Chuuk Catholic Church Centennial Celebration

2012 marks the 100-year anniversary of Catholicism in the Chuuk Lagoon. All over the islands, massive celebrations have been going on to honor the occasion. The church is the most prominent aspect of life for many of these people, and this centennial celebration is quite a big deal for them. Most important events and parties are centered around the church, but this was the party of parties. The impoverished people of my island raised almost $100,000 in donations for its purpose! Dozens of pigs, thousands of fish and untold buckets of breadfruit were provided for the feasting.

School was cancelled for a week before and all government employees took time off of work to prepare. For weeks the children have been practicing songs, the men have been cleaning the church grounds, and the women have been cooking and sewing uniforms. Every conversation, every task and every moment has been dedicated to preparing for a successful centennial. My host father Benisio is the president of our parish and has been working tirelessly for over a year to organize the event.

 The priests and nuns from all over Chuuk were in attendance and even the Bishop of the Caroline Islands made an appearance. For two days, our church area was packed with colorfully clad singing groups and pious worshippers. Thousands of uniformed (matching muumuus or t-shirts) islanders flocked to our church and enjoyed the festivities of our centennial celebration.  They gorged themselves during elaborate feasts and gave thanks to the lord for a hundred years of happiness. Speeches were spoken, plates were passed, prayers were prayed and songs were sung.

The singing competition between the sup-parishes was the highlight of the church gathering. Each group bobs their heads and claps their hands in harmonious rhythms as they belt out songs of worship to god. Electric keyboards (which they call organs) provide the background music for the songs of exaltation of the lord. The excitable middle-aged women often burst into a frenzy of dancing and shake their roly-poly bodies to the music. During our group’s singing, I got caught up in the energy of the moment and jumped up to shimmy with the ladies. My fellow villagers were ecstatic that I joined the dancing and literally hundreds of people have congratulated me afterwards for being involved. However, they were perceptive enough to take notice of my highly trained dance skills and many locals have cheerfully asked me “pwata ka pwerukengaw?” or “why do you dance so badly?”