Santiago Taboada Castillo
Every year, the Argentinian Military Ordinariate sends a priest to serve the people who reside on Argentina's Antarctic bases.
The first Argentinian priest to spend the winter on the White Continent was 41 year old priest, Fr. Francisco Roverano.
FR. FRANCISCO ROVERANO
After several assignments, Bishop Santiago Olivera, the Military Bishop of Argentina, approached me with a proposal. He asked me to serve in Antarctica. Chaplains normally accompany the summer campaign, which lasts about 4 or 5 months, but he wanted to know if I would be willing to remain there for a whole year.
Fr. Roverano embarked on the Almirante Irízar, an icebreaker ship bound for Antarctica. During his 4 month mission, he visited each of Argentina's Antarctic bases, providing pastoral care and celebrating Mass in the chapels.
FR. FRANCISCO ROVERANO
It's like a floating hotel. The icebreaker's mission is to transport scientists and military personnel.
Upon arriving on the White Continent, Fr. Roverano learned the region's most important lesson: “the weather calls the shots”
FR. FRANCISCO ROVERANO
You might have a million things to do, but one day you arrive and there's a storm or a blizzard and you simply can't leave the ship.
Once he had settled on the continent, the priest experienced the Antarctic winter. The animals disappeared, and temperatures dropped to 40 degrees below zero. Fr. Roverano decided to lend a hand with the tasks and operations on the base.
FR. FRANCISCO ROVERANO
I would always spend time alongside different staff members as they worked. I told the supervisor, “one day I'll go with the electrician, another with the carpenter, another with the mechanics.” I also took my turn helping in the kitchen and working at the power station, checking engines to ensure everything was operating correctly and the base had electricity.
He celebrated Mass everyday in the chapel at the Esperanza base, at times by himself. In 2023, he was the only Argentinian priest in Antarctica. He spent 9 months without confession.
Fr. Roverano had to prepare everything he would need for an entire year in Antarctica: hosts, wine and other necessary items to celebrate Mass. He even wore a chasuble that Pope John Paul II donated for the mission.
Fr. Roverano has now returned to Argentina where he is a chaplain in Cordoba, though he does not rule out the possibility of going back. It is clear that he embraced Jesus' call to go into the world and proclaim the Gospel.
