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Friday, November 3, 2000

Songs, prayers, tears for immigrants
Kingsville Catholics attend Dia de los Muertos ceremony in Sarita
By Jeremy Schwartz
Caller-Times

George Gongora/Caller-Times

Anna Rodriguez places a flower on the grave of an illegal immigrant who died crossing through Kenedy County. About 50 people attended the Day of the Dead ceremony performed at a cemetery in Sarita.

SARITA - No one knows where they came from or who they left behind. Their graves lie side by side, 31 of them, under simple wooden crosses. But on this day they weren't forgotten.
   For decades, the immigrants at the Sarita cemetery had gone largely unnoticed. After dying in the harsh Kenedy County brush they were buried here without much ceremony.
   Most were discovered without identification and all attempts to find their families or friends south of the border were unsuccessful.
   Parishioners from Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church in Kingsville decided to remember the 31 immigrants Thursday, with a Dia de los Muertos ceremony filled with singing, prayers and tears.

George Gongora/Caller-Times

The Rev. Piotr Koziel blesses the 31 graves marked by wooden crosses in the Sarita cemetery.

   "There was hope at the beginning of their journey when they left their homelands in search of a better life," said the Rev. Piotr Koziel, an immigrant from Poland. "Now they lie here in the hope of a resurrection that will bestow on them citizenship in the kingdom of God."
   Koziel said he and his congregation wanted to perform the ceremony on the Day of the Dead because they knew no relatives or friends of the fallen immigrants would be there to remember them. "I thought we could honor their dignity," he said after the service.
   Koziel learned of the cemetery after being contacted by Kenedy County Sheriff Rafael Cuellar who has overseen burials of unidentified immigrants in Sarita for more than 10 years. Koziel, who performed a funeral service for an immigrant in June, discussed the idea with his parishioners who were enthusiastic about the ceremony. About 50 attended the service.
   A group of Texas A&M University-Kingsville students built and installed a 15-foot cross made out of telephone poles in the middle of the cemetery to mark the occasion. Parishioners built an altar at the cross with a plaque quoting the Biblical scripture that read in part: "Our citizenship is in heaven."
   Gwyndelin Guzman, a sophomore at H.M. King High School in Kingsville, was part of the church youth group that built the wooden crosses for the graves. "I was real sad when I heard about it," Guzman said. "I was just so happy that we did this, giving the dead a little bit of dignity."
   As part of the service Koziel and parishioners walked past gravesites marked "John Doe" and "Unknown Male," spreading incense with a censer and laying down flowers. For many, the experience brought tears.
   "It's kind of emotional to see a grave marked unknown," Norma Garza, a member of Our Lady of Good Counsel, said. "I can't really talk now. It's very spiritual."
   Cuellar said he is glad of the newfound relationship with Our Lady of Good Counsel. "With Father Piotr we can have what we didn't have before, a more humanitarian burial," he said. "All we have to do is call."
   Koziel said he felt a bond with the immigrants buried in Sarita, because like them he escaped from poverty and an oppressive government.
   "I think we all belong to the same family," he said. "No matter what country we come from."

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