When the
Rev. Chris W. LaBarge's name appears in the newspaper, it usually
means something bad has happened in Marydel.
Just two weeks ago, LaBarge made the paper again. A man shot and
killed his wife and mother-in-law, then turned the gun on himself in
a house on the Maryland side of the little border town 12 miles west
of Dover.
Relatives and friends of the victims turned to LaBarge for help,
and he did what he could to care for them physically and
spiritually.
LaBarge, pastor of Immaculate Conception Church, has witnessed
dramatic changes in his parish since he signed on as pastor in 1995.
"Initially, it was a little country parish," said LaBarge, who
hails from Massachusetts but grew up in New Castle County.
In 1996, Marydel began to change.
A trickle of immigrants from Guatemala and southern Mexico became
a steady flow and before long the country store was stocking piquin
chili peppers alongside the pretzels and potato chips.
LaBarge soon realized his high-school Spanish was not enough to
communicate with the new arrivals, the majority of whom were
Catholic.
"So, in January, February and March of '98, I went down to
Guatemala to work on my Spanish," LaBarge said.
While he was there, he visited the villages his new parishioners
had left.
"They're 8,000, 9,000 feet above sea level. There's not a lot to
do there, so they come here," LaBarge said.
The wave of new arrivals caused some tension in Marydel, but
LaBarge helped ease concerns by focusing on the similarities between
the immigrants and the locals.
Both groups, he said, share rural and agricultural roots - as
well as their common humanity.
"People here began to see people, not races," LaBarge said.
The church still has its traditional chicken and oyster supper -
but it now has Masses in Spanish as well as English.
LaBarge's work during times of crisis has helped focus attention
on the northern part of Caroline County, where residents have long
complained they receive little attention from officials in the
county seat of Denton.
"He's a voice in that area and he's definitely trying to help at
that end of the county," County Administrator Charles C. Cawley
said.
The county commissioners appointed LaBarge to the Social Service
Advisory Board, and he also serves on the Extended Board of Health
and the board of directors of Choptank Community Health Systems.
LaBarge said while he is happy serving his changing community, he
expects to be transferred in the next three to six years.
But his work in Marydel is not done. LaBarge still encounters
residents who ask of the immigrants, "Why don't they learn English?"
"I can turn that around and ask, 'Why don't you learn Spanish?' "
LaBarge said.
Reach J.L. Miller at 678-4271 or jlmiller@delawareonline.com.
02/11/2002