num. 389 - April 2000

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75 YEARS OF OBLATE MISSION IN PILCOMAYO (PARAGUAY)

“Foundation and difficulties,” is the title of the first part of a report by Fr Heinrich BREUER, then Apostolic Prefect, published in the Missions of 1928. “The first missionaries -- the Prefect, two Fathers and two Brothers - arrived in Pilcomayo on December 2, 1925 after a long and arduous journey. The military post at Esteros had been pointed out as the main place in Chaco-Bolivia, so they settled there. Besides the hundred or so soldiers, Esteros has a white population of 72 souls. A second smaller village, Balivian, is situated on the Pilcomayo river about 280 km to the north. In the interior of the Chaco, there are also two other military outposts. Some families are also dispersed along the river, at great distances one from the other. There are a considerable number of Indians within the territory of the Prefecture, whose south and east boundaries are not clear because of the disputes between Bolivia and Paraguay.

“These Indians are hardly civilized and belong to different tribes, all speaking entirely different languages. In my journeys, I came to know personally the Chulupi, the Lengua, the Macá, the Mataco and the Chrotis. According to the Chulupi, there are still other tribes. A big part of the territory has not yet been explored; the forests are impenetrable. Therefore we cannot even roughly determine the number of these Indians. The area around Esteros 300 km upstream, 180 downstream and 160 into the interior - is inhabited nearly exclusively by the Chulupi, who are thought to number three or four thousand. It is to them first of all that the Mission will be directed.”

The second part of the report is entitled “trials and illnesses.” “It is only grudgingly that the local military authorities (Bolivian) welcomed us. We were seen as obstacles to the debauchery of several members of the garrison with the Indians girls. And with the arrival of the new commander, a notorious anticleric, the passive resistance of the beginning became active resistance.

“The white population, nearly exclusively in the services of the garrison, underwent his pernicious influence. Actually, having never been reached by parochial ministry, they are, from the religious point of view, almost as ignorant as the pagans. On Sundays, the military exercises are organized so as to prevent the soldiers from attending Mass; consequently attendance is very low. I know of only five couples in the Chaco who were married in the Church.

“Our two lay Brothers - Josef KREMER (1890-1968) and Friedrich WIDMANN (1895-1961) - not being able to get help, and bothered also by the heat and lack of food, their health was jeopardised; a holiday of several months in Argentina became necessary. The means of transportation are very primitive, the roads impassable for several months, and the markets very distant - the closest is Formosa (in Argentina), 450 km away. Consequently, goods and food supplies are very expensive.

“In September 1926, a missionary - Fr Heinrich LAMBERTZ (1893-1937) - had to be sent back to Europe, following a serious illness induced by the hostility of the garrison and the calumny about the missionaries. The Prefect, Fr Josef PINK (1877- 1957), also ill, was relieved of his duties. (He returned to Texas, where he had been called for the new foundation.)

In 1930, due to pressure from the Bolivian authorities, the Apostolic Prefect, Fr Breuer, had to resign.... The Oblates repeatedly considered withdrawing, but the Propaganda obliged them to remain and in 1932 named Fr Walter VERVOORT the Apostolic Prefect. He was not yet 33 years old. Then the territory underwent serious floods. The mission house was destroyed. It was necessary to build a new one eight kilometers away, at a point two meters (sic) above the level of the flooding. Then there were terrible droughts, invasions of grasshoppers, an epidemic of smallpox among the Indians with more than 2000 victims....

It was thought that oil could be found there and Paraguay continued to claim the region. The conflict, at first latent, turned to open war between Bolivia, backed by the American oil magnates - it was said - and Paraguay, supported by the English oilmen. This War of the Chaco saw the defeat of Bolivia that lost 120,000 sq km of the Chaco. There were 130,000 victims, 50,000 Paraguayans and 80,000 Bolivians. International pressure imposed a peace treaty in 1938. The Apostolic Prefecture was henceforth in Paraguayan territory.

“The two stations were particularly affected by the war,” we read. The missionaries had to flee into the forest to protect themselves, and then they had to protect the Indians against reprisals. Resupplying was very precarious (drought, grasshoppers, livestock stolen, closing of the border with Argentina....)

Let us quote from the 1934 report. “The Paraguayan soldiers that we have now treat us well and the authorities are rather favorable to our Mission. They were astonished, upon arriving on the shores of the Pilcomayo, to find this far away from all civilization these settlements created by the zeal of our Fathers. It must be remembered that before their arrival, the Gospel had never been preached either to the Whites or to the Indians. No one knew the language of the natives. Our Fathers are the ones who wrote the first dictionary and set the rules of grammar. When the war broke out the two stations each had a flourishing school. At the St. Joseph mission, we have just moved into the new house built by our Brothers. Another building is under construction, it will be the residence for the Sisters that we hope to have come here.... Besides corn we are trying to grow wheat. A windmill was bought in Argentina, but we await the authorization to export it. We had a herd at the St. Joseph Mission, but when the Bolivians withdrew they took away not only their colonists and livestock, but ours as well, so that now we lack food....”

On June 30 1934, the Mission had three Fathers and seven Brothers. The tally of the Catholics is easy: two natives and a métis; it is impossible to give a number for the Whites, because of the war. There were three baptisms of children and five baptisms in articulo mortis. There were two schools with 14 boys and 11 girls....

Today, the Vice Province has 45 Oblates: 2 bishops, 26 priests, 2 brothers and 15 Oblates in first formation. They are all Paraguayans (13 scholastics and 2 brothers). 24 Oblates are from abroad, 14 of them from Germany. One is especially struck by the fast increase in the number of young Paraguayans. The efforts made for vocations and formation are being rewarded. In 1992, Fr Francisco CARRILLO was elected Provincial, becoming the first Paraguayan Provincial. His successor, Fr Marcos RIVAROLA, is also from Paraguay.

Last September 4, a meeting of young catechists was organized by Brother César CACERES in the parish of Colonia Independencia. “285 mostly young catechists, took part with great enthusiasm. There was communal prayer, presentation of the chosen theme: popular religion. This was treated in work groups, with songs and work at integration, all of which helped to forge a feeling of belonging to the same family.”