Reflections from Bolivia
Remembering the life and death
of Fr. Ray Herman
By Fr. John Swing
January 2009
Monday, October 20, 1975,
was not a good day. I was studying Spanish at the Maryknoll Language
School in Cochabamba. I received word that Fr. Leon Connolly had
broken his ankle while on a youth trip the day before. Fr. Leon was
a priest from the Diocese of Dubuque and pastor at Our Lady of
Fatima Parish in Cochabamba. We had become very good friends. Also
at the parish was Fr. Dave Donovan.
Fr. Ray Herman, also from Dubuque, worked in Morochata, Bolivia, a
three- or four-hour jeep ride away.
Then came the terrible news. Fr. Herman had been shot and killed.
Fr. Dave Donavan and Fr. Leon immediately got into the parish jeep
and set out for Morochata.
I had been to Morachata the week before. We were part of a parish
mission. That night was so serene. No electricity, only candlelight
in the church. Even though the church was full, there was a soft
silence. Only the quiet murmuring as people recited the rosary, an
occasional cry of a child. They were waiting to Fr. Raymundo to
start benediction.
I nearly jumped out of my socks as we came out into the sanctuary.
It was the custom to announce the beginning of Mass by exploding a
stick of dynamite in the plaza in front of the church. They were
miners and regularly used dynamite in their work.
Later that evening, as all of us priests gathered in the living room
of the rectory, I asked Fr. Ray if he liked to hunt. There were many
hunting trophies of deer, bear, and mountain lions hanging on the
wall. Fr. Ray said that they belong to the former pastor and he
never bothered to remove them. Besides, he said, “I hate guns.”
One week later, Fr. Ray was shot and killed while he slept in his
bed in that very same rectory. Now, go to this link to read more
about Fr. Ray:
www.blessedsac.net/herman.html.