St. Peter Claver Catholic parish is located in Punta Gorda,

Toledo District Toledo District is the southernmost district in Belize, and Punta Gorda is the District capital. It is the second most developed region in the country (according to the Human Development Index (HDI)). The district has a diverse topography whic ...

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

History

The

Garifuna The Garifuna people ( or ; pl. Garínagu in Garifuna) are a people of mixed free African and indigenous American ancestry that originated in the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent and speak Garifuna, an Arawakan language, and Vincentian ...

arrived in Punta Gorda from the coast of Honduras in the late 1700s. They had

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

roots from their ancestry in Dominica. In 1862 the first Catholic church among the Garifuna of

British Honduras British Honduras was a British Crown colony on the east coast of Central America, south of Mexico, from 1783 to 1964, then a self-governing colony, renamed Belize in June 1973,

/Belize was built in Punta Gorda by

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

Jesuit Fr. John Genon. From Punta Gorda he served the missions along the coast from Redcliff (Barranco) to

Stann Creek Town Dangriga, formerly known as Stann Creek Town, is a town in southern Belize, located on the Caribbean coast at the mouth of the North Stann Creek River. It is the capital of Belize's Stann Creek District. Dangriga is served by the Dangriga Air ...

After Genon's death in 1878, Punta Gorda became a

mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

visited every other month. In 1883 Q'eqchi'

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a popul ...

from

Cobán Cobán ( kek, Kob'an), fully Santo Domingo de Cobán, is the Capital (political), capital of the Departments of Guatemala, department of Alta Verapaz in central Guatemala. It also serves as the administrative center for the surrounding Cobán mun ...

, 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 Monkey River Town (or Monkey River) is a village in the north of the Toledo District of Belize. It is on the Caribbean Sea on the southern shore of the mouth of Belize's Monkey River. In 2011 the estimated population was 200 people. The village ...

40, Sarstoon 90, and

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

120.Woods, Charles M. Sr., et al. ''Years of Grace: The History of Roman Catholic Evangelization in Belize: 1524-2014.'' (Belize: Roman Catholic Diocese of Belize City-Belmopan, 2015). 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 The Moho River is a river of Guatemala and Belize. The river is navigable year round between Santa Teresa and the mouth. See also *List of rivers of Guatemala *List of rivers of Belize These are the main rivers of Belize. Belize has a total of ...

areas. 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 A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. wh ...

in the schools, as he fostered their education and employment. NazarethConvent

In 1931 the

Pallottine The Pallottines officially named the Society of the Catholic Apostolate ( la, Societas Apostolatus Catholici), abbreviated SAC is a Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right for men in the Roman Catholic Church, founded in 1835 by the Roman C ...

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. UlrichMayaWoman

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 union A credit union, a type of financial institution similar to a commercial bank, is a member-owned nonprofit financial cooperative. Credit unions generally provide services to members similar to retail banks, including deposit accounts, provisi ...

s and

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-contro ...

s he would help initiate throughout Belize and later in the Fiji Islands and South Pacific. In 1961 a secondary school was opened at St. Peter Claver but had to close in around 1980. In 1970 the present church was built. Today It features both Garifuna and Q’eqchi’ choirs. 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 Martín de Porres Velázquez (9 December 1579 – 3 November 1639) was a Peruvian lay brother of the Dominican Order who was beatified in 1837 by Pope Gregory XVI and canonized in 1962 by Pope John XXIII. He is the patron saint of mixed-r ...

in Belize City were the two parishes in Belize still pastored by members of the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

(Jesuits).

Additional pictures

By ''St.Louis Post Dispatch'' c. 1915, mostly Toledo District

References

{{History of the Roman Catholic Church, state=collapsed Jesuit churches Roman Catholic churches in Belize