A Report, First-Hand from Mexico
Diocesan Press Service. December 5, 1974 [74344]
Barbara Smith
Our trip to Mexico was hectic, crowded, busy, peaceful and great. It was a ten day time with a wonderful lack of pressure of media drama in a vividly dramatic setting; a time for working out divisions, issues, and relationships -- country to country, person to person, within a deep open series of friendships and fellowships, rejoicing in the largeness and closeness of the church world.
We had a double agenda:
1. The House of Bishops met in Oaxtepec, 40 miles from Mexico City from October 13 through October 18.
2. The bishops of the three Mexican dioceses asked for, and planned "maximum exposure of the U. S. bishops and their wives and Mexican Episcopalians. " It was the first time the House of Bishops had met in a Latin American country. Bishop Jose Saucedo said it was the largest meeting of overseas bishops ever held, since all the U. S. bishops were "overseas !"
Tour of Mexico City
We arrived at the conference center in Mexico City Friday afternoon, a little staggered by the buzz of highly emotionally charged talk of prayer book changes, ordination of women, etc., all among sudden group pre-scheduled living at a high altitude and with a change in time.
Early Saturday morning we trooped onto buses for a tour of Mexico City. Our morning became a blur of impressions of beautiful murals, buildings, museums, and churches, incredible traffic noise and pollution, heat, vast open parks for people to enjoy, constancy of beggars, and gorgeous flowers everywhere.
The tour ended at St. Andrew's Seminary with a service for Mexican Episcopalians and the bishops' group. It was a service of many colors and tongues -- bright, widely varying vestments, all shades of skin. The service, Rite Two, was in Spanish with Bishop Allin's English sermon translated 1y a graceful young Mexican priest.
Young Dancers Perform
We chatted under the hot sun in the courtyard after the service and ate a Mexican pot-luck parish lunch, then watched a group of young dancers who had traveled all night on a bus to dance for our mixed group.
Back onto our buses for an ultra quick change at the hotel and an outdoor reception hosted by the Mexican dioceses; then we went to various homes for dinner. Phil and I had a lovely evening with Mr. and Mrs. Hayne. Mrs. Hayne's brother lives in Concord, N.H., and their daughter, Amanda, graduated from St. Paul's School.
Our own private panic hit at seven Sunday morning when we realized we had been robbed Saturday evening. Our airline tickets and birth certificates were among the things taken from our hotel room.
By nine o'clock when we had packed, checked out, and were back on our buses, we realized once again and still, how wonderful it is to be a part of an emotionally supporting caring group -- to be part of a church.
Church at 10,000 Feet
We had all signed up to go to various Mexican churches. Ours was at Taluco, a small church built by funds given by the Diocese of Massachusetts. It is at an elevation of 10,000 feet, but, on our hour and a half ride to get there, we had to cross higher mountain ridges.
The congregation was totally Spanish-speaking, simply dressed, and largely made up of family groups. Several toddlers crawled around during the service. Afterwards we filed into the parish house for what we thought was to be a regular coffee hour. It turned out to be a thank-you party from the people for their church buildings. Two fancy homemade cakes, home-made presents, hand-shakes and smiles -- no words were needed for the communication of warmth of welcome and feeling.
The buses took us, a bedraggled but happy lot, back to the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, for a reception with Ambassador and Mrs. Jova. Ambassador Jova's greeting to us was that he was a Dartmouth graduate.
Then we went to the home of the chancellor of the diocese for a Mexican fiesta. Mrs. Dalton, who is interested in, and supportive of, Mexican village life, had hired an entire Mexican village to put on the party, to cook and serve their native dishes, to decorate, to play music. At five we left for our two-hour trip to Oaxtepec.
Oaxtepec, run by the Mexican government, is a huge resort center for Mexican workers under social security. The accommodations, especially the dormitories where most of us lived, are extremely simple, the scenery magnificent, the air and the swimming pools clean and fresh, the flowers luxuriant. The ultra modern meeting room is in a tower, with glass doors open to the outside most of the way around. (At daily noon prayers Bishop Allin always asked everyone to "turn and face out, not in. ") Meals were served conference-center-cafeteria style with Mexican food and at Mexican hours.
Open, Honest Talk
Life at Oaxtepec was informal and intensive. The bishops were asked not to wear clericals, as it is against the law in Mexico. We had very, very little quiet or privacy in the dormitory life style or at meal times; we had a great deal of open and honest talk and deepening of friendships and understanding of each other's viewpoints.
There were no executive or closed sessions at this House of Bishops. We wives could sit in on any meetings we cared to. We were not off in a gallery in the back, we were in chairs -- or sitting on the carpeted floor, if we chose -- in aisles all around the room, or at the front behind Bishop Allin.
The working hours were extremely long, the issues highly sensitive, the twenty- four hour a day closeness of highly individualistic people intense; yet hard decisions were made, resolutions were passed, and the spirit got even better instead of rancorous. Phil felt the facilitating atmosphere was due to both Bishop Allin's skillful leadership and to the simplicity of our Oaxtepec life style.
Issues They Discussed
Among the multitude of issues considered:
A great deal of work was done on studies of Prayer Book revision, especially in regard to the rites of Baptism and Confirmation. One full day was devoted to ecumenical matters. After hearing the long, violent debate on the subject of women's ordination to the priesthood and episcopacy in New Orleans, where the bishops voted for it, we all had some fear this meeting would bog down on one issue. The subject had not reached the House of Bishops in Louisville, as it was defeated in the House of Deputies.
In Oaxtepec, however, the debate was almost sad, that the job of education in the individual dioceses was harder if the effect of back-lash from Philadelphia was to be overcome. I personally was most interested in comments by Bishop Stewart of Western Massachusetts, and Bishop Walker of Washington, D. C.
Bishop Stewart had studied the figures from Louisville, and found that a change of twenty strategic votes would have changed the result. These votes were from missionary dioceses and from black deputies. Bishop Walker answered that we were dealing with a fact of sociology, that black women deliberately and consciously want to push men forward, that theirs has too long been a matriarchal society.
Vote Tally, 97 - 35
The vote was 97 yea, 35 nay, 6 abstentions, for ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopate. Other resolutions were passed agreeing to work for informal action on the issue by the whole General Convention in 1976, and to not ordain women priests until then.
There were personal moments, happenings not planned but mattering. One evening after our 8:30 dinner we heard guitar music and clapping, and a group of us wandered towards it. Bishop Reus Froylan of Puerto Rico was playing his guitar for a group of Mexican students who were being given a week's free holiday for making good grades in their school exams. We joined them, and we all sang together and danced together on the grass, and the night was good.
'The Little Eagle'
Then there were the wider world times. The Bishop of Cuba asked Phil about a young man from Virginia who is in Cuba. The "Little Eagle ", the seventy-two year-old bishop of the Philippines who had danced for us at the Daltons, thanked the House of Bishops for the missionaries to the Philippines. His mother had been a witch doctor, his father a head-hunter. He told us about his life. We would have cried, but he was so full of joy we wanted to cheer.
The House of Bishops meeting ended. Late Friday night we were back in Mexico City. Our room was on the second floor over a bus-stop and a hurdy-gurdy played outside our window all night. It was great until we looked out the window and saw the player was a beggar, and his children were scrambling in the dirt for coins.
Bishop Smith Preaches
Early Saturday morning we were off on a beautiful four-hour drive to San Miguel de Allende with Bishop Jose Saucedo and his wife. We had a fascinating weekend in a lovely town, a vestry dinner, and we learned something of the life of American expatriates in Mexico.
Sunday morning Phil preached, Mexican school-boys in red velvet medieval costumes played tunes from Love Story and Godspell and we celebrated a really jazzy, swinging service of Holy Communion.
That afternoon, I packed our bags, walked out of our host's home, and was eyeball to eyeball with three burros!
As I said, our trip to Mexico was hectic, crowded, busy, peaceful and great. But for me, being very personal, there was something more in this journey. I have always wanted and needed those in power and authority to be God-like -- whether they be president or policeman, doctor, lawyer, teacher or clergy. I watched the very ordinary looking, tired, "tourista" stricken group meeting at Oaxtepec for six days, and marveled at what happened. I wondered, rejoiced and shouted "Hallelulia!" I said "What a process!" Phil said, "No, What a Holy Spirit!"