The Haría City Council, through the Department of Culture, has been collecting writings, letters and other works by Juan Arocha, who was the parish priest of Haría between 1937 and 1963, from the residents of the municipality for weeks, to be exhibited, together with the material donated by the family to the Diocese of the Canary Islands, in the Museum of Sacred Art of the northern town.
Among the objects ceded by the Diocese are two crucified Christs and four bas-relief panels made by the religious himself, as well as his personal breviary, art books and other documents, which will be accompanied by different photographs of the time he resided in Haría, by Javier Reyes, which have been ceded by Memoria de Lanzarote.
The exhibition is coordinated by José Lavandera, also parish priest of the municipality in the 70s of the last century and currently delegate of Historical Heritage of the Diocese of the Canary Islands and director of the Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art.
Coinciding with the exhibition, the Haría City Council will pay tribute to Juan Arocha on June 24, after the religious function of San Juan Bautista, in the Church of Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación de Haría, in which the mayor of the municipality, José Torres Stinga, will be present, in addition to José Lavandera himself and a representative of the priest's family.
Juan Arocha
Juan Arocha, who was born in 1900 in Triquivijate (Fuerteventura) and died in 1966 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, was declared 'Adoptive Son of Haría' in 193.8 "for his religious work and for the excellent social and humanitarian work he carried out in the municipality".
"An extraordinary man, simple, with a good dialogue and with a lot of initiative, he gained the sympathy of the residents of the municipality thanks to his work and determination in favor of the most humble, introducing also, together with others, the practice of football in the area, creating the base teams such as El Avión, San Juan, San José, el Juvenil and el Victoria", they point out from the Consistory. He also founded several teams in Máguez.
