This is The Most Reverend Martín Barahona, Bishop of the Diocese of El Salvador since 1992 and Archbishop of the Archbishop of the Anglican Church of the Region of Central America
Bishop Barahona met us at the Diocesan Center in San Salvador on the morning of our arrival.
From left to right we are: Michael, Molly, Fr. Tommy, John, Bp. Barahona, Joe, Susan, Me, Doris, Connie & Lois. Louise was not with us for this meeting. She is a managing nurse for the Maternity Ward at San Francisco General Hospital and was off for a visit to the main Maternity Hospital in San Salvador. That's a whole 'nother story that you can ask Louise to tell.
The Centro Diocesano is a lovely old building in a quiet residential area of San Salvador. The ubiquitous razor wire that covers all walls and roofs in San Salvador is the only clue to it's location. There are no machine gun toting guards in the driveway, although there is one in the driveway of the home across the street. Most homes in the area sport armed guards. But then again, we rely on alarm systems in the U.S. with armed response. This approach is quicker and cuts out the middleman, although it is visually unsettling.
Now Bishop Barahona is telling us his story. Actually, he is telling us three stories.The first story is the history of the Episcopal/Anglican church in El Salvador---how it evolved from its beginnings as the house church for the staffs of the British and American Embassies in the early years of the last century and evolved into the Spanish-speaking indigenous church today---how after World War II, as the British Empire was receding and the American presence was growing around the world, responsibility for most of the churches in the western hemisphere shifted primarily to the Episcopal Church in the United States, while a few areas, such as Argentina and parts of the Caribbean remained the primary responsibility of the Church of England (a split in development that accounts, in part, for the divergent views of the Bishops in areas like Mexico, Central America, northern South America and Brazil, from the views of the Bishops in the Southern Cone)---and the challenges and opportunities facing the church in El Salvador today.
Bishop Barahona also tells the story of how he was one of the three bishops who laid hands on Gene Robinson as he was consecrated a bishop in the Episcopal Church....the first openly gay bishop. He tells how he still receives flack from the more.....ummmmh..."conservative" elements in the church for this act....He says that when he is sometimes asked, "Why do you support those homosexuals?" he responds: "I don't support homosexuals; I support human beings."
The third story Bishop Barahona tells us is a more personal one. Here is that story. Bishop Barahona has a lovely wife and two beautiful, intelligent and gracious daughters.
When the troubles began in El Salvador at the end of the 70's, Bishop Barahona was summoned by government authorities and told that he had 24 hours to leave the country. So, Bishop Barahona left that day with his wife and family to take up exile in Panama. They lived there for over 10 years. The Bishop told us that all of the colleagues that he had worked with in El Salvador were killed after he was forced to leave the country.
Ah....there was one last story that Bishop Barahona had for us. It was the story of how the Diocese had received a message from Elvira, with the Prison Ministry in San Miguel. It seems that some of the women prisoners have to sleep on the floor because of overcrowding; there aren't enough mattresses to go around. Is there anything we can do to help? The mattresses cost $20 each....about the price of 3 Burger King meals. We dig into our wallets. I hope the ATM machines work here.
