Some facts about Guatemala

History & Disappearance of the Mayan Civilization

The Mayan civilization was the most dominant society in Mesoamerica (Mexico & Central America)
 Earliest Maya settlements date to around 1800 B.C. These civilizations were agricultural. They grew crops such as corn, beans, squash and cassava. They also become culturally advanced and started building pyramid buildings and developing cities.
During the classic period around 750 AD is considered the Golden Age for the Maya Empire. The civilization grew to about 40 cities, and may have reached a population around 2,000,000.
The Maya were deeply religious and they worshipped God related to nature. At the top of the Mayan society were kings. These kings were thought of the earth. The inscriptions of temple walls led people to believe they were very violent. As a part of religious ritual they performed torture & sacrifice.  During this time they also made advancement in math & astronomy, and created the 365-day calendar.
From the 8th - 9th century the Mayan society started to fall classical cities were abandoned and by 900 AD the Mayan civilization had collapsed.

These popular theories exist as to why the extinction of society occurred one theory is the people completely exhausted the environment to the point it could no longer sustain the population. Another theory is that the constant warfare caused the society to breakdown the final common theory is extreme environmental change, like an intense drought.

San Lucas Mission

The San Lucas mission was founded by the Franciscan order in the late 16th century, the mission church was founded in 1584. In 1958, the catholic church in Rome called for greater involvement of clergy and lay people in world missions. Diocese of New Ulm launched a partnership with the Diocese of Sololá Guatemala. Father Greg Schaffer a Diocesan priest from New Ulm began serving as a pastor for the San Lucas Mission in 1962.

Devotion has been the enhancement and enrichment of the whole person - spiritually, intellectually, and physically addressing immediate effects of poverty and its underlying causes.


Father Greg Schaffer

Father Greg was born on January 29th, 1934 in St. Paul, Minnesota.  He entered the seminary in 1954 and started working at San Lucas Mission in 1963.  He stayed for nearly 4 decades and oversee the mission and always made upholding the dignity of the Guatemalan people.  He also started many aspects of the mission such as medical and dental clinic, elementary school, library and a women's center . Many awards were bestowed on him, specifically order of the Quetzal.

Civil War

During the civil war thousand were killed and many more unclaimed.  People  were forced from homes or killed because the rich people wanted the lands. Men were recruited and they were killed or kidnapped if uncooperative.