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Returning From Where We Began

March 24th was the culmination of process that began five years ago, when the Augustinians of the Vicariate of St. John of Sahagun of Chulucanas, were forced to leave the parish of San José Obrero (St. Joseph the Worker) in the town of Chulucanas. Having suffered the loss of many missionaries over the last few years, and with the increasing demand to fortify the formation program, it became impossible to maintain three parishes in the dioceses of Chulucanas. Making an evaluation of the three parishes, it was decided that the most appropriate to give up was San José Obrero because it had the strongest and best formed lay presence and could continue with the presence of a religious sister as parish administrator. She in turn would look for priests to help out with the sacramental ministry since the dioceses did not have sufficient personal to have a full time priest in the parish.

Turning over the parish, an agreement was made between the bishop and the Vicar, Robert Terranova, that the Augustinians would try to return to the parish within 5 years should our personnel situation improve. The reasons for returning were basically two. First, the bishop believed that the presence of a religious men's community in the largest town of the dioceses was important and so he wanted one of the three parishes in Chulucanas to be in the hands of the Augustinians. Secondly the parish had an important historic significance to the Augustinians since it was the only parish of the dioceses founded by the Augustinians, and it was the center for the Villanova province from the parish's founding in 1968 until the formation of a common missionary region between the Midwest and Eastern provinces in 1983.

So even though the parish was turned over to the dioceses it was done with the intention of returning in the foreseeable future. This dream became a reality on March 24th when the bishop formally turned the parish over to the Augustinian community of the Vicariate of St. John of Sahagun. This step was possible because the previous year in the Vicariate four young peruians were ordained priests. This allowed us to ensure a more solid presence in the different apostolates of the Vicariate and to return to San José Obrero.

On March 14th, the parish celebrated a day of gratitude to the diocesan clergy that took over the parish the year following our leaving. Two diocesan priests served there during these four years and the parish community wanted to express to them its gratitude. In the mass the priests symbolically turned over the parish to the bishop as he expressed his thanks for their years of ministry. That same day two Augustinians took up residence in the parish and began to plan for the official transfer date of March 24th.

This date was chosen because it is the anniversary of death of John McKniff, whose process of canonization was opened in 1996 and which is now being evaluated in Rome (this corresponds also with the date of the assassination of Oscar Romero one of the great martyrs for the cause of the poor in Latin America). Declared "Servant of God", John McKniff represented many of the qualities that the Augustinians want to continue in their ministry in San José Obrero.

The church was packed with a standing-room only crowd anticipating the return of the Augustinians to the parish. Augustinians professed students from Trujillo formed the main choir for the mass and animated the singing of the songs to add to the festive atmosphere. There was much clapping and loud voices as the music lifted up the spirits of all present for the happy occasion. In his opening remarks at the beginning of mass the bishop emphasized the figure of John McKniff and at the same time of Fr. Richard Appicci who was founder of the parish and had passed away two months earlier. Both men were known for their special love for the poor and their solidarity with those that are abandoned and marginalized by society. He invited the Augustinian community to emulate their example and in so doing would be faithful ministers to the people of God.

A special banner was made for the mass with the pictures of these two important friars who so marked the spirit of this parish. This banner will hang on the wall of the church as a constant invitation to the people to remember those who gave so much of their lives in service to the poor. The banner was brought in procession after the proclamation of the gospel and was received by the Vicar, John Lydon. He then expressed to the bishop the willingness of the Vicariate to return to the parish and thus continue its mission of collaborating in the evangelization of the diocese. He presented to the bishop the two Augustinians who would form the community for the present time, Wilder Vasquez and Hugo Erazo, both young Peruvian Augustinians.

Bishop Dan Turley then proceeded to ask some questions of the two Augustinians in order to testify as to their willingness to continue the mission of the Augustinian legacy in the parish. Both expressed their desire to do this and so he confirmed them in their role as pastors of the people of God. He then asked each of them to express their own thoughts for the people that they would be serving.

At the end of mass there was a sharing of sandwiches that were prepared by the group of Augustinian Seculars that live in the parish. It is the first group of Seculars that existed in the dioceses, being founded by Fr. McKniff in 1987.

And so in a spirit of solidarity and service the Augustinians returned to San José Obrero with the hopes of being able to stay for the foreseeable future, while at the same time open to the greater needs of the church and the fulfillment of the missionary spirit that is at the heart of the Vicariate and its identity.