During
the years 1962 to 1992, Monsignor José Dammert Bellido was bishop of
the Diocese of Cajamarca. He and his work - rooted in the foundations
of the Latin American Episcopal Conferences of Medellín and Puebla,
Liberation Theology and the Option for the Poor - marked the course
of the Catholic Church in Cajamarca in these times.
In
this religious, political and social context, the English priest Juan
Medcalf founded in 1971 the Network of Rural Libraries. A few years
later Alfredo Mires also arrived in Cajamarca to be part of the
Christian community of Baños del Inca, along with Father Juan and
other brothers.
In
1982, Juan Medcalf returned to England and Alfredo stayed, in charge
of the Network. Since then he has walked alongside the humble,
sharing his life and his stories, and working as a link and
"translator" between cultures.
This
year, Monsignor Dammert would have celebrated 100 years of life, a
cardinal reason to celebrate a homage. Alfredo Mires was invited to
give a conference with the theme Education and peasantry for this
occasion. Those of us who were present at this keynote address were
frankly impressed by the extent of Dammert's work and his support and
appreciation for our Network of Rural Libraries.
Grateful,
we share some passages from this conference with you:
"In
the mid-1980s, when I told him that I was going to make a book about
the Cajamarcan oral traditions related to the apparitions of God, the
saints and their miracles, Dammert was enthusiastic and began to
rescue stories as well from his students in the religion courses he
had during the holidays in the Departmental Office of Catholic
Education.
On
one occasion, while we were reviewing the texts, he made a kind of
confession. He told me that once, riding on horseback to a distant
community, on reaching the top of a hill, he saw an orderly pile of
stones by the side of the road. He asked the peasant and well-trained
catechist who guided him what it was. The peasant told him that these
were the old beliefs of the people, that only unprepared Christians
were accustomed to leaving a stone offering in that apachite in
gratitude to the mountain ... They walked on in silence, him ahead on
the horse, when suddenly he turned to see the same peasant, devoutly
and quietly leaving his pebble of offering.
It
was like understanding that one does not educate the heart.
Monsignor
never concealed his deep concern for the dignity of the poorest. And
it was not just in speech: he visited them, he attended them, he took
care of them ... Dammert has not been here for twenty-five years, but
that does not mean that there are no poor people and no
impoverishment: poor people remain, but it's like now it is forbidden
to see them. There is a persistent optical misery that is distorting
us ... or is it that the conscience is also subject to extractive
privatizations."