27/12/2013