St. Peter Claver Catholic parish is located in Punta Gorda, Toledo District, Belize.
St. Peter Claver Catholic parish is located in Punta Gorda, Toledo District, Belize.
The Garifuna arrived in Punta Gorda from the coast of Honduras in the late 1700s. They had Catholic roots from their ancestry in Dominica. In 1862 the first Catholic church among the Garifuna of British Honduras/Belize was built in Punta Gorda by Belgian Jesuit Fr. John Genon. From Punta Gorda he served the missions along the coast from Redcliff (Barranco) to Stann Creek Town. [1]
After Genon's death in 1878, Punta Gorda became a mission visited every other month. In 1883 Q'eqchi' Maya from Cobán, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, settled in Crique Sarco and Dolores near Punta Gorda. A count of the population in the Toledo District in the 1890s reported around 3700 of whom 3249 were Catholic. School populations included Punta Gorda 100, Barranco 50, Monkey River Town 40, Sarstoon 90, and San Antonio 120. [2] :143
Many of the Q'eqchi' from Coban worked as laborers on the German-owned Cramer Estates in Temash and Sarstoon (at left). With World War I the Cramers were forced to close but most Maya remained in the Sarstoon, Temash, and Moho River areas. [3] Jesuit Fr. Herman J. Tenk was pastor of Punta Gorda and this large mission area from 1913 to 1938. To him is attributed the tradition of Garifuna teachers in the schools, as he fostered their education and employment. [4]
In 1931 the Pallottine sisters built Nazareth, their Belizean novitiate (pictured at right), at Fairview, four miles northwest of Punta Gorda. They have been active in the Maya villages of Toledo District and have admitted 72 Belizeans into their numbers.
In 1942 Jesuit Fr. Marion M. Ganey became pastor in Punta Gorda and in 1943 established St. Peter Claver Credit Union, the first of many credit unions and cooperatives he would help initiate throughout Belize and later in the Fiji Islands and South Pacific. [5] In 1961 a secondary school was opened at St. Peter Claver [2] :256 but had to close in around 1980. In 1970 the present church was built. Today It features both Garifuna and Q’eqchi’ choirs. [2] :272
The parish remains the hub serving 30 Maya mission stations, each with its own Catholic-run, government-subsidized grade school. In 2015 St. Peter Claver along with St. Martin de Porres in Belize City were the two parishes in Belize still pastored by members of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). [6]
Belize is a Caribbean country located on the northeastern coast of Central America. Belize is bordered on the north by Mexico, on the east by the Caribbean Sea, and on the south and west by Guatemala. It has an area of 22,970 square kilometres (8,867 sq mi) and a population of 419,199 (2020). Its mainland is about 290 km (180 mi) long and 110 km (68 mi) wide. It has the lowest population and population density in Central America. The country's population growth rate of 1.87% per year is the second highest in the region and one of the highest in the Western Hemisphere.
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Belize, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Punta Gorda, known locally as P.G., is the capital and largest town of Toledo District in southern Belize. Punta Gorda is the southernmost sizable town in the nation, with a population of about 5,000 people. Although the town bears a Spanish name, its inhabitants are mostly Kriol/English-speaking, and are primarily of Garifuna, East Indian, Kriol, and Maya descent.
Toledo District is the southernmost district in Belize, and Punta Gorda is the District capital. It is the least developed region in the country, and it features some of the most pristine rainforests, extensive cave networks, coastal lowland plains, and offshore cays. Toledo is home to a wide range of cultures: Mopan and Kekchi Maya, Creole, the Garifuna, East Indians, Mennonites, Mestizos, and descendants of US Confederate settlers.
The music of Belize has a mix of Creole, Mestizo, Garìfuna, Mayan and European influences.
Punta is an Afro Indigenous dance and music originated by the Garifuna people with African and Arawak elements.
According to the 2010 census, the major languages spoken in Belize include English, Spanish and Kriol, all three spoken by more than 40% of the population. Mayan languages are also spoken in certain areas.
The Belizean culture is a mix of influences and people from [Creole], Maya, East Indian, Garinagu, Mestizo, Mennonites who are of German descent, with many other cultures from Chinese to Lebanese. It is a unique blend that emerged through the country's long and occasionally violent history. In Belizean folklore, we find the legends of La Llorona, Cadejo, the Tata Duende, and X'tabai.
Belizeans are people associated with the country of Belize through citizenship or descent. Belize is a multiethnic country with residents of African, Amerindian, European and Asian descent or any combination of those groups.
San Antonio is a village in the Toledo District of Belize. It is the largest Maya settlement in Belize, with a population of approximately 1,000 people, predominantly Mopan Maya. About 88% of the inhabitants are Catholic, with 8% belonging to other Christian denominations, and 4% being non-denominational. Along with 29 other mission parishes in the Toledo District, it is pastored by Jesuits from St. Peter Claver church in Punta Gorda.
Robert Louis Hodapp, S.J. was an American-born bishop of the Catholic Church. He served as the second Bishop of Belize from 1958-1983.
Salvatore di Pietro, was an Italian Bishop in the Catholic Church. He served as the first Vicar Apostolic of Belize from 1893-1898. He is widely regarded as the most important figure in consolidating the Catholic presence in Belize in the second half of the 19th century.
Fr. Marion M. Ganey, S.J., (1904–1984) was a Catholic priest, member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), and missionary to British Honduras, Central America, from 1937 to 1953, where he was instigator of the credit union and cooperatives movement. He became increasingly prominent in this movement, being invited to the Fiji Islands in 1953 and laboring to establish the movement there and throughout the South Pacific until his death in Fiji in 1984.
This history of the Catholic church in Belize has three parts: the historical periods of the Catholic presence in Belize, religious congregations laboring in Belize, and apostolic works undertaken.
Sacred Heart Church, in Dangriga, Belize, is a Roman Catholic parish.
When the Holy Redeemer Catholic parish was founded in 1852, it was the only parish in Belize and from it missionaries covered the whole country. When other parishes were founded Holy Redeemer remained a parish with its own history but with its leadership connected to the Catholic church in all of Belize under titles of governance that evolved over the years from apostolic prefect to apostolic vicar to bishop. It has remained the hub of the diocese, the bishop's church, as well as a parish in its own right.
St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church is a Roman Catholic parish on the southwest side of Belize City, Belize, Central America.
Rosita Baltazar was a Belizean choreographer, dancer, dance instructor and founding assistant director of the Belize National Dance Company. In 2004, she was awarded the Lord Rhaburn Music Award as a dance ambassador and in 2009 she received the Chatoyer Recognition Award from the National Garifuna Council of Belize for her efforts at preserving Garifuna culture.
Leela VernonMBE was a Belizean cultural icon noted for her contributions to preserving Creole culture in the country. She was awarded the title "Queen of Brukdown", received the Order of the British Empire for promoting Creole culture and music, and was named the Brukdown Artist of the Year in 2004. She was honored as National Hero in 2016 by the National Institute of Culture and History.
Coordinates: 16°5′48.52″N88°48′21.57″W / 16.0968111°N 88.8059917°W
