I went about a month ago for the first time to Caacupé with my host mom. For two reasons: to buy groceries (there are more options, better produce in the supermarket there), and to see Paraguay’s most renowned and beautiful church.
la iglesia de la virgen de caacupé, the church of the virgen of caacupé
Some background on Caacupé.
It is the halfway mark between my site and Asunción. It takes about 1.5 hours by bus. There are 17 departments in total in Paraguay, and Caacupé is the capital of my site’s department, Cordillera, as well as the religious center of Paraguay.
For example, during training one of our language professors, Aurelio, was driving a group of trainees through Caacupé and asked if anyone had a need to return home immediately, or was there time to pull over and Saludar la virgen, literally, to say hello to the virgin. If you’re passing through, it’s just what you do!
Caacupé is a little metropolis with hotels, restaurants, public spaces, banks, commerce, stoplights, highway, schools, public institutions. And my favorite: a homey little Swiss restaurant with coffee and a fixed-price-meal (16,000 Gs = $3.30) that includes bread, salad, main dish and dessert. And a side of wireless internet.
December 8 marks the day of the Immaculate Conception of Mary (Can we talk about immaculate gestation period if Jesus’ birthday is the 25th?), and so the 8th is a festival day in Caacupé. Pilgrims from all over the country walk to the city. Roads are closed for the numbers of people walking in caravans–the devout, the curious, and those who do it year after year for habit. The plaza outside of the church fills with people camping out.
imagine that full of people!
For a more vivid description of this event, tune in sometime after December 8. Because I will surely make the walk to experience the occasion first-hand.
My host mom knows I’m not Catholic.
I’ve been asked about my faith in a couple of different ways. So far, I have been asked directly. Are you Catholic? No. Or indirectly. Do you believe in the Virgen? Uh…in my brain or in my heart? And it’s very difficult to describe my home church denomination (United Church of Christ). I take the opportunity to explain that men and women are equal, and that all are welcome to take part in communion. No I’m not Mormon, nor Evangelical. I’m Protestant. But the point is that host mom was kindly sensitive to my upbringing and framed the trip as an opportunity to see the beautiful architecture and art.
Inside, I’m laughing to myself thinking about family vacations growing up. It wasn’t a complete tourist day until we had visited at least three churches! Add to that I studied art history in college, so I’m up to speed on architecture of the Roman Empire, Christian iconography and many of its pagan roots and yada yada yada. So yeah, I enjoy visiting churches! And I can tell you that the church at Caacupé is a Roman basilica plan, with central nave, crossing transept and terminal apse, ambulatory with that stations of the cross and main altar, dome, oculus, and stained glass windows depicting the life of Jesus and the Virgen of Caacupé. BOOM.
height and light
altar
I like this picture because it captures the faithful reaching out for a blessing, similar to pilgrims at St. Peter’s in Rome that touch his foot for the same reason. But also, the football jersey. I’ve heard it said that the national religion of Paraguay is futbol (soccer) and the national sport is chisme (gossip).
Forgive any mistakes in my interpretation of the legend. But it seems the Virgin appeared before an indigenous Guarani in a moment of crisis. And to honor her and remember, he carved a statue of her. And then of course there were centuries of converting an indigenous population to the Christian faith. And that’s why there’s a famous church in Caacupe.
Oh by the 'guay... 