Voices of the jubilee of the catechists: the natives are also protagonists in the evangelizing task

Severiano Obridan Parada Saldivar is a catechist and for several years he has become a bridge of dialogue between Christianity and the original cultures of his land.

He was born in the heart of the Paraguayan Chaco, in Philadelphia, located in the department of Boquerón, and belongs to the Guaraní indigenous ethnicity.

A rich land, but poorly distributed. Its fertile heritage does not reverse in its inhabitants, peasants and indigenous people of diverse cultures, which in many cases do not even have dotable light or water.

“There is still a very large debt in terms of indigenous peoples, because they are the most unprotected. There is a lot of poverty. We are only 2% of the population and in addition to social, educational and labor needs, there is even a lot of discrimination still,” he describes.

When I was a child, I saw the missionary missionaries of Maria Immaculate to reach her villages. “With great enthusiasm, they gave catechesis, they told us about God and I imagined that in the future I could also be a catechist,” he says in conversation with ACI Press.

His dream not only ended up making a reality, but he multiplied until he became “a very special grace” that, he says, he would never have imagined.

This Sunday, Pope Leo XIV conferred the Ministry of Catechist, on behalf of not only of his community, but also – as he emphasizes – “of all Paraguay.”

His figure as an indigenous catechist is essential to strengthen the presence of the Catholic Church in unpopulated and difficult access areas in this territory. “We are many catechists of different ages and with a variety of evangelizing tasks,” he says.

In addition, the number of indigenous people has also grown with the task of being a minister of the Eucharist. A reality that Severino presents as a solution to the lack of priests.

“There are areas in which priests arrive only once or twice a month and, meanwhile, it is the indigenous people in their own community who prepare, instruct and make the Sunday celebrations, the songs and everything that the Eucharistic part entails,” he explains.

This also responds to the need for the original communities to assume leadership in the announcement of the Word of God to move away from a catechesis based on the trainingas the Pope prevailed in the homily of the Mass he presided over Sunday.

“The indigenous people have to be protagonists in the evangelizing task,” he says. The cultural wealth of the area in which it lives is reflected in the identity of catechesis and the sacraments that adapt to the language of each community.

“Catechists cannot be imposed without further ado”

“Catechists cannot impose without more, we have to look for a way to make what is taught, because if the instructions are in Spanish, there are indigenous peoples who do not speak Spanish and not even Guaraní that is official language in Paraguay,” he explains after sharing that thanks to the help of the missionaries the Bible has been translated into the languages ​​that the different native peoples use.

In this way, they are the local peoples the most apt to get the Church an indigenous face. Therefore, during the Eucharist readings, prayers, requests and forgiveness “in Spanish, Guaraní and also in indigenous language” are read. In addition, sometimes they include a dance, “that for us is not only fun, as one might think from outside, but an attitude of deep prayer,” he concludes.