The light and joy of Ajijic’s 11 Easter Sunday Masses flickered when Father Alfredo Arreola, the Roman Catholic parish priest, announced that he will soon be transferred to become the director of Tlaquepaque’s Sanctuaria de Nuestra Señora de Soledad.
Rather than a new assignment, the active 77-year-old priest was thinking of retirement, possibly in La Floresta. “All priests in the dioceses are required to write a letter of resignation at age 75,” he explained. “I did that, and then I waited two years for the bishop to reply. Then, when I finally heard from him it wasn’t the answer I expected. He didn’t accept my resignation.”
He sighed slightly and smiled before continuing. “But, after all these years, I know this process. It is part of the life I have chosen and lived now for 47 years. I don’t make the decisions, and neither does the bishop.” He pointed to the ceiling. “I’m honored that He wants me to continue, and I’m happy that He has decided to allow me to spend my last active years as a priest serving Our Lady.”
Nuestra Señora de Soledad (Our Lady of Solitude) in the center downtown historic area of Tlaquepaque is a lovely smaller church filled with works of art. It is actually a basilica, a shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary in her grief and solitude. The local priest added, “Of course I’m sad to be leaving my Ajijic friends. The people of this parish have been so warm and kind to me, and so helpful during all of the projects we’ve completed together.”
Arreola is known for his intense interest in the restoration of the churches he has served, and his ability to motivate the donation of the funds needed to complete the work. “The only church in which we didn’t do extensive work was my first. I was sent to Arrandas up in Los Altos de Jalisco for the first two years, right after my ordination,” said the Ameca native.“During a 20-year assignment in Jocotepec we did a good deal of work in the town’s churches. Next came almost ten years in La Barca while we worked on restoring Santa Monica. Then I was in Cocula, the birthplace of the mariachi, for six years while we renovated both of the churches on the town square.”
Within a month of his November 2003 arrival in Ajijic, Arreola began a campaign to raise enough money to buy new bells for San Andrés. Other projects followed in rapid succession. These projects are not carried out according to the whim or wishes of Arreola. The dioceses of Guadalajara maintains a committee to plan and watch over restoration projects. It is made up of a team of 20 expert engineers and architects trained in sacred art and well connected to experts in every field of the restoration of ancient buildings. The engineer in charge of the Ajijic project was Ricardo Agras.
The jobs were completed in order of importance. First was a new electrical system to replace the original wiring and a new roof to stop the leaks. The exterior of the church was painted, followed by a new sound system, the restoration of the parking lot, and the reconstruction of the cloister patio and gardens. Then the committee and Arreola, working from plans to integrate the past, present and future, added a columbarium with more than 60 compartments for the interment of remains.
Specialty teams sand blasted and tuck pointed the old interior quarry-stone columns and altarpieces. Folk artists trained to replicate Mexico’s old decorative painting renewed the interior paint on the walls and ceiling.
Arreola’s favorite project was the largest and most difficult. The foundations and subflooring of the church were sagging. The engineers noted that without strengthening the building, the walls would begin to bow leading to the eventual collapse of some, or all, of the building.
“It was a tremendous job,” said Arreola. “When they took up the tile floor we found nearly a dozen different colors of tile. The more we did, the more that needed to be done. Eventually we removed more than a meter of soil and rock under the floor level. A ramp was built so that small backhoes and front-end loaders could drive up the front steps and into the church. Then they installed a interlocking network of steel beams and layers and layers of foundation and sub-flooring before laying three-quarter-inch deep red granite flooring. The floor color symbolizes the blood of Christ; the white marble flooring in the altar area reflects His purity. There are reasons for the way everything has been done.”
Interspersed with the big jobs, Arreola raised money for other projects. Somewhere he found a top-notch used Allen electronic organ like the one in the Sistine Chapel, and then he motivated part of the congregation to pay for it.
Rather than seeing the workmen idle between major projects, Arreola planned smaller jobs to fix and patch the other parish churches: the Chapel of the Virgin of the Rosary at the Ajijic plaza, the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Guadalupe at Seis Esquinas (Six Corners) and the Chapel of San Jose in upper La Floresta. With diocesan funds, Arreola supervised the creation of a series of bright modern apartments adjoining the freshly painted and repaired Chapel of San Jose. These quarters are reserved for vacations, rest and recuperation any of the priests and bishops in the dioceses of Guadalajara.
The race between Arreola’s upcoming transfer and the completion of his final Ajijic project, the application of gold leaf to the last sections of the altar may come down to the wire. “I don’t know exactly when I’ll be moving to Tlaquepaque.” With twinkling eyes, he added, “Right now they are remodeling my quarters at Nuestra Señora de Soledad and it looks as if that will take about another three weeks. Meanwhile, with the Holy Week and Easter services over, the scaffolding is back in place so that the artisans can continue with the gold leaf. They say it’ll take about three weeks.”
While he would like to see other restoration projects at San Andrés completed, Arreola is looking forward to the transfer. “I know that change is good. It is healthy to disconnect and start over in a new place. I’m going to be surrounded by many happy ceremonies and sacraments. Baptisms, quinceaños (15th birthday celebrations) and weddings fill Our Lady of Solitude with joy.
“I’ll be more free, and have less stress and responsibility in this new role. Perhaps I’ll play tennis more often. I think this is a healthy change for me. And, you never know,” added the priest who is known as the restorer, “in that large parish of San Pedro de Tlaquepaque maybe I’ll find some churches that need work.”