Machiques, Apostolic Vicariate of

MACHIQUES, APOSTOLIC VICARIATE OF. - Located on the western borders of Venezuela, it comprises the districts or provinces that form part of the State of Zulia: Paez, Mara (only in part), Perija, Colon.

The territory was first evangelized by the Spanish Capuchins of Valencia in 1694. Some Fathers from Navarre later joined them: the work was hard, but the activity of these good priests succeeded in establishing various Christian communities, which were suppressed during the Venezuelan war of independence, forcing the missionaries to abandon the region. Evangelization was resumed in 1919 through the work of the Capuchins of Castile, to whom the apostolic vicariate, erected by the dismemberment of the diocese of Zulia on 26 May 1943, was subsequently entrusted. The inhabitants are whites, mostly employed in the oil companies, and natives, who can be grouped into three categories according to their degree of civilization: semi-civilized, gentle savages and fierce savages. The semi-civilized live preferably in the districts of Paez and Mara: they are almost all baptized, but much given to superstitions and to corrupt habits from which they find it difficult to break away. The gentle savages live in the highlands of Perija, in hamlets several days' journey distant from one another: they have wretched houses, built with poles and large tree leaves, sleep on mats and wear a piece of cloth woven from coarse fibers. The fierce savages, called Motilones, are scattered throughout Colon: they have a reputation for fierceness because of the killings they have caused among workers, herders and farmers; they hate the whites for the mistreatment they received when the oil companies were established.

The statistical data for 1950 are as follows: 35,000 inhabitants, of whom 32,270 are Catholics and the rest pagans; 10 Capuchin priests, assisted in their ministry by 5 brothers and 15 sisters; 5 primary stations with their churches, 14 secondary; 65 Catholic elementary schools, with 2,614 pupils; 8 dispensaries, with 8,119 consultations a year.

Antonio Mazza