{"id":3393,"date":"2025-03-03T23:15:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-03T23:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\/magazine\/?p=3393"},"modified":"2025-12-31T14:03:46","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T14:03:46","slug":"hope-triumphs-in-guatemala","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\/magazine\/hope-triumphs-in-guatemala\/","title":{"rendered":"Hope Triumphs in Guatemala"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mar\u00eda Luz Morales, 49, recalls the chapel of her childhood in the village of El Caoba, Guatemala. \u201cIt was so tiny, made of wood planks,\u201d she says. \u201cThere were no chairs or pews. People sat on tree stumps.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In El Caoba on a recent Sunday, Maryknoll Father William Senger baptized 10 babies and young children. More than 100 people attended a lively liturgy in the spacious, beautifully decorated new chapel. It is one of a dozen buildings that Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers have constructed for the parish of San Juan Ap\u00f3stol, where Father Senger is pastor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur dear Maryknoll priests have been a treasure,\u201d Morales says. \u201cThey came to build up our parish.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

San Juan Ap\u00f3stol parish<\/a> is comprised of 20 remote communities in Guatemala\u2019s humid northern lowlands known as the Pet\u00e9n. El Caoba started as an airstrip in the jungle, Morales recounts. Like the other villages in this tropical rainforest encompassing a third of the country\u2019s territory, it was settled by subsistence farmers such as her parents who came to homestead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Father Senger keeps a busy schedule to reach the parish seat, San Juan Ap\u00f3stol Church in El Remate, and 17 chapels. The late Maryknoll Father Edward \u201cTed\u201d Custer<\/a> had arrived in 2008 to serve these communities that had gone decades without a priest. Father Senger joined Father Custer in 2014, after four years at the vicariate\u2019s cathedral in the town of Flores, the department (state) capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The priests kept a running tally of the chapels that needed construction or renovation. Father Senger \u2014 affectionately known as \u201cPadre William\u201d \u2014 recalls one of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a rustic chapel, with walls of ill-fitting wood,\u201d he says. \u201cTermites infested the wood.\u201d When the pests reached the wooden tabernacle, it was time to act. A new chapel was built, where Mass is held twice a month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Franciscan
Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Jesus Estrella Sibri\u00e1n and Mar\u00eda Pedrina Popol Chap\u00e9n (left, right) serve the parish\u2019s 20 remote communities with Maryknoll Father William Senger, the pastor. (Octavio Dur\u00e1n\/Guatemala)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Another hamlet, accessible only by dirt road, is 12\u00bd miles from Father Senger\u2019s rectory in Macanch\u00e9. Its 40 Indigenous families, even the children, speak Q\u2019eqchi\u2019. Maryknollers including the late Father William Mullan<\/a>, who had learned the language, used to offer Mass there<\/a> in a dirt-floor cabin. That chapel was finished last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSince Maryknoll has been in this parish, we\u2019ve built 10 new chapels, one by one,\u201d Father Senger says. \u201cWe\u2019ll be finishing another this month,\u201d he adds. \u201cIt\u2019s 90 percent complete.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Labor is donated by the men in the communities, Father Senger explains, and overseen by a master builder. The vicariate\u2019s priest architect draws up the plans, and parishioner Alejandro C\u00f3rdova Mayen coordinates construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the chapels, the Maryknoll Society<\/a> undertook another significant project for the parish\u2019s future, building a house for the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Jesus. Construction was slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic, C\u00f3rdova says, but in May of 2021, the sisters moved in. The property includes a chapel and a large, sheltered outdoor area (a \u201cmultipurpose salon\u201d) for programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet a parish is made up of more than buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bricks and mortar that hold the parish together are the 60 catechists, delegates of the Word, Eucharistic ministers, chapel coordinators and youth leaders who meet on the fourth Saturday of each month for ongoing formation. Recent topics have included Bible study, the Synod on Synodality<\/a> and, last year, Guatemala\u2019s Eucharistic Congress<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have catechists in all the chapels who can share the Liturgy of the Word on Sundays,\u201d Father Senger says of the delegates of the Word. These lay people are trained to lead services in the hamlets where the priest (who says five weekend Masses) is not scheduled to offer Mass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The level of engagement is impressive. The parish has 200 altar servers, with 35 in El Remate alone. Ministry leaders meet regularly with their counterparts from three nearby parishes. Some even participate on a diocesan level: for example, C\u00f3rdova is head of family ministry for the vicariate and one of two lay people on the bishop\u2019s pastoral council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"During
During a Sunday Mass, proud parents and godparents present their children for baptism in the spacious, beautiful chapel built by the Maryknoll Society in the village of El Caoba. (Octavio Dur\u00e1n\/Guatemala)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Francisco Mej\u00eda Garc\u00eda is coordinator of El Remate. He ensures that services at San Juan Ap\u00f3stol Church run smoothly and organizes the patronal feast on Dec. 27. He arranges activities for youth, assistance for families in need, visits to the sick and Communion calls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhatever happens in the community, people say, \u2018Call Francisco,\u2019\u201d Mej\u00eda says. \u201cYou identify what\u2019s needed, what is lacking, and that\u2019s what you make a priority.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A warm welcome is key, Mej\u00eda says. For example, four children in the First Communion class are not yet baptized. \u201cI told their families, \u2018Don\u2019t be embarrassed, come, we\u2019ll baptize them, too. There is room for everyone.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such an approach is appreciated by the communities. Some families are still dealing with the trauma of Guatemala\u2019s legacy of violence. The country\u2019s bloody civil war<\/a> (1960-1996) reached even the remote jungles of the Pet\u00e9n, where Maryknoll missioners accompanied the people during those difficult decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A catechist named Mario M\u00e9ndez M\u00e9ndez, 61, recalls the fear of those times<\/a>. As a young man in 1984, he was giving a Liturgy of the Word service at his chapel when soldiers arrived and stood at the door. \u201cAs soon as the service finished, they took me,\u201d he says. He and 40 other young men were shipped off in the army to other areas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nowadays, emigration takes peteneros (<\/em>people from the Pet\u00e9n) far from home. Every family seems to have someone in \u201cel Norte,\u201d the North, in reference to the United States. Mar\u00eda Luz Morales\u2019 son, for example, works 11-hour shifts at a restaurant in California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Delegate
Left: Delegate of the Word Mario M\u00e9ndez M\u00e9ndez serves at the Macanch\u00e9 chapel, built by Maryknoll. Center: Mar\u00eda Luz Morales recounts El Caoba\u2019s humble beginnings. Right: One of the parish\u2019s 18 chapel coordinators, Francisco Mej\u00eda Garc\u00eda, leads the committee of San Juan Ap\u00f3stol in El Remate, constructed as the parish\u2019s main church. (Octavio Dur\u00e1n\/Guatemala)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One chapel has lost its Eucharistic ministers, Father Senger says. \u201cWe had a couple good people, but they left.\u201d In another community, he observes, \u201cthere are hardly any men there. They\u2019re all in the States.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With education, there is hope for a better future at home. The missioner supports 20 students with scholarships. The eldest is studying to become a teacher. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Father Senger has spent his priestly life building the Church in challenging places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born in Devil\u2019s Lake, North Dakota, as one of 15 siblings, young Bill Senger graduated at the top of both his high school and seminary classes. Ordained in 1973<\/a>, he was first assigned to Venezuela, where he served over a decade. He then served 17 years in the Amazon rainforest, in Bolivia\u2019s Pando region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Juan
Juan Yancarlos Imanol Rojas Mart\u00ednez, one of 20 scholarship recipients helped by Father Senger, attends Mass in El Remate with family members. (Octavio Dur\u00e1n\/Guatemala)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When priests were needed in Honduras, Father Senger volunteered for Central America. He goes where he is needed, he says. Even after five decades in ministry, the missioner\u2019s farm background comes through. Hardworking and uncomplaining, at 78 he still finds purpose in serving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His easy-going demeanor belies his zeal for completing the mission he shared with Father Custer, who died in March of 2024. This year, Father Senger says, he will construct the final chapel. \u201cWe\u2019re going to build the last one, then they\u2019ll all be covered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last chapel will serve 100 families that were displaced from another area of the Pet\u00e9n and granted land within the parish\u2019s territory. In this rugged terrain that is home to people of such strong faith, the resettled community bears an apt name: El Triunfo de la Esperanza \u2014 literally, \u201cthe triumph of hope.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Featured image: Maryknoll Father William Senger pauses with altar servers before processing into Mass at San Juan Ap\u00f3stol Church in El Remate, one of the dozen chapel buildings constructed for the parish by the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers in Guatemala\u2019s Pet\u00e9n region. (Octavio Dur\u00e1n\/Guatemala)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maryknoll Father William Senger builds a parish in Guatemala by constructing chapels and forming lay leaders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":3394,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","_eb_data_table":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25,42],"tags":[942,945,943,54,944,377,947,946,948,949,950,951,787,940,772,952,953,954],"class_list":["post-3393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-stories","category-spring-2025","tag-alejandro-cordova-mayen","tag-chapels","tag-construction-projects","tag-deirdre-cornell","tag-el-remate-guatemala","tag-fathers-and-brothers","tag-franciscan-missionary-sisters-of-jesus-estrella-sibrian-and-maria-pedrina-popol-chapen","tag-francisco-mejia-garcia","tag-maria-luz-morales","tag-mario-mendez-mendez","tag-maryknoll-father-edward-ted-custer","tag-maryknoll-father-william-mullan","tag-maryknoll-father-william-senger","tag-maryknoll-magazine-spring-2025","tag-maryknoll-society","tag-octavio-duran-ofm","tag-san-juan-apostol-parish","tag-the-peten"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHope Triumphs in Guatemala - 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