Welcome
The municipality of San Manuel Chaparron belongs to the department of Jalapa in Guatemala. It contains 13 villages and 30 populated localities. It is situated at 915 meters above sea level. San Manuel Chaparron contains around 8,400 inhabitants, the large majority of which are involved in farming. Some are dedicated to the rearing of livestock and development of lactose products.

The parish is dedicated to the Crucified Christ and belongs to the dioceses of Jalapa. The official feast is celebrated on the 15th of January, the feast of the Lord of Esquipulas. Since 1965, the parish has had a fixed priest residing in the parish house. In the 1980s, a Belgian priest, Fr. P. Maertens worked very hard in this parish, until his recent death in 1998. The construction of the first temple (church) was in the 19th century, but this was partially destroyed by the storms in 1997. It was reconstructed in two years, and consecrated by Archbishop Jorge Mario Avila on the 13th of August 2000. Pastoral work involves visiting the villages of the municipality, the administration of the Parish School ‘Madre Teresa’ and constant involvement with local people in the various ongoing projects. We constantly strive to be the voice of the poorest inhabitants.

Lack of employment in the village often results in a high level of emigration to the United States. Most make the crossing illegally, often endangering their lives in the process. Today there are more than 4000 people from Chaparron residing in the US. This implies the constant loss of valuable human resources leading to a situation of incessant economic dependence on remittances sent by family.

The current Parish Priest is Rev. Fr. Antonio Grech who comes from Malta, whilst the actual Mayor 2004-2008 is Norman Alarcón.