San Bartolome Parish El Salvador

The parish of San Bartolome is a parish community fo eighteen remote communities covering one hundred square miles of mountainous terrain, in the northeastern corner of the El Salvadorian province of Chalatenango. Historically, the people of San Bartolome faced some of the most horrendous human rights abuses at the hands of the military during a twenty-year period of war. Outright massacres, the abduction and sale of children, and the relentless bombing of pueblos are a small part of the context in which our people have attempted to survive and have been rebuilding their lives since the peace accords of 1992.

Now, in spite of the effects of migration and endemic poverty, the people of San Bartolome together with the help of the international community have rebuilt roads, schools, clinics, and churches. Of great importance has been the water project which has supplied a safe supply of drinking water to pueblos such as Neuva Trinidad, Carasque, and Teosintes. Work continues in communities such as Arcatao which presently has only intermittent access to safe drinking water. None of these projects are finished, and the parish continues to work with the community towards faith development and social justice.   Visit the San Bartolome website.

Written by Fr. Donald Bahlinger, S.J.
Pastoral Minister of San Bartolome and other parishes in El Salvador