Father Santiago Garcia del Hoyo, 37, ordained a priest in 2019 and stationed in Antarctica between November 2020 and April 2021, spoke to Omnes. He comes from a military family. His grandfather, his father and several siblings are army officers and he also has an uncle who is an officer in the Navy. Before entering the seminary, he studied industrial engineering, but left when he discovered that God was calling him on another path.
In situations of such loneliness, do you notice that people are more religious? Do they go more to confession or rely more on the priest?
-Life in Antarctica is hard. Very tough. The mission, in fact, is considered risky. Some people go to get some extra allowances and improve their financial situation, but sometimes you can break down because of the harshness of the mission. Others go to Antarctica as a form of escape, for example because their marital situation is not good. Sometimes taking distance helps them, but sometimes family remoteness exacerbates problems. So it is understandable that one is open to all the moral support one can find. Technology has also made it much easier to spiritual accompanimentfor example through whatsapp. The first few weeks and the last month of the mission are the most difficult to cope with.
Some few get closer to God, while others find a moral support in a particularly delicate moment. Feeling the grandeur of the immensity of white nature leads some to wonder about the existence of the creator, while others ask themselves these questions when feeling the loneliness of the place. Here we can see that faith in God is the main value of the Argentinean army. Difficulties bring God closer, although evidently not to everyone. However, on the long voyage back home on the navy ship, there are people who take up catechesis, the sacraments, prepare for marriage, etc.
What does a priest who has so few faithful and such limited possibilities for action spend his time doing every day? Does he take advantage of his time to write, is he on the Internet a lot...?
-I had 157 days of sailing and there are few moments with internet connection. The ship moves a lot, so it is not easy to write. In my case, I took advantage of the first few days to read a lot, but then I discovered that the ship is like a barracks, with people always working. Many ask you to bless their tasks and workplaces, especially in times of danger. By the time I realized it, my day was filled with conversations about God with one and all. I spent every waking hour of the day going back and forth to talk to anyone who asked. I never got bored. You can hardly rest, there really isn't enough time to give spiritual and moral support to the troops.
In addition, every day there was a Mass attended by 10 to 20 people. A little less to the rosary and the chaplet of divine mercy, which we also prayed every day.
Could you tell the most endearing or touching anecdote you remember from the Arctic pastoral?
-I remember a corporal who came to Mass one day on the ship and asked me to go to confession. As he had a partner and a daughter, I asked him if he was married and he said no. I told him that he could not receive communion until he regularized his situation. I told him that he could not receive communion until he regularized his situation. He did not understand the reasons, but we talked frequently and he began to attend Mass daily, to pray the rosary. He received intense catechesis, called his wife from the ship and told her of his progress. Six months later, I married them at the military base where they lived, and several family members went to confession before the ceremony.
How was the pandemic experienced?
-During the pandemic, none of the crew could get off the ship at the various ports, which was quite hard on the sailors. A psychologist came on board to help them cope with the situation, but in the end she also broke down and I had to be the one who helped her so that she didn't fall apart at times. In the end, faith is enough to be a counselor, psychologist and whatever else is needed.
I also had to accompany seven people whose parents died from Covid, four of them coinciding with the Christmas holidays.
Being away from home and living through a bereavement at sea is not easy. A female corporal cook lost her father. I remember talking to her while she was working in one of the deepest areas of the ship. A gale was raging and the waves were pounding the hull, producing tremendous sounds. Many items in the galley were dancing back and forth. She was so affected that she was telling me her feelings without giving the slightest importance to what was happening around us.
