The prelate bishop of Yauyos-Cañete returned from Rome at the end of May, where he ordained 24 new priests of Opus Dei. Among other things, he told them: "Your lives, beginning today, will be marked by the ministry of the sacraments, the ministry of the word and the ministry of charity. Help many people to know the life of Jesus".
The centrality of Jesus, looking to Jesus, is the same message launched by the Episcopal Conference of Peru in May 2020, in the wake of the Covid attack: "In these crucial moments that our society is living, the bishops of Peru, as pastors of the people of God, wish to transmit a message of faith and hope to the Peruvian people, from the light of the risen Christ, the eternal living one, our God and Savior."
During his stopover in Spain, before taking off for Peru, Monsignor Ricardo García gave this interview to Omnes, in which we talked about the pandemic [he himself was very ill in 2020]; the territory of the Prelature, between the crests of the Andes and the coast; the Synod on the synodalityHe also spoke about the Venezuelan migration (one million people) and internal immigration, education, St. Josemaría, because he is the history of the Prelature, his priests, the family, which "is battered," as in so many countries, and his recent trip to Germany to ask for donations.
How could the Prelature of Yauyos be described?
-When it was created in 1957, the Prelature of Yauyos had two provinces: Yauyos and Huarochirí. A few years later, in 1962, Bishop Orbegozo asked for the addition of Cañete, which has more natural wealth, coastline, now industry, and lately very good beaches, which have become the beaches of Lima.
We have 22 fairly large parishes, two of which are entrusted to communities of religious sisters. One of the congregations, a Peruvian congregation, has religious sisters with various faculties, for example, they can marry and baptize.
The Andean part of the Prelature (Yauyos) is very different from the coast...
-Indeed. There is quite a difference between the coast and the sierra. The sierra is very difficult, with minimal asphalted roads, but with dirt roads on the sides. Sixty years ago you had to go with mules or on horseback, I have gone that way on occasion, but not now. One problem in the highlands is that the population is very scattered. And also, the Andean population, and it happens all over Peru, is going to the coast, because there is more development and young people can study. Development is on the coast. The Andean population lives on subsistence agriculture. The mentality of the people has changed.
My people, in both places, continue to be pious. There is respect for the priest, not to mention the bishop, they treat you with great affection, it is embarrassing how nice they are, they touch you, as if you were a saint who is arriving.
Let's talk for a moment about education, also to situate ourselves. Yauyos has several parochial schools.
-We have four parochial schools, one minor; one has fifteen hundred students, another one has one thousand, another one has five hundred. The minor seminary has one hundred students: it is not that all the students of the minor seminary go to the major seminary. One year there are four, another one, another none, another year they increase... I look at it from another point of view. Sixty percent of my priests are alumni of the minor seminary. It is an interesting indicator.
What are you most concerned about?
-I am still in financial need. I need a car for Caritas. I need financial help. I have gone to Germany to look for money, because I have several friendly parishes there. I have now traveled thousands of kilometers in Germany, visiting parishes, simple people who give alms.
In another order of things, I can comment something in relation to the beaches. The beaches of Lima are the beaches of Cañete. It is a new public, and in summer it is necessary to take care of it. The sierra has a lot of rain and is more depopulated in summer, and the priests of the sierra attend to the beaches. And there are beaches that help generously. People arrive who have helped to solve economic issues, for example, to the seminary, and give a scholarship for the formation of a priest, and so on.
In social work, it has Valle Grande and Condoray in its territory, for example.
-Yes, there is an important social work. There are two corporate works of Opus Dei. The Valle Grande Institute specializes in agricultural matters. The school has a three-year course for agricultural technicians, with very good results. The children find work immediately, and they are very well placed, because there is a modern agricultural development. For some time now there has also been information technology. There has also been agricultural consultancy, training courses, help for small farmers to be able to export... This has been on standby for some years now, due to various factors.
They have been thinking about what they want to do with these people for a long time. They are focused on education, professional training. During the pandemic it was a complicated time, they went to distance learning, it went well, and they are going to continue at a distance, they are balancing themselves economically. As for women, in Cañete there is Condoray, where they train girls for secretarial work, hotel management, and it has prestige, it is loved by the people, and it works very well.
Of course in Cañete there is a lot of devotion to St. Josemaría [founder of Opus Dei], who was there in 1974. "Cañete, blessed valley", this phrase has been coined, and it even appears in slogans of tourism companies, etc. People appreciate it.
How are you working in the Synod, in the listening process, in your Prelature?
-Since it began, we approached the Synod as an opportunity to listen to people who are far from the Church. That has been our goal. We have organized ourselves along two lines. One is listening in the parish, the natural environment. We turned the documents that were there into questions, because they sounded a bit abstract to people, because of the Synod on synodality. And it worked.
And then we have gone sector by sector, let's say by sectoral groupings, by labor sectors. For example, teachers, public employees, also the police, professionals, and there has also been a good response. What do people ask for? Very simple things. For example, that there be a presence, more priestly attention, more doctrinal formation. No one has asked for women to be ordained priests.
We are already in the process of compiling a compendium of all the things that have been heard. A lot has been done to zoom. I believe the response has been positive. Yes, I would have liked to reach more new people. There are people close to me who always respond. But the responses have gone that way, priestly attention, more formation, etc.
You chair the Episcopal Commission for Education and Culture in the Peruvian Episcopal Conference. What are your current objectives?
-Firstly, to strengthen our ONDEC (National Office of Catholic Education), so that it can help the diocesan offices (ODEC), because sometimes they lack support, so that they have the resources to train their teachers. Secondly, to strengthen relations with the State, with the government, so that certain rights that the Church has are respected, that they are put into practice, that the teaching positions are respected, etc. The ODECs in each diocese should have more budget, and the State should give them more money for their task.
The current Constitution recognizes the contribution of the Catholic Church to education in Peru, agreements are recognized, and there is a framework that in principle is quite positive for the Church. Also, to anticipate issues that are being raised. For example, for religious studies in schools, we should not wait for the Ministry to come and tell you: tomorrow you have to say what is right and what is wrong. We have to go ahead and say: this is our project. Be proactive.
Can parents choose the school they want for their children according to their convictions, or is there a state imposition?
-They can choose the school, but there is a reality: if they are from a town in Peru where there is only one, there is no other possibility. Either that school or that school, they have no choice. But yes, in principle there is freedom.
Does the State finance private education?
-No. The State does not finance private education. But there are schools with agreements, first with the Church, in which the State pays the salaries. This must be emphasized.
Are the schools of the Yauyos Prelature under agreement?
-No. In one, the State finances all the places, but in the others only a few places. We have a bilingual school, where the State pays for everything. There is another school, called Cerro Alegre, where the priest is very apostolic, with great people skills. One of the difficulties that my Prelature has is that between parish and parish there is a great distance, and in the middle is the sand, or the desert. I have Cañete, which is all connected, but I also have Mala, which is 70 kilometers away and is like an independent unit, or Chisca, 80 kilometers away. In Cañete, Mala, as in many other places, there are very good people.
Peru has many immigrants.
–There is a lot of foreign immigration, especially from Venezuela. In the last three years a million Venezuelan immigrants have arrived. Of course there is everything, but the people are very good. For example, the organist of my cathedral is a Venezuelan immigrant, who has come with his wife and family. Very nice.
Of course, this has created problems, but we have welcomed them well. I am remembering a migrant who has studied theology in Rome, and they have hired her in a school to teach literature and help in public relations. There are some very good people. But one million is a lot. Peru has 32 million inhabitants. Ecuador the same. And in Colombia there are three million Venezuelans. They are treated well, at least in the most important matters, there is a pastoral ministry to welcome them, to follow them, to accompany them, etc.
And there is also internal immigration.
-There are people coming down from the highlands to the main cities. Cañete has grown with migrants from the highlands. Not to mention Lima, which has a periphery... Lima has almost 12 million inhabitants. I remember a few years ago, leaving Lima, stretches that were desert, now it is populated.
One positive thing for Cañete, for everyone, is that the growth towards the south is more orderly, more urbanized. In a short time, almost everything will be populated, from Lima to Cañete, and from Cañete to Lima. There is talk that they are going to put in a train, hopefully that will be the case.
Your country has had a very hard time with the pandemic.
-That's true. And the Church has helped in an important way during the pandemic in Peru. When there was no vaccine, the medicine that was believed to be useful, campaigns to bring medicines, hand in hand with the Ministry of Health. Food. For a long time, I set up soup kitchens. For nine months, we fed more than a thousand people every day. We also built an oxygen plant.
As I was saying, the perception of the Church's help has been very noticeable and positive. People have noticed this. Even private companies have helped through the Church.
Are people returning to the churches?
-I usually say that we have had a medical pandemic, but also a spiritual pandemic, because many people have moved away, they have not gone to church, and now it is a matter of recovering normality. With a lot of caution, also to reduce the Masses at a distance, to recover the presence. We have to vaccinate people with the sacraments.
In many places the churches were full during Holy Week. Here we have a very beautiful sanctuary, of the Mother of Beautiful Love, in which four or five thousand people fit tightly. During Holy Week there were many people in Cañete, and it happens in all the parishes. Then we had a meeting with bishops, by zoom, and they were very happy with the very good response of the people. The Covid has been very hard in Peru. Two hundred thousand people have died. These numbers have to be compared with the population. We have been the country in the world with more deaths per capita. The figures were hidden, until they came to light, when the government changed. And the Church has played an important role in helping.
If someone would be encouraged to support the tasks of your Prelature, what reference could be given to him/her? Any concrete destination?
-You can see the website prelaturayauyos/org.pe/and I can provide you with an email: [email protected] What worries me? Even if it's a one-time thing, a house for my priests.
How had this been resolved before?
-The Seminary is also a pedagogical institute. The priests take extra courses in the summer to become teachers. They have a teaching degree. The great majority are also teachers of religion. In the towns, the priest, who is a personage, has a salary and a pension, and also medical assistance, he has social security. Almost all of them, although not all, because some work in the curia or in the seminary. Even my seminary, as it is a pedagogical institute, also receives some allowances from the State, which are taken up by those who are formators in the seminary.
We concluded our conversation with the prelate bishop of Yauyos, Cañete and Huarochirí. We were left with two ideas. Peru has had a very bad time during the pandemic, and bishops and priests have turned to the people. And Don Ricardo Garcia, the prelate bishop, is concerned about the economic needs of Caritas and its priests.
