After I left the Parochial School, my parents were concerned that I was not learning more about the Catholic faith so they asked me to enroll in the Catholic Religion class that was starting in my school. It was around 1955 or so.

This class was offered at “La Maisonnette”, my school from 1948 to 1958, as an optional course of studies. It was only one hour per week. Girls of other religions, like Anglican or Presbyterian, had a Protestant religion class, and the school also offered a Jewish Religion class.

The class was first taught by a very well known priest in Chile, Bernardino Piñera. He was born in Paris, France, and was also a medical doctor. He finished his medical studies in 1941 and then he studied theology at the Catholic University. He was ordered as a priest in 1947 by the Archbishop of Santiago, Jose Maria Caro. Father Bernardino was a big man and he was always burping because our class was right after the lunch hour. Bernardino Piñera also was named Bishop, and then Archbishop of La Serena in 1983. He resigned at that post in 1990 and became even more famous when he died at 104 years old in 2020, and was honored and recognized for his longevity by Pope Francisco.

When Bishop Piñera became more important, during the 50’s, he asked a Jesuit priest to come and teach our Catholic Religion class. This priest, Rafel Maroto, was a leftist and he mainly talked to us about his life between the very poor people of a shanty town where he lived. He told us that he only owned one “sotana” (tunic) and he did not have money for underwear. Once he was looking for something in one of his pockets and he produced a most incredible massive variety of objects from his two pockets that were, obviously, quite large in that tunic.

He put a lot of revolutionary ideas in our minds of “niñitas ricas” or “little rich ladies”, as he called us when he was in good mood. He later became the Official Chaplain of the Presidential Palace “La Moneda” in Santiago during the government of Presidente Allende from 1970 to 1973. He became a member and leader at the central committee of the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionario (MIR) one of the most revolucianry movements in Chile.

MIR gave many problems to the government of the Dictator Augusto Pinochet during the 17 years of Dictatorship in Chile from 1973 to 1990. Maroto use to say “God wants a righteous society where every member has the same rights, that is the Final Victory.” He died in 1993 at 80 years old very weak but still dreaming of justice.(“RAFAEL MAROTO: SACERDOTE Y MILITANTE DEL MIR a 23 AÑOS de SU MUERTE: UNA MAÑANA DEL DIEZ de JULIO de 1993…” 2016)

According to my research, Maroto became a lawyer before becoming a priest. He was never excommunicated from the Catholic Church.

I don’t remember any of these two teachers telling us to read the Bible. I don’t even remember having to read any book during these classes. Whatever they taught us was about the Catholic Church and not God. I vaguely remember Piñera telling us to go to Church and about the “diezmo” which is about giving a portion of a Catholic’s income to the Church.

I asked my parents about the diezmo. My father, with a very firm voice, told me that he rather contribute to the Rotary Club because they knew where the money was going. The moto of Rotary Club in Spanish is “Dar de Sí antes de Pensar en Sí,” which translates to “Service Above Self.”