Friday, October 25, 2019



               Santa Rosa celebrating 200 years of Catholic faith 


On April 1st 2018, Catholics in Santa Rosa and throughout the country will celebrate the bicentenary of the establishment of the Catholic Church in that Region.

 In the two centuries since the arrival of the first Catholics, the Church in the area has undergone some significant stages. In this issue we trace the more fundamental periods of the past 200 years.

The week-long celebrations of the bicentenary will be inaugurated with a solemn Mass of thanksgiving in Santa Rosa on Sunday April 1st.

During the week, tribute will be paid to the selfless contributions of those heroic, early pioneers, and those of more recent vintage, including priests and sisters both local and from abroad, along with laity from Guyana, by whose efforts and dedication the seeds of the Catholic Church were first planted in Santa Rosa and spread across other parts of Guyana.

The festivities will also include a Cultural/ Musical Treat, a Family Fun Day, historical perspectives, a sale of products from Santa Rosa and a craft-making demonstration and sale.


The articles have been submitted by Medino Abraham and priest of the Institute of the Incarnate Word Father Pedro Torres.

                                                                               
Catholic church at Santa Rosa Moruca

The history of the Catholic Mission to the Amerindians in Guyana actually began in Venezuela.

In April 1818 the Bolivar revolution in Venezuela against Spanish rule was taking place. There were Amerindian peoples in the Orinoco, in Venezuela, under the religious care of an order of Catholic priests who remained loyal to Spain. This made them vulnerable to attacks from those supporting the Bolivar revolution. Indeed this is what happened. Many of the priests were slaughtered and Amerindian villages were pillaged. Rather than remain under such conditions, the Amerindians who survived made their escape eastward into British Guiana and settled in Moruca, thus constituting for the first time a formal presence of the Catholic Church there. 

After their arrival, the group, who were Arawak, began to establish themselves among the local people, who were not Christians and who inhabited the area.

Juan Aguilar, also known as John, a lay person who was one of the refugees became the first captain of Santa Rosa, teaching catechism to the people and together with the community built a chapel. The British who ruled over this territory granted these refugees shelter to stay on because they perceived them as being Christians and speaking Spanish. So, the refugees legally settled in 1822 and practiced their Catholic faith in their new homeland. 

In the 1820s, an officer of the Royal Navy by the name of William Hillhouse had been appointed ͚ ‘Quarter Master General of the Indians’. Wishing to evangelize the Caribs, for some time he lived among them just as they lived, wearing only the Yayaco (lap) and painting his body with annatto dye. In 1822 he made contact for the first time with the group of Amerindians who had appeared on the Moruca river. He was struck by their standard of development, morality and industry. He settled among them and began to dress as they did. They were Arawaks, but spoke Spanish. He learned that they had come from the Orinoco, escaping Bolivar´s army. Finding that he could not break their attachment to their Catholic faith, he supported the appeal they soon addressed to the British Governor Sir James Carmichael Smith, to procure a priest, properly supported, to minister to them. 

In the year 1830, when the Spanish Arawaks heard that a priest had arrived in Georgetown, they informed him of their plight, deprived of the comforts of religion.

Written on the pillar of the church building in honour of Santa Rosa ( photo credit: Medino Abraham)

  
On June 24th 1830, the Feast of St. John, Father John Hynes O.P. arrived in Moruca. Father Hynes spent three days in Santa Rosa, during which he baptized 75 children and married 2 couples. From this solemn occasion in celebrating the arrival of the first priest´s visit on the feast of Saint John, the group of Catholics began the devotion to St. John which grew in the community.

This new Christian community was very dear to Fr. John Hynes, who later became bishop. Mr. Willian Hillhouse persisted year after year in his efforts, on behalf of the “Spanish Indians”, despite prejudice and opposition. At last in 1837, permission for them to have their priest was granted and a small salary offered. The Chevalier Abbe Appollina Ire Hernant, himself a refugee from Venezuela, then arrived from Trinidad and served the people till 1840. Under his pastoral care the mission of Santa Rosa was established.

The Saint chosen as the patron for the “Catholic Community” was Saint Rose of Lima, a consecrated indigenous mestiza of the Dominican third order, and patroness of Latin America. From that day to the present the people referred to the Moruca community as “Santa Rosa”, the Spanish translation of “Saint Rose”. 

Father John Cullen, a diocesan priest who succeeded Father Hernant in 1840, resided in the mission and built the first church which was opened on October 27th 1844 by Bishop John Hynes. Father John Cullen remained in the mission until 1853.

Various diocesan priests visited the mission of Santa Rosa after.

In 1857 the first Jesuits arrived in Guyana under Bishop John Hynes and visited the mission of Santa Rosa. These included the future bishop of Guyana, Father Etheridge S.J who was appointed Vicar General of the diocese of Georgetown in 1857 by Bishop Hynes. 

In 1859, Father Stanley Woollet S.J was sent by Bishop Etheridge to Santa Rosa to construct a presbytery and build a chapel to replace the Church that was about to collapse. After Father Woollet, many other Jesuit priests visited or stayed in this Mission. Some stayed for a year, others for ten years and even longer.

A significant service that the Catholic Church provided to the people of Moruca was the improvement of their spiritual and social welfare. Very important also was the academic advancement of most Morucans with the establishment of the first Catholic Primary School in 1880 under Father Mark Mesini S.J. 

The old Church had to be reconstructed several times. The first time was in the 1930s during the tenure of Father George Payne S.J., and more recently, in 2012 by Father William Montalvo IVE.

In 1989, under Father George Vanderwood S.J, the back part of the church was built, including the sacristy, the kitchen, and the parish office. The presbytery was also reconstructed. Also under Father Vanderwood the inauguration of the secondary school took place.

The education apostolate greatly enhanced the lives of the people of Moruca and produced renowned Morucans grounded in sound moral values and Christian teaching. For example Stephen Campbell and other earlier Toshaos were men of principle and great leadership skills. 

Besides these, the Santa Rosa Community also produced outstanding persons such as government ministers, politicians, nuns and other religious persons. Also, there are at least three ordained Anglican priests who have links to Moruca and are serving their flocks in different parts of Guyana.

A piece of craft work depicting the 200 years of Catholism of Santa Rosa ( photo credit: Medino Abraham)



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