The struggle of the priest who lost his church and the one who made his church a refuge

Lava rivers carried away the Todoque neighborhood, the church and the bell towerAlberto Hernández was able to reopen the church of La Laguna on May 15Domingo Guerra kept his parish open for 107 days as a place of rest and refuge from the ash rain The eruption that began a year ago in La Palma changed the lives of many people, such as that of the parish priest of Los Llanos de Aridane, Alberto Hernández, who lost the church of Todoque -along with the rest of the neighborhood- and the priest of the municipality of El Paso, Domingo Guerra, in charge of the church of Tajuya, place of direct vision of the destruction of the volcano. During these last twelve months, the life of these priests has gone far beyond the religious office. Its parishes have become meeting places for old residents who are scattered around the island and have become involved in the reconstruction of their neighborhoods and communities. On the day of the eruption, September 19, 2021, Domingo Guerra was preparing to officiate a funeral scheduled for 3:20 p.m. when the earth began to crack and lava flowed from the fissure created. and from El Paso I took my first photo of the volcano”. At that time, the priest did not know that many more would come, from the small church of Tajuya, together with all those who came to see the advance of the lava. For his part , Alberto Hernández was “quietly” at a family birthday in Puerto Naos, when the mobiles began to ring practically in unison and he saw the beach of this tourist center empty in less than two minutes. “That chaos of the first moment put us on alert of what was going to come”, comments Hernández. Alberto Hernández was able to reopen the church of La Laguna on May 15, after carrying out the conditioning and cleaning work to resume worship, in a space to which he has been adding symbols and images that represent to the community of the Todoque neighborhood, creating a place of union in the nearest neighborhood. “Todoque is here,” says Hernández, referring to the San Isidro Labrador parish in La Laguna. “Here are its images, its elements and its neighbors, and that helps maintain the identity of neighborhoods that, although they no longer exist geographically, can find their small redoubt here with the image of their patron.” The course of the eruption, for Domingo Guerra it was different: he became the host of Tajuya and kept his church open for 107 continuous days, day and night, from the moment of the eruption, as a place of rest and refuge from the ash rains that fell on the square, which became a television set with the volcano in the background. Thanks to the donations collected in the church, both during the eruption and in the coming months, it has been possible to rehabilitate parish buildings where they are housed today fourteen people affected by the eruption of the volcano. These days, the sermons that Domingo Guerra gives in each service are focused on raising the spirits of the faithful and motivating them to fight for their future. people, the future we have to build as people being protagonists, counting on help, they are welcome, but we have to face that trauma and move forward with enthusiasm and hope”, defends the priest.