17. Witnesses: Nicolas Perez-Aradros

He was born in 1956 in Arnedo (La Rioja, Spain). As soon as he finished his training as an Augustinian Recollect religious and priest he was sent to Tapaua, from February 1981 to February 1988. Later he has been assigned to the Province of Saint Rita, in which he became prior provincial, and actually is assigned to the Province of Saint Thomas of Vilanova.

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I was sent to the mission of Labrea by the Prior Provincial Joaquín Úriz. I wasn’t a volunteer but I went happily, although a bit fearful for the challenge that it supposed. I had heard some missionaries talk when they passed through the seminaries where we were trained. I was a bit “afraid”, for the mission seemed difficult. But I went very enthusiastically and happy; I was young and wanted to be a missionary. At that time, they were sending lots of young people with two religious in every community. My first prior in Tapaua was Cenobio Sierra, who had also been before my vice novice master.

When I arrived I wanted learn with the most experienced, in my case with Friar Cenobio. The most meaningful thing was the desobrigas, but already at that time they had started to give more value to the training of pastoral helpers in the city and along the rivers.

In our time, with help from Germany, we built a community centre where previously there had been the old Monsignor Jose Alvarez school and the halls for catechesis next to the main church. It was very comforting to see the lay leaders grow spiritually, and take on their responsibilities.

There were then some 5,000 inhabitants, and the communities of the Purus and their tributaries (Cunhua, Tapaua, Abufari, etc.) were quite numerous and populated. Afterwards, we helped with the emigration phenomenon to the urban centre of Tapaua and to other cities like Manacapuru and Manaus.

A lot of the time we were alone, for the other person went on a pastoral trip or to Manaus to organize official papers. I took on the river journeys with enthusiasm, as well as the catechesis and a group of young people.

Life was very peaceful. The most notable thing was the annual feast for Saint Rita, with nine days of novenas and feasts. On the last three days the city came alive, with walking vendors and lots of outside visitors. A few days before one of the feasts a small plane came down, with the Marist brother Nilson and another three people who had come from Manaus. They were days of great anguish. We went by boat to see if we could find them in the forest, but we didn’t… The tension was very high, until they appeared alive by the grace of God. Then the feast was even greater!

Another of the things that marked life were the elections, especially that of the Mayor. The people moved from one political party to another; those who lived in the interior came to the city, and they bought and sold votes, etc.… It was save yourself if you can! A woman, Rosalia, managed to be a Councillor because her husband took out the teeth of the electors without charging anything.

They were simple people, loving and welcoming, shy when the missionary arrived, then they began to trust and were very familiar. The houses were poor but clean. They welcomed us in the best way they could, within their possibilities; in the meals they gave us the best they had.

The mayor, the police commissioner, the priest… were the people’s “chiefs”. We had no doctor or judge. The greater part were public functionaries. This was a problem, for lots of Mayors’ kept the money and delayed their wages and this generated a huge crisis. The traders were the “strong” class, and after them came the wood traders and the fishing boats which came from Manaus the State capital.

Our pastoral priorities were to strengthen the Grass Root Ecclesial Communities, the training of leaders, preparing the catechesis and helping young people. We started to invest in the training of pastoral helpers to whom we dedicated a lot of time and attention, without forgetting the social issues.

The Church was organized around the main church; although there was a community (Saint Augustine’s) in one of the districts, and we tried to establish others in the city. In the interior we had the communities on the edge of the Purus River whom we visited every year. Also the large tributaries, like Cunhua and Tapaua, that in seven years we only visited twice. Later in my last year I witnessed the emigration phenomenon, and these tributaries were completely empty.

Our great challenge was the expansion of Evangelicals in the town and on the rivers, who started taking much of our space. Many Catholics became Evangelicals and they made a scandalous use of proselytism, with the number of their pastors being greater than ours.

The image of the mission in Labrea in the 70’s was that of a difficult mission through the forest, the rivers, with snakes… Already in my time, the 1980’s, it seemed difficult to “get across” to other religious the ecclesial dimension of the Prelature; maybe because it was a reality so different from any other. We had only kept hold of the anecdotal and I always had the impression, which I hope was only an impression, that there was a certain indifference about the ecclesial life in the Prelature.

Traditionally amongst religious it was heard said, in a low voice, that they sent to the missions those who “were no good at studying”. Today when they ask me why I came to Brazil it is my custom to joke using this funny story. But I constantly thank God for the grace to have served for seven years in Tapaua. It was for me a great “university”, where I learnt to grow as a Christian, as a religious and as a priest. It was a very important experience for me, and a happy one.

I feel deeply connected to the people of Tapaua, thanking God for these fifty years of the parish. I pray for them so that God will bless them with his grace. I also take the opportunity to thank them for these years that I was with them, and which were happy ones. As we say here in Brazil, I am full of “saudades” (nostalgia) for them, and I carry them in my heart.

NEXT PAGE: 18. Witnesses: Luis Busnadiego

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