Fr Hegerty in the city of Lima where he spent almost 50 years. - Photo: St Columbans Mission Society
I have one blessed experience that spanned some 20 of my 49 years in Peru. In the mid-1990s, large swathes of land being bought up by developers on the Santa Rosa Hacienda on the northern edge of Lima, the capital of Peru, went up for sale offering sub-divided lots. These became 40 or so housing estates and people from the mountains and the crowded inner city were buying in and building cane-matting houses by the hundreds.
As around 85 percent of Peru is at least nominally Catholic, there was a sudden increase in requests for services to the three surrounding Columban-founded parishes, demanding some organised response.
The Columbans decided their 50-year experience in working to make the local Church more missionary held the key. They decided to cast the net among Columban and former Columban parishes in the area in the hope laypeople with pastoral experience would volunteer to be commissioned as missionaries to go and meet with the recently arrived settlers.
At a meeting in February 1995, I waited nervously with Guillermo Vasquez and his wife, Dorila, who had accepted the responsibility of coordinating the mission. We could hardly believe it when 43 volunteers from eight parishes presented themselves in response. They were as nervous as we were and had little idea of what was in store.
After a brief introduction, we prayed for light and courage from the Spirit, and studied maps of the area to appreciate its size and complexity, before discussing our next move.
We opted for a two-week period during which the missionaries would visit and talk with the residents of the new estates, get to know their needs and identify prospective community leaders. The task was to listen. The missionaries were commissioned with a solemn Peruvian blessing and eight groups sent out with an agreement to meet in 15 days’ time.
Based on parish of origin and pastoral skills, the groups tended to view possible responses through their own experiential lenses. What we dubbed the common pot group saw a need to help the more deprived with food preparation; the charismatics, prayer and praise; and the sacramental groups, baptism and first communion programmes.
It was clear that each group would be slow to move out of its comfort zone. Consequently, diversity rather than uniformity became God’s gift to the people on the freshly created estates.
To maintain some unity and offer support and accompaniment to the missionaries, the coordinating team, the missionaries themselves and several volunteers from among the new comers to the estates met every 15 days.
Each missionary received a booklet of specially prepared prayers and rituals. A second one, with instructions for lay-led liturgies, followed. Once an identifiable grouping of people had formed on the new estates and developed some coherence as a Christian community, preparation for the sacraments and local religious festivals began. As the priest, I was to respond to requests for specifically priestly ministries, and as the new communities grew in confidence, and assumed responsibility for roles in ministry and leadership, the missionaries would gradually withdraw.
Looking back, there were many highlights, but the preparation for our first Easter is a memorable one. We used a nearby parish for a one-day practice of the ceremonies from Palm Sunday to the Easter Vigil. The energy and creativity were mind-blowing, but how to translate the ideas from established parish experience to the dust, dogs and noise of the unmade streets was the challenge.
Palm Sunday took us by surprise. When I checked the gathering point at the agreed time, only five people had turned up. I comforted myself with the thought they would come on Peruvian Time, but was secretly worried. However, when I returned from inspecting the open basketball court where the ceremony was to be held, there were around 400 palm-waving, singing enthusiasts ready and waiting to process and proclaim Jesus as Lord.
Fr Hegerty in the city of Lima where he spent almost 50 years. - Photo: St Columbans Mission Society
Many years later, one struggling community put up its hand in a call for help. From each of the then-12 established communities on the estate, some 150 adults and young people ready to go door-to-door, conduct prayer vigils in parks and markets, and visit the sick, volunteered to assist in reenergising it. Moving in small groups in white T-shirts, I suspect they grew in faith as much as the people they visited.
Twenty-five years on, the Plenary Council in Australia has championed the leadership role of the laity in the process of synodality. I suspect the missionaries in Peru have something to tell us.
After our first meeting, Guillermo and Dorila asked, “What do we do now?” I said I had no idea. They were terrified. Was there no set plan? We had to wait and see what would evolve and listen to what the local people would say. Only then could we plan and, as the Spirit did move in various and wonderful ways, there was no need to pre-plan.
In some communities, men emerged in leadership roles and in others, women. Regular, planned and participative meetings proved essential, as they helped give life, purpose and security to the missionaries, and cohesion to the whole project.
You make your path by walking it. Many of the missionaries did not believe they could offer as much as they did. There are many ministries in every community. The priest has one of them, but the Spirit must be allowed to blow in all those God has chosen through baptism.
I want to thank God for the privilege, the missionaries for their generosity, and the new residents of Santa Rosa for their hospitality and openness, but most of all, the coordinating team for many years of sacrifice, perseverance, courage and laughter.
Columban Fr John Hegerty worked in Peru for almost 50 years. He now resides at the Columban House in Essendon.
Listen to "The joy of mission"
Related links
- Read more from The Far East - June 2022
