In the diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, where Pope Leon XIV was bishop, the Fr. Javier Cajusol Villegas, age 58, is proving that faith isn't just preached, it's built. Oriundo de Trujillo, a city in northern Peru, this priest has taken on an unusual role for a priest: he is the architect, engineer and the main worker of the new church of the Santa Maria del Valle parish.
The Peruvian priest, born in Trujillo, the northern city where Pope Leon was also between 1988 and 1999, referred to the ecclesiastical aid agency Adveniat, based in Germany, which finances projects of the Catholic Church worldwide.
The priest needs that this construction work, though he likes it, is not above his priestly ministry which is always fundamental in his life. "Slowly I have been getting better without neglecting the vocation. Then it is a double strong work: that of a mason that requires strength and skill; and to serve the faithful,” he shares.
Fr. Javier, ordained on August 30, 1997, 28 years ago, highlights that the essential for him is "not to neglect the attention of the faithful, sacramental care, pastoral care visiting homes, dialogue with people", who collaborates selflessly in this project.
The priest, who on September 24, will turn 58 years old, counts that he must have about 12 years as a mason and that it all began in the Andean city of Tarma with the construction of a sports field, when the current Archbishop of Cusco, Mons was bishop there. Richard Alarcón; and then build a parish house in Trujillo.
"And here in the diocese of Chiclayo this parish is called Santa Maria del Valle, which serves 9 young villages (poor neighborhoods), with more or less 45 thousand faithful and we only have three chapels," reports the priest from the city of Lambayeque.
The priest calculates that the construction of the church will take between 4 to 5 years, working Monday to Friday from 8 am to 6 pm, “unless I can see the Holy Father to help me.” "He helped me a lot to make the parish house where I live today, with an American foundation."
The place where the church is now being built and where he already celebrates Mass on Sundays, is an area where there is a lot of poverty and crime. “There’s a lot of molestation, robberies and even some bad cops that get involved with them. Sometimes I warn them," he points out.
Regarding the financing of the church, the priest explains that he has the help of the faithful, who also give him daily food, the chief mason and two helpers, but more collaboration is needed to raise half a million suns, about $143,000.
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