Sacred Heart Church, Dangriga

[2] Preceding them to Stann Creek town (later Dangriga) were some Black Creoles and a few whites who were served by Anglican and Methodist missionaries.

There was then a cumulative population of about 500 in Stann Creek and the closely associated town of Mullins River ten miles to the north that had already become a focus of Catholic missionary activity.

[4] Thomas Jeffries, a Methodist minister, said that the Garifuna wore “makeshift beads and crosses to ward off evil and danger, a practice they explained as an inheritance from earlier instruction by Spanish priests.”[3] Mullins River with its colony of immigrant mestizos from Honduras remained the more important Catholic mission until 1867.

In 1871 he built a better church “with pillars and naves and a goodly size”,[6] and had the assistance of a diocesan missionary priest Leon Maclluchet from 1874 to 1879.

Pittar described the Garifuna congregation as “remarkably gentle and docile in their conduct … and not a little superstitious.” One superstition he referred to was the belief that spirits of the dead communicate with the living, the dugu ceremony or “spiritualism.” For decades into the 20th century the church and government tried to stamp out this custom.

[8] But it has endured with mutual influence: the cross and statues of the Virgin Mary might be placed on the altar in the Dubuyaba, and the Buyei encourage attendance at Christian church services, especially for thanksgiving.

A grand parade with banners and bands processed through town along with Prefect Salvatore di Pietro and the members of the Catholic Association.

In 1894 in Stann Creek, beginning in standard 6, the best students received extra classes to enable them to teach in the primary schools, especially in the rural areas.

Graduates who were able and willing were hired for a pittance to help in the primary schools of their communities while preparing to qualify as certified teachers.

[1]: 179  The involvement of the laity was formalized into a Lay Ministry Program for Sacred Heart Parish that, in 1980, saw 37 men and women begin the year-long process of preparation.