| Straight From the Heart: The last straw |
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Rich Navarro has been following my stories in The Weekly Issue/El Semanario about the Mural of Our Lady of Guadalupe since Dec. 10, 2009. He has also been following the other media stories and thinking deeply about getting involved.
Navarro is a North Denver activist from way back. He doesn’t like injustice in any way shape or form. So when he read my last column, “What kind of Church is this?” he flipped. He called his old friend, José Lara, to ask if it were true that the police were called to ask praying people at Guadalupe to leave after a mass for Anita Lucero on March 4th. When José told him, “Yes indeed, I was there.” Navarro said, “That was the last straw. I got so mad, I got so angry. I wanted to do something about it. I couldn't believe that someone would call the police to remove praying people from any church, especially Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, the church I grew up in.”
“My grandparents were the original Guadalupanos,” stated Navarro. They, along with the Tafoya, Mejia, Chávez, Mendoza, Aguirre, Carpio, Sánchez, Gomez, and many other families, were the ones who raised money and gave their spirits to build the church of Our Lady of Guadalupe which was in the beginning a mission of St. Cajetan's Church.
“My grandfather was Nicholas Navarro. He lived in Greeley and Milliken, Colorado before he moved to Denver in 1938. His daughter Delfina also moved to Denver and married Salvador Carpio, Sr.,” explained Navarro. “My mother died when I was 11 and my aunt Delfina raised me. She taught me Latin so I could be an altar boy for Fr. Steven Ufnal at Guadalupe. When I was older, my aunt encouraged me to become active in the parish of Guadalupe, which I did.”
North Denver Mexican/Chicano Catholics had to travel far to attend services at St. Cajetan's Church on 9th and Lawrence St., so a mission was established by the late Rev. John R. Bonet, C.R. in 1935. The priests from St. Cajetan's Church bought a corner store at 1201 W. 36th Ave. known as Slavin's corner, remodeled it and named it the Guadalupe Center to provide catechism classes, masses and other services to the North Denver community.
The future of the mission of Guadalupe and the church it has become today was the direct result of the organizing and dedication of one Theatine priest, Fr. Andrew Burguera, C.R.
Fr. Burguera came to the United States from the island of Majorca (Spain) in 1938. He was a member of the Theatine Order and soon became assistant pastor at St. Cajetan's Parish and was put in charge of Guadalupe Mission. Starting with a few hundred dollars and the dedication of Guadalupe families like Julio and María Gomez and Nicholas Navarro, he was able to raise a substantial amount of money to finish paying for the store front church and to buy five lots on which the new church would be built.
“Father Andrew's success is attributed to his pleasant personality. He visited parishioners and knew all of them personally. When parish societies completed a successful project, Father Andrew often rewarded them with a dinner he cooked himself. Among other activities, he bought a small grocery store that was run for two years in the interest of Our Lady of Guadalupe building.” (Brochure of the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Dedication of Church, August 10, 1948)
Rich Navarro's grandfather Nicholas Navarro worked as a miller at Eagle Flour Mills at 38th Ave and Wynkoop. Several of his close friends and relatives also worked at the flour mills, like his son-in-law Salvador Carpio Sr., who was married to his daughter Delfina and my own uncle Ben Torres who was also one of the families who raised money for Guadalupe Church.
Navarro became a North Denver activist when he received his honorable discharge from the Air Force. He came home, married Connie Gomez (daughter of Julio and María Gomez) and settled in North Denver. He was in his early 20s and started to notice many injustices against his people including police brutality, the lack of decent and fair housing, jobs and education. He realized that the Chicano/Latino communities had no representation in city and state elected offices. The only Hispanic name in elected office was James Frésquez. The only radio stations at that time were KFSC and Paco Sánchez at KTLN (15 min. segments) He noted that Chicanos lacked political and judicial direction. At that time, the Catholic Church was not involved in social justice issues.
Fr. Bartholome Quetglas, the Provincial of the Theatines in Colorado started the Knights of the Blue Scapular and invited five couples to join. Rich and Connie Navarro from Guadalupe were one of the couples. The other couples from St. Cajetan's and Guadalupe were, Skelly and Anita García; John and Anita Archuleta, Bonnie and Priscilla Mares, and Ed and Lucille Jacquez. There were several active sodalities at the time each with a mission. The Knights of the Blue Scapular was organized to work on fundraisers, plan for bazaars, bingos, dances, etc.
Several Theatine priests from St. Cajetan's mother church were assigned to Guadalupe when it was a mission. Rich Navarro fondly remembers Fr. Steven Ufnal at Guadalupe. Fr. José Lara, a newly ordained Theatine priest was assigned to Guadalupe in the late 60s and he and Rich became life-long friends.
Our Lady of Guadalupe Church became my parish in the early 70s. This is some of the time in history Rich Navarro tells about – the Guadalupe church that was open to everyone and was a hub for political and social justice. The Guadalupe church led by a progressive priest named Fr. José Lara who was available to parishioners twenty-four hours, seven days a week. These days, things have changed. Pastor, Fr. Benito Hernández is seldom available when people call and ask for a priest.
After St. Cajetan's Church closed at 9th and Lawrence in the1970s and a new church was built in Southwest Denver, my parents Felix and Florence Gallegos, who had moved to North Denver, made Our Lady of Guadalupe their parish. For a period of time, I had stopped going to church. My mother kept telling me to go with her to Our Lady of Guadalupe. She said she knew I would like the new priest and spirit of the people. She said lots of things were changing in the church because of Vatican II. A friend of mine had died and I was asked to play the organ for the funeral services. After mass, I heard someone running up the stairs to the choir. It was Fr. José Lara and he said to me, “Where have you been? We need your music.” I felt welcome and needed, and eventually started a young people's guitar mass called the “Flojos” Mass at 6 pm on Sunday evenings. The young people sat on the steps of the altar and our music drew many to hear our lively spiritual songs and Fr. Lara's inspirational sermons.
Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in North Denver stood out from other places of worship because it fit with the times. The 60s and 70s were full of changes like the Chicano Movement, the United Farm Worker's Boycott,Vatican II, Liberation Theology; and Guadalupe was open to all of these changes. Lara marched in the picket lines alongside of Mary Timo, Luisa Vigil, Mike Wilzoch, Jerry Ryan, Helen Girón, myself and many other Guadalupanos. This was also the time when Chicanos became politically aware and became involved. Sal Carpio, Jr. ran for and was elected City Councilman of District 9 and the people from Guadalupe were key supporters in getting him elected. The same thing happened when Federico Peña ran for Mayor of Denver, and the people from Guadalupe were on fire with excitement for getting him elected. Our Lady of Guadalupe was the home parish for Mayor Peña before and after his election of Mayor.
What does history have to do with what is going on today at Our Lady of Guadalupe? We cannot and should not erase our history. The beautiful and legendary mural of Our Lady of Guadalupe that has presided over thousands of religious functions was painted by a local Chicana artist, Carlota Espinoza.
In building a wall between the altar and the beloved sacred mural, the new pastor (Fr. Benito Hernández) has opened up the proverbial “can of worms.” Faithful United, a non-profit group, organized to get the wall taken down, has uncovered many legal and theological questions concerning the wall and the mural. The group is circulating a petition to re-open the investigation of the defacement of the mural at Guadalupe with graffiti on March 4th. The Archdiocese and the parish have refused to have it investigated. Another issue of interest is that Our Lady of Guadalupe was designated by Historic Denver during the 1980s, making it an historic site. Several things are now in violation of the designation.
José Lara who has been advising Faithful United said, “The Guadalupe Wall might appear to some to be a minor issue, but its implications are deep and wide. Besides its material divisiveness and destruction of the heritage of so many, here are some serious theological concerns.”
“The Wall Defies settled doctrine defined by Ecumenical Councils: The Fathers of the Council of Nicea II, ruled as heresy covering images that were objects of devotion: 'We decree with full precision that the revered and holy images are to be exposed in the holy churches of God, on sacred instruments and vestments, on walls and panels, in houses and by public ways; these are the images of our Lord, God and savior Jesus Christ, and of our Lady without blemish, the holy God-bearer, and of the revered angels...'
“The Wall Ignors the Pope's teachings: In November 2009, Pope Benedict convened and addressed a meeting of artists in the Sistine Chapel: 'For decades the church has expressed a need for beautiful, inspiring modern art for places of worship...Thanks to your talent, you have the opportunity to speak to the heart of humanity, to touch individual and collective sensibilities, to call forth dreams and hopes, to broaden the horizons of knowledge and of human engagement.'
“The Wall Ignores traditional beliefs of the faithful worldwide.” According to José Lara, this is the only wall in the world built within the Sanctuary of a Catholic church. QUITE A DISTINCTION!!!
Magdalena Gallegos is a writer, playwright, historian, and publisher (Southwest Magazine).
© 2011 The Weekly Issue/El Semanario, Inc.
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