Social commitment and plurality of cultures

Human and Christian responsibility with the most forgotten: the peasants and the indigenous

Arte Moderno – Paraguay Modern Art, Paraguay Zeitgenössische Darstellung, Paraguay
Artesania – Paraguay Popular Art, Paraguay Volkskunst, Paraguay
Imagen del siglo XIV – Portugal Statue from the fourteenth century, Portugal Darstellung aus dem 14. Jahrhundert, Portugal Fotos: Pontes © 2006
San Ignacio Guazú en Paraguay San Ignacio Guazú in Paraguay San Ignacio Guazú in Paraguay
San Ignacio Miní en Argentina San Ignacio Miní in Argentina San Ignacio Miní in Argentina
San Ignacio Miní en Argentina San Ignacio Miní in Argentina San Ignacio Miní in Argentina Fotos: Pontes © 2006

PARAGUAY, mkf. Father Jose Pontes is a Portuguese Schoenstatt Father who presently works in Paraguay. For some years, he has been examining the social exclusion and extreme poverty that the peasants and the native indigenous peoples suffer. It a situation that is continually denounced by the Church and a concern that His Holiness John Paul II echoed in his historic visit of 1988.

For centuries, the Catholic Church has virtually been the only institution concerned about this reality. The Church has conscientiously worked to preserve not only the physical lives but also the cultural traditions of diverse ethnic groups that inhabit these vast territories. It is important to recall, for example, the indigenous pueblos of the Jesuits. Today they are historical ruins but in their time, they were models of Christian social order with original architecture and high musical achievement. In short, it was the advancement of cultural evangelization and of the aboriginal values. San Roque Gonzalez de Santacruz, a Jesuit Martyr from Paraguay, founded thirty-two pueblos. Many of them were the origins for cities in southern Brazil, northern Argentina (Missions), and a very broad section of southern Paraguay. Father Kentenich mentioned these pueblos of Paraguay to his students in the years of 1916 and 1917 precisely to demonstrate them as models for the application of the Christian way of social order. Thanks to Father Alex Menningen, the contents of his conferences were made known and these declarations serve as point of historic departure in the search for the national mission ideal of Schoenstatt in Paraguay: "Nation of God – Heart of America". The expelling of the Jesuits from these territories by the Spanish crown in the XVIII century left this impressive development unfinished.

A contribution to the advancement of human dignity: "Maria Gravida"

It was precisely to contribute to the human advancement of these forgotten brothers that motivated Father Pontes to work for the acceptance and the appreciation of the indigenous and peasants of Paraguay. His proposal is to form unified teams that will work specifically, with a openness to the different cultures, and develop a new appreciation for the indigenous community. From a fraternal and a covenant perspective, Father Pontes maintains that it is possible that the "white culture" can enter into a profound dialogue with the indigenous culture (words of the Holy Father John Paul II during the canonization of three indigenous Mexicans).

Father Pontes wants to unite this social project of an organizational system in the building and nourishing of these communities with an art project. For this reason, he has worked on the publication of the book "Maria Gravida". All the money that is collected from the sale of this work will be used to sustain this project in progress.

"Maria Gravida" is primarily a book about art. The different illustrations manifest one of the most controversial subjects since the XIV century: Mary is pregnant! It contains iconography of an expectant Mary, accompanied by prayers and meditations that are a guide for contemplative reading. It is a bilingual book in Spanish and Portuguese. It is the fruit of almost three years of intensive investigative work in Europe, America, and Africa. The book has 192 high quality pages with 260 pictures, 120 are in color.

This book can be obtained in the Editorial Patris Argentina Editorial-patris-argentina@schoenstatt.org.ar or at Editorial Loyola of San Pablo, Brazil

Translation: Celina M Garza, Harlingen, TX, USA / Christi Jentz, Milwaukee, WI, USA