St. Peter Claver Catholic parish, Belize

St. Peter Claver Catholic parish is located in Punta Gorda, Toledo District, Belize.

The Garifuna arrived in Punta Gorda from the coast of Honduras in the late 1700s. They had Catholic roots from their ancestry in Dominica. In 1862 the first Catholic church among the Garifuna of British Honduras/Belize was built in Punta Gorda by Belgian Jesuit Fr. John Genon. From Punta Gorda he served the missions along the coast from Redcliff (Barranco) to Stann Creek Town.

After Genon’s death in 1878, Punta Gorda became a mission visited every other month. In 1883 Q'eqchi' Maya from Cobán, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, settled in Crique Sarco and Dolores near Punta Gorda. A count of the population in the Toledo District in the 1890s reported around 3700 of whom 3249 were Catholic. School populations included Punta Gorda 100, Barranco 50, Monkey River Town 40, Sarstoon 90, and San Antonio 120.

Many of the Q'eqchi' from Coban worked as laborers on the German-owned Cramer Estates in Temash and Sarstoon (at left). With World War I the Cramers were forced to close but most Maya remained in the Sarstoon, Temash, and Moho River areas. Jesuit Fr. Herman J. Tenk was pastor of Punta Gorda and this large mission area from 1913 to 1938. To him is attributed the tradition of Garifuna teachers in the schools, as he fostered their education and employment.

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