Led Where I Did Not Plan to Go

By Bishop John C. McNabb

One would rarely consider the word INCIDENTALLY a word with the power to launch events that would change the direction of ones life. In my case, that was the word that did just that, and I would like to tell you about it. It all began with a letter I received the year after the opening of Augustinian Academy, a new high school in St. Louis, Missouri. When this letter came, I was principal at Mendel Catholic High School in Chicago, Illinois. I had been brought back to Chicago where I began my teaching ministry in 1953 as a young priest. This was the begining of my faith adventure in Peru.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Feb 7, 2012
• ISBN: 9781469759104

Bishop John C. McNabb

Bishop John C. McNabb, O.S.A. Born in Beloit, Wisconsin, December 11, 1925. First son of Clarence and Noreen McNabb. Professed religious vows in the Order of • Saint Augustine 1945 • Villanova University – 1945 - 1953 • Augustinian College of Theology & Catholic University of Washington, D.C. 1949 – 1953 • Ordination on May 24, 1952 • DePaul University – Graduate Studies – Specialist Degree in Education • Teaching at Mendel Catholic High School, Chicago, Illinois 1953 – 1961 • Named Secretary of the Augustinians of the Chicago Province of the Order of Saint Augustine • First Principal of Augustinian Academy, St. Louis, Missouri -1961 • Principal of Mendel Catholic High School – 1961-1963 • Named Prelate (Superior) of a new mission territory of Chulucanas, Peru, South America March 1964 • Assisted at Vatican II Council in Rome – Third Session in 1964 and Fourth Session in 1965 • Named by Pope Paul VI the First Bishop of Chulucanas, Peru in June 17, 1967 • Retired December 31, 2000 after 36 years in Peru, South America Presently living in a Senior Retirement Community in Rockford, Illinios.

Book preview

Copyright © 2012 by Bishop John C. McNabb, O.S.A..

Author Credits: John Conway McNabb, O.S.A.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

iUniverse

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.iuniverse.com

1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4697-5909-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4697-5910-4 (ebk)

Printed in the United States of America

iUniverse rev. date: 02/02/2012

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

PROLOGUE

1

Arriving in Peru

2

The Installation

3

Early Adjustments

4

Visiting Ayabaca

5

Trip to Santo Domingo

6

Huancabamba

7

The Peruvian Clergy

8

Fund-raising for Peru

9

The Second Vatican Council

10

Women Religious

11

More News during Vatican

12

A New Cathedral Church

13

A Description of the

Chulucanas Area

14

Help from Maryknoll

15

Advances

in the Pastoral Program

16

Development of the

Chulucanas Prelature

17

A Report on the

Posta Medica Clinic

18

A Pastoral Visit

to an Isolated Parish

19

How a Road Was Developed

20

November Feasts

21

The Apostolic Center—La Fraternidad

22

The Cooperative

23

Dealing with the Drought

24

Beginning to Solve

Our Need for a Hospital

25

A Program

to Train Laity in Peru

26

Neighborhood Kitchens—a Lesson of Charity in Practice

27

A Summary

of Our First Years in Peru

28

The Earthquake

in Southern Peru

29

Our Chulucanas Earthquake

in Northern Peru

30

Christ Captive Parish

in Ayabaca

31

Disturbances in Ayabaca

in October of 1971

32

After the Unrest in Ayabaca

33

Continual Development

of the Pastoral Plan

34

Two Vitally

Important Meetings

35

The Peru Government

and Agrarian Reform

36

Construction of the First Part

of the Cathedral Church

37

1972—Pastoral Work Resumed

in Ayabaca

38

Young Adults on Strike

Occupy Cathedral Church

39

First, Married, Peruvian, Ordained, Permanent Deacon

40

Rockford Diocese Helps Form Diocese of Chulucanas

41

Parochial School

of Santissima Cruz

42

Lay Leadership Retreat and Assembly—May 5-8, 1973

43

Christian Formation Programs for High School Graduates

44

Contributions and Influence

of the Franciscan Fathers

45

Franciscan Fathers of Sicily Celebrate 25th Anniversary

46

1974-Ten Years of Growth

in the Chulucanas Prelature

47

A Very Important 10th Anniversary Project

48

Two-Week Study Session

in Lima

49

The Program

for a Pastoral Directory

50

Some Memorable Highlights

of 1975

51

Dedication of the Bells

of the Cathedral

52

New Church of

San Fernando in Chalaco

53

Contemplative Sisters

Arrive in Prelature

54

Expansion of Young Adult Formation Centers

55

Bishop McNabb Celebrates

25 Years in Priesthood

56

Civil and Religious Marriage Solutions in Peru

57

The Basic Ecclesial Community of Narango

58

The Ecclesiastical Award of the Order of the Chasqui

59

"The New Image

of the Parish," a 10-Year Pastoral Project

60

The Christian Community

of Tamboya

61

A Pastoral Visit

to Distant Pacaipampa

62

The Holy Family Of Nazareth

63

Three Ordinations

to the Priesthood

64

Torrential Rains of 1983

65

Wings of Mercy Project

66

Brief Evaluation

of the Plane Project

67

Two Priests Die

in Fatal Car Accident

68

Cardinal of Lima Presides at

Cathedral Consecration

69

The Prelature Becomes

the Diocese of Chulucanas

70

Center for Rural Development—Villa Nazaret

71

National Reality

in the Local Church

72

A Colomban Priest and His Goat Farm

73

Time for a Break

and a Program of Renewal

74

Highlights about Personnel

75

Sister Dora Medina, OSF

76

Problems with a

Long-standing Back Injury

77

Marxist Movement

of Sendero Luminoso

78

A Special Letter

79

Matter of the Heart

80

Threatening,

Anonymous Letters

81

The Hydro-electric Project

82

Examples of Responsibility

in Education and Health

83

An Investment in People

84

New Coadjutor Bishop

85

Diocesan Assembly

86

Farewell Letter

86

*Farewell Homily

Memoirs of a Vatican II witness

accompanying a people in their development of the

NEW IMAGE OF THE PARISH

a pastoral project elaborated by the Better World Movement

in a new diocese in Peru

Bishop John C. McNabb, O.S.A.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to recognize the contribution to this book of the many missionaries who came to help us start the adventure of establishing a new diocese in northern Peru. They at one time were from 15 nationalities and proved to be outstanding in courage, faith and generosity.

I also want to thank the Peruvians who patiently collaborated and supported our efforts to help them build a society and local church worthy of their ancestors. Their kindness was appreciated as we struggled to learn their language, culture and customs. We found among them many who offered their services without any remuneration in fulfilling services (ministries) to their own people!

The expertise of the members of the Better World Movement who spent 12 years accompanying and teaching all our pastoral agents of priests, religious and laity the valuable project of the New Image of the Parish is mainly responsible for the pastoral success of the pastoral program among our people of northern Peru.

I am most grateful to our competent stenographer, Diane Barrett, who spent so many hours transcribing from tape what I was dictating as the content of the book and doing it with great love and outstanding patience!

Among the Augustinians there are many of them who are responsible for years of service in the mission apostolate in northern Peru and without whom there never would have been the adventure described in our book. I am also grateful to our present Prior General of the Order of Saint Augustine, the Most Reverend Robert Prevost, O.S.A. who on more than one occasion urged and helped in the publication of this book.

Finally, nothing would have seen the light of day if it were not for H. George Arsenault, author of Seven Come Eleven, who has served me as the technical assistant of this publication. He has proved to be a great and able friend!

PROLOGUE

One would rarely consider the word INCIDENTALLY a word with the power to launch events that would change the direction of one’s life. In my case, that was the word that did just that, and I would like to tell you about it. It all began with a letter I received the year after the opening of Augustinian Academy, a new high school in St. Louis, Missouri. When this letter came, I was principal at Mendel Catholic High School in Chicago, Illinois. I had been brought back to Chicago where I began my teaching ministry in 1953 as a young priest.

I was told by the provincial and two former provincials that I had been chosen to play a leadership role in Peru for a new mission there. The news really upset me.

First of all, I was emotionally upset because on the same day I had just received news of the death of Fr. Philip Foley, my brother Augustinian, who had worked with me closely the previous year at Augustinian Academy. He helped me construct the entrance exam for the first students there and lived with me during that first year when I served as principal. His death was a real loss.

Secondly, I remember receiving this Peru letter in the morning mail. I noted that it was a long letter from the provincial, Fr. Francis Cavanaugh. Because I had to make funeral arrangements for Fr. Foley, I simply put it aside. It wasn’t until late in the evening that I left my office in the school and returned to the monastery to retire. I remembered the letter and sat down to read it. I still recall, so vividly, that it was on the third page, halfway down, that the paragraph began with that ominous, meaning-filled word, "INCIDENTALLY.

The provincial went on to say: We three here believe, there is a role for you to play in the Peruvian missions. Those words were so startling to me that I went over to Fr. Jack Gavin’s room. Father had retired late, and I remember how I kept him up until 3 a.m. talking about my confusion. I reminded him that I had done what I was told to do—prepare myself in secondary education. Now at the age of 38, I was being asked to be the prelate of Chulucanas, Peru.

Time went on, and I was put under papal secrecy not to discuss my pending appointment with anyone but my confessor. So I did that in the Mendel chapel one evening. I remember the tears that came, as I thought about the request to do something I had never dreamed of doing as an Augustinian priest. I always thought I would spend my early years as a priest in the secondary education of young men.

Eventually, the word came from the Vatican in March 1964 that I was appointed as the first prelate of Chulucanas, a new diocese-in-formation in northern Peru. Immediately, I told the provincial I would not be available until the end of the academic year. So it was that I stayed on as rector of Mendel Catholic High School until June 1964. Meanwhile, the Augustinian Order put out a press release about my appointment. The provincial arranged for me to celebrate a Pontifical Mass in the chapel at Tolentine Center in June. My time was taken up by meeting with people the provincial felt were part of this new mission journey adopted by the Augustinians. I must explain the reason for this new mission venture in Peru. Both Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul VI requested the American Church to send 10% of their personnel to Latin America, where half the world Catholic population lived at that time. People there needed priests because there were many baptized Christians and Catholics without pastors. Provincial Father Francis Cavanaugh took that request very seriously and began a correspondence with the papal delegate in Washington, D.C., that eventually ended with Augustinians going to help in Peru.

My journey to Peru was preceded by many events and ceremonies. Early on, Cardinal Albert Meyer presided and spoke at a Pontifical Mass at Tolentine Center. My family, teachers I had worked with at Mendel and a crowd of about 350 people gathered afterwards in the Tolentine gymnasium for a buffet lunch. One day, an older Augustinian priest said to me: John, it seems to me that your life has taken an unsuspected turn. And I said to him: And so it has. But life is full of surprises, I suspect.

On a June morning, I celebrated my first Pontifical Mass. My parents, brothers and sisters and ordination classmates from all around the country were present. After being so surprised at my mission appointment and finding it so difficult to accept it in the beginning, the 36 years I eventually spent in Peru turned out to be very satisfying and, truly, A HAPPY ADVENTURE in FAITH, but I’m getting ahead of my story.

J.C.%20McNabb%20photo%207.JPG

PART I

1964-1970

1

Arriving in Peru

I arrived in Peru accompanied by the provincial, Fr. Francis Cavanaugh, OSA. Frs. Lehane and Kelly met the plane. It was agreed the provincial would see the nuncio first. I was to be accompanied to the hotel.

Once I got into the hotel and got settled, the two priests who had come with me asked if they could speak with me.

I said, Certainly, come in and sit down. And they did. They told me they had been in Peru a year before my arrival and during that time they had explored the territory of the new prelature. It was to include the three civil provinces of Ayabaca, Morropon and Huancabamba, and they had visited each of these provinces.

They said, John, we’ve seen it, and it’s just impossible. There’s no way we can begin to evangelize that large a territory. We don’t think we should take the prelature as it is planned.

This was a surprise to me. They actually pleaded with me not to go to the nunciature. While we were talking, the phone rang, and it was the nuncio, telling me to proceed to the nunciature where Fr. Cavanaugh was waiting. I explained to the priests that I didn’t know what this was all about.

I did remember the evening of my first Pontifical Mass at Tolentine when Fr. Cavanaugh called me to his room and talked about two things. One was that we were going to Peru but, he said, I’m not sure we’re going to take the prelature.

What? I replied. You mean to tell me you’ve had all this publicity; you had the Cardinal come out for a Mass; you announced it to the Chicago media; you told all the Chicago houses of our Order, and you’re NOT SURE?

And the provincial said, That’s correct. I can’t explain anymore. We will go to Peru, and once we are there, maybe things will be a little clearer.

The second thing he talked about was the bill for the luncheon where 350 people were served a delicious buffet. Apparently, he had seen the urn there where those who came dropped cards for me.

I would appreciate it if you would pay the bill, he said.

I was dumbfounded! I had thought the luncheon was my farewell and that the people who had come were my friends. I didn’t understand why he asked that the bill for it would be paid by whatever gifts had been left for me. As memories of this meeting with the provincial kept coming back to me, the two priests pleaded with me not to go to the nunciature. You can imagine my confusion and how I wondered what was going to happen next.

When I arrived there, the nuncio’s door opened and one of his ten secretaries, a Maryknoll priest who spoke English, welcomed me and took me into the audience room where Nuncio Carboni was seated with Fr. Cavanaugh. I shook hands with both of them and was invited to sit down.

The nuncio, in a rather odd voice that he seemed very comfortable using, said, Fr. McNabb, DO YOU or DO YOU NOT want to be the Prelate of Chulucanas?

I looked at Fr. Cavanaugh, hoping he would give me some sign about what my answer should be, based on his discussion with the nuncio. I hesitated in silence.

In the same voice, Nuncio Carboni repeated the same question, Fr. McNabb, DO YOU or DO YOU NOT want to be the Prelate of Chulucanas?

I did. I remember I said, Well, I came to do what I can do. And I hope that I can fulfill this assignment.

He said, You’re not answering my question. DO YOU or DO YOU NOT want to be the Prelate of Chulucanas?

I must have answered more clearly, in some affirmative way, that I DID intend to accept the nomination of being the Prelate of Chulucanas, the new jurisdiction in Peru, because the nuncio immediately stood up and invited me to follow him to the chapel.

It was there that I made the profession of faith, and I signed a promise of obedience to the Holy Father. The nuncio seemed satisfied that I had done what he intended I do. We returned to the audience room. I presume we stayed there for lunch, but it’s not clear to me now if we really did. You can imagine how important an event this was in my life. I was a bit confused, because I had expected something else from my Augustinian brothers who had preceded me in Peru, and all they told me, quite definitively, was that they thought we could not do the job.

When I was back in the hotel, or perhaps it was in the taxi that drove us there, Fr. Cavanaugh explained that he was not in favor of taking the Province of Ayabaca. There was no connection geographically between that province and the other two provinces of Morropon and Huancabamba. There was no road directly from the Province of Morropon to the Province of Ayabaca. There would be a need to go around a range of mountains that divided the Province of Ayabaca from Morropon, go back into the Archdiocese of Piura and then choose a road that would finally take us up to Ayabaca.

The nuncio explained to Fr. Cavanaugh that it was necessary to include in the new prelature the Province of Ayabaca with the other two provinces in order to have the necessary minimum population for ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Looking back, it would have been a mistake not to take Ayabaca, because the majority of vocations to the Archdiocese of Piura came from there. During our years as a new prelature, the greatest number of priestly vocations came from that area. God seemed to know that we would need that Province of Ayabaca as a fruitful source of aspirants to the priesthood and religious life.

2

The Installation

After two days of being in Lima to see some of the sights, we took a plane—Fawcett Airlines—to Piura, the capital of that department of the same name. Fr. Burkhart and others met our plane and accompanied us to Chulucanas. We passed through some 50 km of desert before we got there. As we entered the town, I saw that it was like something you might have seen in the Wild West—a town that wasn’t much of a town at all.

Only a couple of streets that led into the principal plaza of the town were paved. I stepped out of the car and noticed that there was a dirt road and not much of a building, and I realized I was facing my first residence. It was built of brick, and that was unusual because most other buildings were adobe. They had just hosed down the inside, and water was still gathered in some puddles on the floor. I was welcomed into what was going to be my future home. The priest there explained to me that I was welcome to take my meals with the Augustinian community that had found a building to rent. They were located two or three blocks from where I would live. Br. Richard Palmer, who had accompanied me to Peru, and a few others helped me unpack and get somewhat settled in my new home.

At meal time, I left my residence that had one bed, a wooden table and chair and a couple of hooks on the wall for hanging up my clothes. The building had been a former primary school and would need a bit of adaptation to turn it into some kind of home. We had about a week to plan and get ready for the 21st of June for my installation as the first Prelate of Chulucanas.

There was much work to be done, particularly in my home and office. My Augustinian brothers who accompanied me helped a lot and did a good job of getting things settled in time for the day. There were bedrooms for me and two other people and an area for a dining room and kitchen and even a space for a small chapel. There was also a decent bathroom in the house. The church in town was in very poor condition and very small, so the decision was made to use the plaza in front of the church for the Installation Ceremony. Fr. Burkhart and others were in charge of making arrangements to clean up the altar and other areas and rope off the space that was needed. Some beautiful trees formed an arch the length of 8 kilometers leading into the town of Chulucanas. I was to be out on kilometer 50 and wait for the nuncio’s arrival. He gave us the hour he would be arriving.

In 1964, religious prelates wore the color of their Order, so mine was black, not a very ideal color to wear in the sun. I waited in the shade of a school building. Before long, we got word that the nuncio decided to do a Confirmation in Piura before he came out to Chulucanas. I don’t remember what time he arrived, but it was probably late morning. When he came, he was accompanied by the Bishop of Piura, and both stepped out of the car fully vested in the purple vestments of bishops.

We started into town in cars. When we got to the edge of the city, people were there to meet us, as we came across the bridge into town. Some men carried a canopy for us to walk under. All kinds of people in the street, accompanied by a band, began walking with us several blocks into town to the site of the Installation.

The nuncio presided. I sat on one side of him, and the Archbishop of Piura sat on the other. The point of installation came after the Gospel homily given by the nuncio. The documents were presented by one of the secretaries for all of us to sign. The first document was read and was the proclamation from the Holy See about the erection of the prelature. The second letter signed was from the nuncio, in lieu of another document from the Holy See that did not arrive in time for the ceremony. I remember we all signed those documents.

We have pictures that show it. Then the Mass continued. After the proclamation that now I was the Prelate of Chulucanas, the nuncio vacated the center seat so I could sit there and then guided me through the ceremony of the remainder of the Mass. All of this took some time. I remember walking out of the plaza to a neighboring house where we removed our Mass vestments. The nuncio, of course, spoke everything in English to me and told me, Bless the people as I am blessing them. Allow the people to kiss your ring as they are kissing mine. It was a nightmare, the whole bit! I didn’t understand any of the Spanish.

We changed into house cassocks that were lighter and were accompanied down the street to a meal that had been prepared for about 40 people. I was seated to the right of the nuncio. The Archbishop sat on the other side, as did Fr. Cavanaugh, the mayor of the town, and some other officials. The speeches began after the meal together with toasts of wine. When the people laughed, I laughed. When the people clapped, I clapped. I DIDN’T UNDERSTAND A WORD THAT WAS BEING SAID.

Later, I learned that the man who gave the welcoming speech was the vicar general of the Diocese of Piura and the same man responsible for putting articles in the local paper against North Americans coming to Peru to take half of the department of Piura to make up the new Prelature of Chulucanas. The nuncio made him eat humble pie by making him welcome us to Piura.

The whole affair was an experience I would not want to repeat, but everyone was very kind and understanding. Fr. John Kelly wrote out in elementary Spanish what I was to read to the people. It was only a paragraph that I had rehearsed, and I thought I was going to be able to read it well. The newspaper people who were there were taking pictures. In the Piura paper the next day, one of the articles they wrote ended with this: The new prelate doesn’t speak a word of Spanish. And so it was revealed to the people that I was a real gringo.

In spite of that fact, the people were very kind to me, coming to their land as a stranger. My first short message was nothing more than saying sincerely that I had come to be their brother and to make my home with them.

Interior_J.C.%20McNabb%20photo%201_20120118063745.JPG

3

Early Adjustments

After the ceremonies, the dignitaries who had come from Lima and elsewhere went to the airport and that included Fr. Cavanaugh, Fr. James Clark, and others. We came back to Chulucanas and spent our first night together reviewing all that had happened. It all seemed like a nightmare. It had been the first time in my life that I was put in a position where I couldn’t understand what was going on because of the language barrier. Fr. John Burkhart was kind enough to accept the work of being vicar general and served as my interpreter for two years. I was very grateful.

A day or two after the Installation Ceremony, Fr. Connie Lehane, who was superior of the Chulucanas Augustinians, came to see me. Fr. Burkhart was with him and, after a exchanging a few pleasantries, they indicated the reason for their visit. They handed me a folder containing a copy of canon law that they had consulted, and had written out what their rights were as exempted religious. I was taken back to hear that they thought it necessary to do that. I thanked them and assured them that I would read the material and get back to them. I also told them that I was aware that I probably was not their first choice for the position of prelate.

I added that there were no hard feelings on my