A Very Brief History of Orthodoxy in Guatemala

            The first Orthodox community in Guatemala was started by Mother Inés (Ayau), the founder and abbess of Holy Trinity Monastery in Guatemala. Mother Inés comes from a prominent Guatemalan family. Her father, Manuel Ayau, was a congressman, businessman, author, and founder of an important university. Her ancestor Rafael Ayau founded the first orphanage in Guatemala City in 1857. The orphanage was taken over by the government in the 1970’s, but given back to the Ayau family in the person of Mother Inés in 1996. Their monastic community, Holy Trinity, consists of three nuns, all former Roman Catholics. They were received into Orthodoxy by Metropolitan Antonio of the Antiochian Archdiocese of Mexico and Central America. On the grounds of the orphanage there is a church. Most of the parishioners are the orphans themselves, but there are also Orthodox expatriates in the city who attend services there.

            If anyone is even aware of Orthodoxy in Guatemala it is usually because of Mother Inés and the orphanage. However, word is only now getting out about one of the greatest miracles of our time: the historic conversion of a staggering number of 150,000 Guatemalans to Orthodoxy. This group was received by Metropolitan Athenagoras of the Greek Archdiocese of Mexico and Central America. So the nuns are in one jurisdiction, while the vast majority of Orthodox in the country are in another, and they cooperate. But we cannot overstate how huge and historic this recent reception of converts is. We hope to help the Orthodox in North America understand that there is far more going on in Guatemala than the orphanage. There are now suddenly 338 parishes all over the country and even over the border into Mexico. To put this in perspective, Ohio is about the same size as Guatemala, in terms of both area and population, and there are about 80 Orthodox parishes in that state, so the Guatemalan Church is already 3-4 times greater than the Orthodox population of Ohio.

            So who are these 150,000 people and how did they become Orthodox? This was achieved by a very special man, Archimandrite Andres Girón. Fr. Andres is Guatemalan and used to be a Roman Catholic priest. He has always had a heart for the poor and dispossessed in his country. The poor in Guatemala, who are mostly indigenous Maya people, have benefited greatly from Fr. Andres’ struggles to get them legal title to their land. They love him and are very loyal to him. The Roman Catholic hierarchy in Guatemala was opposed to Fr. Andres’ ministry, so about twenty years ago he left them. Not understanding how Orthodox jurisdictions operate, he ended up in a non-canonical jurisdiction based in the US, mainly because he had met someone from this group in Guatemala. Eventually Fr. Andres realized that he had to bring his people into canonical Orthodoxy. In 2010 the “Guatemalan Orthodox Catholic Church” was received by the Greek Archdiocese of Mexico and Central America. Inexplicably, the news of this historic event is only now reaching the ears the Orthodox faithful outside of Guatemala.

            Being indigenous Maya, most of the Orthodox in Guatemala speak a language other than Spanish as their mother tongue, so one of the pressing needs is to translate the Divine Liturgy into the numerous Mayan languages spoken by the faithful. For now, services are chanted in Spanish, but many Orthodox do not understand Spanish well, if at all.

            Even more urgent, though, is the need to train more clergy. There are only eight priests to serve their 338 parishes. One priest we know has to minister to fifty parishes by himself. The church also has lay leaders who lead services when a priest is not around, which is most of the time. If more priests are not trained and ordained soon, the people may get discouraged in the new Orthodox faith.

            Fr. Peter will be working to meet these two needs by teaching at the new Sts. Peter and Paul Seminary in Huehuetenango, which is currently being built, and by training and overseeing indigenous translation teams for the seven or more Maya languages spoken among the Guatemalan Orthodox. These languages are not related to Spanish, and are distinct from each other. In fact, the languages each have local dialects, so the language situation is complicated.

            Please pray for the new Guatemalan Orthodox Church, and remember the Jacksons in your prayers as they prepare to move to Guatemala to join this historic ministry.

What is God doing in Guatemala?

I was recently reading about St. Nicholas of Japan, one of the great Orthodox missionary saints of recent times. By the time he reposed, the Japanese Orthodox Church numbered 30,000 faithful. What an astounding figure! Of all the Orthodox missionary efforts around the world today, what could even come close to that?

Well…

It turns out that in 2010, a group of 150,000 Guatemalans were received into canonical Orthodoxy by the Greek Archdiocese of Mexico and Central America. This is already five times the size of the Japanese Church! This group has over 300 parishes, but only eight priests, so it is no surprise that their most pressing need is to train more clergy.

This is one of the greatest mass conversions in history, and it is probably the greatest ministry challenge facing the Orthodox Church today. We all share the responsibility for helping this infant Church learn to crawl and to walk. By this I mean that they need to learn Orthodox doctrine and practice, and clergy need to be raised up among their own people to minister to this enormous flock. At present, they identify as Orthodox, and they know that they are no longer Roman Catholic, but they do not yet clearly understand what Orthodoxy is. Most of the faithful are indigenous Maya people whose first language is not Spanish, but one of a number of Maya languages which predate the arrival of the Europeans.

Matushka Styliana and I recently took a two-week trip to Guatemala to see the Church firsthand. Every day the Lord gave us little signs to show us that this is where He wants us. We used to be missionaries in Colombia, where I translated the New Testament into an indigenous language. So we know what it’s like to live among native peoples in Latin America. On this trip to Guatemala we spent time at the site of the Sts. Peter and Paul Seminary, which is currently under construction. This is where we plan to make our home.

I will have two ministries there. First, I will be teaching at the new seminary. We will be educating new seminarians right out of high school, but also “retooling” the clergy they already have. We were blessed to meet six of these eight priests, and we were impressed by all of them. They are mature, godly men who are selflessly serving the Church. However, their knowledge of Orthodox theology, history, and tradition is limited. My encounters with them showed me that they have lots of questions and are eager to learn and open to being instructed. One priest we met is responsible for fifty parishes! The need for new clergy is urgent.

Second, I will be training and overseeing teams of translators for the various indigenous languages spoken among these Orthodox Maya people. In our brief visit I met Orthodox who spoke Mam, Chuj, Q’eq’chi, Popti, K’iche’, Tzutujil, and Kaqchikel. These are all completely different languages! The Maya who do understand Spanish only know it as a second language that they learned in school. (Remember your high school Spanish…?), but at home they speak one of the Maya languages. So the Orthodox Maya are eager to have things like the Divine Liturgy translated into their own languages so that they can really understand what is going on. In the meantime, services are all in Spanish. Other services will eventually have to be translated, too, as well as prayer books and pamphlets explaining various aspects of our faith and traditions.

Please join us in praying for the new Guatemalan Orthodox Church. We will not be able to do this work without your prayers and support. The challenges are daunting, but we know that this is God’s will. And with your regular, pledged support, you can be a part of this historic moment in Christ’s Church! Please visit our profile page at www.ocmc.org/TheJacksonFamily and our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/jacksonsorthodoxguatemala .

God bless you!