Extension Magazine - Winter 2019

catholicextension.org
STORIES OF FAITH FROM CATHOLIC EXTENSION WINTER 2019
FAITH
TRANSFORMS
THIS IS HOW
COMMUNITIES
14
Lumen Christi Award 12
Special Insert
Pastoral Letter

Extension | Winter 2019 3
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Board of Governors
CHANCELLOR
Cardinal Blase J. Cupich
Archbishop of Chicago
VICE CHANCELLOR
Most Reverend Gerald F. Kicanas
Apostolic Administrator of Las Cruces
PRESIDENT
Reverend John J. Wall
VICE CHAIR OF COMMITTEES and SECRETARY
James M. Denny
BOARD MEMBERS
Most Reverend Gerald R. Barnes
Bishop of San Bernardino
Most Reverend Steven Biegler
Bishop of Cheyenne
Dr. Arturo Chávez
Elizabeth Hartigan Connelly
John W. Croghan
Most Reverend Daniel E. Flores, STD
Bishop of Brownsville
Most Reverend Curtis J. Guillory, SVD
Bishop of Beaumont
The Honorable James C. Kenny
Most Reverend Robert N. Lynch
Bishop Emeritus of St. Petersburg
Peter J. McCanna
Andrew J. McKenna
Michael G. O’Grady
Christopher Perry
Karen Sauder
Pamela Scholl
Most Reverend Anthony B. Taylor
Bishop of Little Rock
Most Reverend George L. Thomas
Bishop of Las Vegas
Most Reverend William A. Wack, CSC
Bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee
Edward Wehmer
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COVER STORY
Transforming
lives with faith
and love 14
This year’s Lumen Christi Award
honors Mack McCarter, who is
transforming neighborhoods
in Shreveport, Louisiana. We
also celebrate ten outstanding
finalists who are shining the light
of Christ across America.
Transformative encounter on the
BUILD
border 10
NEWS BRIEFS | Pastors take immersion trip to Texas and
Mexico to engage and support immigrants
Spirit of Francis Award 11
NEWS BRIEFS | Doctor from New York honored for
expanding healthcare options for the vulnerable
INSPIRE
Offering hope to Native Americans 26
LUMEN CHRISTI FINALIST | Sister finds blessings within the
challenges of her vital ministries on a reservation
Feeding hungry children: body and
spirit 32
LUMEN CHRISTI FINALIST | Religion teachers serve hungry
students with food, love and inspiration
IGNITE
Christmas wish list 43
WISH LIST | In this wonderful season of joy and hope, we
share wishes from those in need
Keeping God at the center 44
DONOR PROFILE | Supporters in Omaha drawn to Catholic
Extension’s mission early in their lives
Letter from Father Wall 4
Connect 46

4
Letter from Father Wall
Extension | Winter 2019 5
Father Jack Wall visits
this year’s Lumen Christi
recipient Mack McCarter in
Shreveport, Louisiana.
The transformative power of faith
and friendship
Dear Friends,
If there is an especially
fitting time
for Catholic Extension
to present
our annual Lumen
Christi Award it is
certainly now at
the end of the calendar
year when
daylight diminishes, and darkness
dominates the sky. We
especially need the enduring
power of the Light of Christ
among us now in our country
when another dark force —
divisiveness — is spreading
rancor and hatred among us
as a nation and even within
the Church.
If the mission of Catholic
Extension means anything,
it is to push back the powers
of darkness by strengthening
our sense of solidarity with
one another, and to give
effective expression to our
deepest truth—we belong
to each other because we
belong to God. We have no
other identity separate from
this truth, and we as Catholic
Extension live our deepest
truth when we choose to
incarnate the love that God
has for us by becoming
God’s life-giving love to one
another. Catholic Extension is
a unique expression of what
it means to live this truth of
our faith at its deepest level
with our brothers and sisters
in the poorest regions of our
country.
In my 11 years as president,
I have seen how you and I
as Catholic Extension break
through barriers, bringing
good people together in faith
to become a light of hope, that
we can be one because we are
one in God’s love. At our core,
we are relational, and we are
at our truest when we work
for what brings us together
and connects us.
We are delighted to introduce
you to remarkable
individuals who are genuine
connectors. In energizing and
creative ways, their faith is
inspiring them to bring the
beauty and the joy of the
Gospel to others.
Their ministries truly
transform the life trajectories
of everyone they serve
—breaking the cycles of
poverty, providing places of
safe harbor and recognizing
the sacredness and dignity
of all whom they encounter.
Where there are cries for help
in America, where there is
a need, they have answered
the call. To each person they
meet, they communicate,
“You matter. Your life and talents
and gifts matter.”
These individuals are this
year’s Lumen Christi Award
finalists and recipient. They
are caring missioners who are
shining examples of Catholic
Extension’s mission. They are
leading vibrant and transformative
faith communities
with compassion and courage.
They are the unsung heroes
whose contributions, large
and small, are changing the
fabric of our church and
country in positive and aspi-
rational ways. Together they
represent the story of who
we are as Catholics and our
mission to spread the Light of
Christ throughout America.
Our Lumen Christi recipient,
Mack McCarter of
Shreveport, Louisiana, gives
us an amazing model of how
caring people can day by day
profoundly transform a community.
In the last 25 years, he
has brought to light the power
of relationships and inspired
unimaginable changes in very
poor and tough neighborhoods.
With a deep conviction
that God is up to something
important in our lives,
he unites people, spreads
an infectious positivity and
invites all of us to share in this
joyful connectedness.
The Lumen Christi Award
gives us an opportunity to
take a closer look at what
can happen when the people
of faith with whom you are
walking in solidarity are
given a helping hand and the
needed resources to make a
difference.
I am thinking of each of
you in this time of Advent
Light, and my prayer for you
is that we may be renewed
and emboldened in our faith
and in our commitment to be
present to all whom we love
and to all who need us.
God bless,
Rev. John J. Wall
PRESIDENT, CATHOLIC EXTENSION

Extension | Winter 2019 7
“FOR IT IS IN
GIVING
THAT WE
RECEIVE.”
⁠—St. Francis of Assisi
A Catholic Extension charitable
gift annuity offers you immediate
financial benefits and will help
communities that are poor in
resources but rich in faith for
generations to come.
• Receive fixed payments for life
• Get immediate and future tax benefits
AGE
Minimum age is 55
ACT NOW!
BEFORE
YEAR
END!
ANNUAL
PAYOUT RATE
55-59 4.3-4.6%
60-64 4.7-5.0%
65-69 5.1-5.4%
BUILD
MISSION NEEDS 8 | NEWS BRIEFS 10
Good news from
around the country
• Make a lasting impact
70-74 5.6-6.1%
For a personalized proposal,
contact Betty Assell at 800-842-7804
or Bassell@catholicextension.org
75-79 6.2-7.1%
80-84 7.3--8.1%
85-89 8.3-9.2%
catholicextension.org/annuities
Please cut along
the dotted line and
mail to: Catholic
Extension, 150
South Wacker
Drive, Suite 2000,
Chicago, IL 60606
_____ Please contact me
90+ 9.5%
Two-life rates available upon request
Rates Effective July 1, 2018
_____ Please send a sample charitable gift annuity proposal for $__________________
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Pastors visit
La Lomita
chapel on
immersion trip
to the U.S.-
Mexico border
through
Catholic
Extension’s
Pastor
Immersion
Program. See
news brief,
page 10.

8 BUILD Mission Needs
Extension | Winter 2019 9
CHALAN KANOA NORTHERN
Alaska
MARIANA ISLANDS
$5,000 is needed
for a new Social
Justice and
Outreach Program
to extend comfort,
guidance and love
to residents as they
confront pressing
challenges, such
as substance abuse, immigration and
homelessness.
Guam
Caroline Islands
Marshall
Islands
Samoa-Pago Pago
Chalan Kanoa
SEASIDE CALIFORNIA
community.
PLEASE HELP CATHOLICS IN NEED
Your support ensures that Catholics who live on
the margins can experience the vibrancy of our
faith. Thank you.
$20,000 is
needed to
subsidize the
salary of Father
Francisco Montes,
associate pastor of
St. Francis Xavier
Church, a growing
and diverse faith
MONUMENT COLORADO
St. Peter Parish
is the only
Catholic Church
in town and
has grown by
500 families.
The parish
needs $60,000
to expand its
church and school.
PEÑITAS TEXAS
The center
“Human
Development
Project” has
demonstrated
great success
in helping a
poor community
build a loving
neighborhood, including a
community garden. They need
$20,000 to continue their ministry.
ISSION NEEDS
Hawaii
LAKE CHARLES LOUISIANA
Deacon
Patrick
LaPoint is
the only fulltime
staff at
Stella Maris
Seafarers
Center.
$7,500 will
provide for this essential ministry
that supports sailors who are away
from their homes and their Church
for months at a time.
CATHOLIC EXTENSION
MISSION AREAS
PROJECTS IN MISSION AREAS
THAT NEED YOUR SUPPORT
NON-MISSION AREAS
BAYFIELD PENINSULA
WISCONSIN
Sister Kathy
Salewski is a
caring, pastoral
Catholic leader
for 300 Native
American
families who
face immense
poverty. $19,800
will support her vital outreach
ministries that are easing the suffering
of her community.
VILLALBA PUERTO RICO
As parishioners
continue to flock to
San Mateo Chapel
in central Puerto
Rico, the parish
seeks $30,000 to
expand its building
and provide enough
space for its
increasing numbers.
Puerto Rico
St. Thomas-
Virgin Islands

10
BUILD
News Briefs
Extension | Winter 2019 11
HIGHLIGHTS
RESTORATIVE JUSTICE
CHICAGO
HOLY FAMILY FUND
UNITED STATES
CATHOLIC
EDUCATORS
UNITED STATES
LATIN AMERICAN
SISTERS
UNITED STATES
Legacy Club Mass
In December Catholic
Extension President
Father Jack Wall will
celebrate a Mass
for the intentions of
Legacy Club members.
The annual Mass is
one of the benefits for
club members, who
have designated a gift
to Catholic Extension
in their will. “We are
enormously thankful
for our Legacy Club
members and their
loyalty to our mission,”
said Father Wall.
“We remember you in
our prayers.”
TV Mass
Please join us for our
Weekly TV Mass at
catholicextension.org/
tvmass.
Transformative encounter on the border
In September, through Catholic Extension’s Pastor Immersion
Program, 18 priests traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border to experience
firsthand the hardships that immigrants and refugees face
and how the Church serves them.
Partnering with Loyola University
Chicago, Catholic
Extension offers a Restorative
Justice Ministry certificate
to participants in mission
dioceses. Recently,
20 people, representing
13 dioceses, participated
in this education. The
program gathers experts in
theology, law and pastoral
ministry to help participants
gain a better perspective
on prison ministry
and how it can re-orient
inmates and communities
towards greater solidarity
and compassion.
Catholic Extension’s Holy
Family Fund provides
emergency funds and
services to a family after
one or more of the undocumented
income earning
adults in the home are
detained or deported
by the U.S. government.
The fund supports the
family during these abrupt
family separations, which
cause great financial
hardship and trauma. For
more information, visit
catholicextension.org/
holy-family-fund.
Another cohort of educators
began new learning
through the Catholic
School Leadership Development
Initiative, a partnership
between Loyola
Marymount University
and Catholic Extension.
This online program helps
prepare educators for future
leadership positions
by developing knowledge
and skills and creates a
pipeline of school leaders
in mission dioceses. This
year 16 leaders from 7 dioceses
are participating.
In October, we welcomed
40 Latin American sisters
as the second cohort to
participate in our U.S.-Latin
American Sisters Exchange
Program, in partnership
with the Hilton Foundation.
Building on the success of
the first group, the sisters
will provide outreach ministries
and pastoral care to
Hispanic communities
in poor parishes throughout
the country. During their
five-year stay, the sisters
will receive extensive education
and training opportunities.
They were deeply moved by visits to migrant shelters, the
Humanitarian Respite Center, the Human Development Project,
an historic border church and other ministries that Catholic
Extension supports.
The pastors, from Chicago, Boston, Atlanta, Louisville, Providence
and Cleveland, encountered a completely different side of
the Church than the urban areas they serve.
Above, the priests gather at the Rio Grande in Los Ebanos,
Texas, to pray for the safety and welfare of the immigrants.
ISPIRIT OF FRANCIS
n October, Dr. Ramon
Tallaj, Chairman of
the Board of Bronxbased
SOMOS Community
Care, received
Catholic Extension’s 2019
Spirit of Francis Award -
which recognizes individuals
or groups for their huge commitment
to “reach out to the margins of society.” He
was honored for his lifelong
work in delivering outstanding
healthcare access and
options to poor and underserved
communities in the
New York metropolitan area.
With a strong faith, a moral
sense of duty and profound
compassion, Dr. Tallaj is
breaking down barriers to quality healthcare
among the most vulnerable.
NEWS BRIEFS

Extension | Winter 2019 13
INSPIRE Features of faith
LUMEN CHRISTI RECIPIENT 14 | LUMEN CHRISTI FINALISTS 22
THE LIGHT
OF CHRIST
AMONG US
THE LUMEN CHRISTI AWARD honors
amazing individuals and groups
who are transforming the lives of
thousands of people throughout our
country in powerful and inspiring
ways.
They vary in ministries, ethnicities
and geographic areas,
but have one common thread—
they are shining examples of
Catholic Extension’s mission.
They are tackling the spiritual
and humanitarian needs of
diverse faith communities and
building up the Church in America’s
poorest regions.
This year 49 outstanding nominees
were submitted from dioceses. These
individuals are everyday heroes
who see a challenge or an opportunity—and
take action! With determination
and courage, they roll up
their sleeves, gather resources and
2019 u 2020
Lumen
Christi
AWARD
improve lives. They are the compassionate
trailblazers who are shaping
the fabric of our society.
Once a year, in this season of light,
we take a moment to illuminate their
brilliant work, their humble
personalities and their enormous
impact. We hold them
up for others to see. Their compelling
stories, when woven
together, tell us about the
Church in marginalized areas:
it is strong; it is vibrant; and it
is growing.
This rich tapestry of individuals
shows the scope and diversity
of Catholic Extension. We proudly
present this year’s Lumen Christi
Award recipient and 10 finalists and
invite you to immerse in their captivating
and important stories.

14
INSPIRE
Lumen Christi Recipient
Extension | Winter 2019 15
MACK McCARTER | DIOCESE OF SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA
This is how faith
transforms
A NEIGHBORHOOD IS RESTORED THROUGH CARING FRIENDSHIPS
In Shreveport, Louisiana, a
powerful transformation is
taking place that is rooted
in faith and neighborly love.
Lumen Christi Award
Catholic Extension has
been bringing good people of
faith together to serve the poor in
America for 114 years.
ARKANSAS
Our 2019-20 Lumen Christi
Award recipient, Mack McCarter,
has a deep passion, devo-
Little Rock
tion and sense of urgency
Shreveport to serving those in need.
Alexandria Through caring relationships,
he has brought remarkable
changes to neighborhoods
Lake Charles
throughout his area and
Lafayette Houma- is a shining example of
Thibodaux
Catholic faith in action.
Father Jack Wall, president
of Catholic Extension, said,
“Mack is a true visionary. He has
completely transformed parts of
LOUISIANA
Shreveport through the most
profound idea that we are created
to be relational. God has
made us to be a blessing to others.
As we build up faith communities,
we are so keenly aware of
this great need for people to nurture
relationships that are strong
and loving. Mack not only shows
us the great joy that comes from
our connections to each other,
but the amazing changes that
can occur when we live in faith
and friendship. We are privileged
to honor him with our Lumen
Christi Award.”
McCarter's story
After pursuing a vocation
as a pastor in Texas, McCarter
returned to his hometown of
Shreveport in 1991 to find many
neighborhoods, which were once
thriving, in decline. They faced
gangs, drugs, violence, crumbling
homes and people living in isolation.
It was heartbreaking, but
2019 u 2020
Lumen
Christi
AWARD
RECIPIENT
Mack McCarter
with Pam Morgan
(lower right),
community
coordinator, at
Friendship House
in Allendale with
children in afterschool
program.

16 INSPIRE
Lumen Christi Recipient
Winter 2019 17
When McCarter
first arrived in
Allendale 28 years
ago, he encountered
great poverty and
neighbors who did
not know each other
and were lonely.
At the Friendship
House in the
renovated
Allendale
neighborhood,
McCarter stops to
play with children
in the after-school
program.
A transformative friendship
As McCarter’s dream to restore Shreveport
neighborhoods though caring relationships
was growing, he needed support.
Knowing that where he “encountered
the poor, he encountered the Catholic Church,” he
reached out to the bishop of Shreveport at the time,
William Friend. McCarter explained his vision to
renew their city by “re-villagizing” its poorest areas.
The bishop was deeply moved.
“Bishop Friend told me, ‘We’ll make this happen!
Every parish in the diocese is open to you to come
and share your plan,’” said McCarter. “He helped
me to move from wanting to make a difference
to actually being willing and able to make a
difference.” The bishop gave McCarter a check for
$10,000, the project's first seed money.
Bishop Friend was on McCarter’s first board
of directors, which convened around McCarter’s
dining room table, and created Community Renewal
International in 1994. The bishop was a key player in
CRI's growth and one of its most ardent supporters.
Their friendship continued for years, including
the two traveling together in 1998 to Rome to meet
McCarter meets Pope John Paul II in Rome in 1998.
with Pope John Paul II. McCarter recalls that Bishop
Friend said, “I want the Holy Father to meet you and
for you to meet him.”
Perhaps the most compelling part of their
relationship is that Bishop Friend inspired McCarter,
who at the time was a Protestant minister, to convert
to Catholicism.
“Our friendship fundamentally changed my life,”
said McCarter.
God told him that the situation
could be healed.
Guided by his faith, McCarter
theorized that the root of these
problems was a lack of connection
and love among neighbors. People
were not getting to know each
other or helping one another.
He set out to build a system of
caring relationships by tapping into
two human needs that are rooted
in faith— to love and be loved.
To restore the broken relationships,
he created a plan: every
Saturday, he walked the streets of
Allendale, the city's oldest neighborhood
and one of its most
blighted, knocked on doors, introduced
himself and asked people
if they wanted to be friends.
The response was slow at first, but
gradually children became interested
and soon adults were waiting
on their front porches to greet
the gregarious new visitor.
Community Renewal
International
Community Renewal International
(CRI) was founded by
McCarter and his supporters in
1994 based on the premise that
relationships are essential to communities.
CRI’s mission is to foster
these relationships.
McCarter believes that relationships
connect people to their
faith and to the intrinsic dignity
of each person. They allow us to
experience the face of Christ in
each other.
"Relationships make people
feel safe, confident and optimistic.
They motivate them to practice
their faith, go to school and work
and be productive citizens," said
McCarter. "Strong relationships
define all healthy societies.”
According to McCarter, being
relational is at the heart of being
human and a continual longing.
The ability to pursue relationships
is accessible and free of charge to
all. But relationships often get buried
under busyness, individualism,
tribalism or divisiveness. He is
working to cast off the layers that
obscure relationships and restore
their transformational power.
The neighborhoods of Shreveport
have changed. Children play
outside, people smile and are
friendly, houses are tidy and colorful
community gardens have
sprouted in former drug zones.
They are places you want to live.
McCarter’s dream has become a
movement.
Neighbor profiles
Michael Jackson grew up in the
“Bottoms,” a neighborhood which
was full of “gangs, drugs, prostitutes
and a lot of things that kids
should never see,” he said. Deep
down, he yearned for positivity.
When he was 12, McCarter showed
up in his neighborhood and told

18 INSPIRE
Lumen Christi Recipient
Winter 2019 19
CRI's Three Core Strategies
People and partnerships are
at the heart of CRI. One key
partner, The Fuller Center for
Housing, builds homes, with
zero-interest-rate mortgages, as
the neighborhoods are being
renovated.
CRI impacts a diversity of people.
Here are their transformational
stories — proof that
this model changes lives and
society.
1) Renewal Team
50,000 people who sign “We
Care” pledge cards promising
to serve their neighbors. They
show their commitment through
yard signs.
2) Haven Houses
1,700 trained leaders to provide
a broader platform for socializing
among neighbors and helping
each other.
3) Friendship Houses
Based in low-income, high-crime
areas, with live-in leaders, they
are popular gathering places
and a crucial presence in their
neighborhoods.
Jackson about the Friendship
House. “You went into the House
and felt safe,” he said. “They
hug you, ask you about your day,
share scriptures and talk about
the future,” he said. “Mack set the
tone for my life and showed me a
new path. He gave me the chance
to make good choices.” Jackson is
Father Jack, McCarter (right), CRI staff and volunteers who are turning McCarter’s vision into
reality throughout the city of Shreveport.
now a lawyer, married with three
children and a mentor to youth.
Pam Morgan works at CRI as
the Allendale Community Coordinator
for Children. Her childhood
in the impoverished Allendale
neighborhood was troubled.
“I didn’t know where my next
meal was coming from. I was lost,
lonely and hopeless,” she said. As
an adult, she had four children and
abusive relationships. She turned
to the Friendship House for help.
McCarter saw that she was a great
caregiver, and in 2001 he asked if
she’d like to work at CRI. Unemployed,
she accepted ecstatically.
She is a Friendship House leader
and lovingly runs the after-school
program for children. “I see myself
in these children,” she said. “I
know I can give them hope.”
Gloria Millender directs CRI’s
Adult Renewal Academy, a faithbased,
holistic program that offers
job training, educational opportunities
and counseling. The academy
has served nearly 2,000 people.
“We help adults dream again
and become what God intended
them to be, without giving into
their limitations," she said.
In an ironic twist, McCarter’s
renewal plans have also taken
root in a wealthy neighborhood,
far from the poor areas where he
started working.
Paige Hoffpauir, a realtor in
the gated community of Southern
Trace in Shreveport, was looking
for a charity to support and
found McCarter. Listening to him
describe the critical role of relationships,
she realized they were
missing from her very own life.“I
was the charity,” she said. “I could
see the loneliness and isolation in
my own community.”
“We’re not meant to be isolated.”
she added. “We’re
intended to reflect God’s love to
each other. We have a moral obligation
to love our neighbor — that’s
our highest calling.” Now as a
Haven House leader, she meets
with neighbors, plans coffee gatherings
and organizes block parties.
Emmitt and Sharpel Welch live
and work at another Friendship
House in the Allendale neighborhood.
As retired Army veterans,
they provide a disciplined, organized
and safe environment for
children and young adults. “Their
parents need some support,” said
Sharpel. “We give their children
special attention to help them
become successful.”
Emmitt teaches welding and
other professional skills to the
adults. “We want to enhance their
Pam Morgan leads
the children in the
after-school program
in prayer at Allendale
Friendship House.
ABOVE When
Michael Jackson
(right) was a young
boy, McCarter
inspired him to stay
out of trouble and
become a leader in
his community.
LEFT Paige
Hoffpauir, at
home in her gated
Southern Trace
neighborhood,
which is part of the
Community Renewal
movement.
LEFT McCarter
relies on Gloria
Millender, director
of the Adult Renewal
Acacemy, who was
one of his original
partners at CRI.

20 INSPIRE
Lumen Christi Recipient
Extension | Winter 2019 21
LEFT Louis Brossette, longtime Allendale resident, Haven House leader
and Our Lady of Blessed Sacrament parishioner is proud of his home,
parish and neighborhood.
BELOW Volunteers and residents pray together in Allendale.
In the Allendale neighborhood, Catholic
Extension supports a parish at the heart of the
community.
lives,” he said. “This training program
helps them become responsible,
productive citizens and gain
confidence and hope.”
The Welches are making
another contribution: they are
modeling a strong marriage.
Dr. Michael Leonard is associate
coordinator at CRI. After his first
career as a dentist, he planned to
retire on the golf course until he
met McCarter. “The vibe Mack
gives off is so inviting,” he said.
“He is optimistic. He is charismatic.
He always talks about
what is possible with God.” He
summed up Mack’s impact: “He
has shown that the power of caring
relationships can transform
not only a person but an entire
community. Now I see the world
in a whole new light.”
John Mark Willcox, director of
development and public relations
for the diocese, wrote the nomination
for McCarter for the award.
“Mack has created a connectedness
and a strength of friendship
in our neighborhoods that is revolutionary,”
he said. “Mack is showing
residents how to get out of
poverty by reaching out to others.”
Moving forward
The success of CRI is now being
replicated in eight other cities in
the United States and in the African
country of Cameroon.
Catholic Extension Connection
Catholic Extension has long been
connected to Allendale, the first
neighborhood that McCarter transformed.
In 1998, shortly after CRI
was established, Catholic Extension
gave a $50,000 grant to Our
Lady of Blessed Sacrament Catholic
Church to renovate its parish
hall. Located in the middle of Allendale,
near CRI’s Friendship House,
the parish has 175 families. This
year, we extended another $15,000
“Community Renewal has
developed a model that can systematically
start, nourish and sustain
safe and loving communities
with measurable results,” said
McCarter. "CRI has blazed the trail,
so others can put the same principles
into practice."
grant to help repair the parish hall
roof. Parishioner Louis Brossette
said,”We are so thankful to Catholic
Extension. We pray for its donors.”
The Diocese of Shreveport was
founded in 1986. Five percent of
Shreveport’s population is Catholic.
Catholic Extension has given
$7.3 million (in today’s dollars) to
the diocese to build churches,
develop leaders and engage
youth.
“We are creating environments
for positive relationships,”
he added. “We all have the orientation
to go toward light and to
improve our lives. Relationships
are fundamental to who we are
and how our society functions.”
“We are called to go out into this
world and to love,” he said.

22
INSPIRE
Lumen Christi Finalist
Extension | Winter 2019 23
La Lomita
Chapel in
Mission,
Texas, is
threatened by
the building of
a wall.
FATHER ROY SNIPES |
DIOCESE OF
BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS
“No walls
between
amigos”
Father Roy Snipes has
stepped into the national
spotlight on a mission
close to his heart: protecting
access to a
chapel, which Catholic
Extension funded years ago, now
being threatened by the building
of a border wall.
Father Snipes says there should
be “no walls between amigos.”
Plans for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico
border leave the historic chapel,
La Lomita, in the enforcement zone
on the south side of the fence, separated
from the community that
has worshipped there for over
100 years. With a wall, the faithful
could not access the chapel, violating
their religious freedom rights
under the First Amendment.
As a Missionary Oblate of Mary
Immaculate, Father Snipes has
served the people of Mission,
Texas, for 25 years as pastor of Our
Lady of Guadalupe Church.
At the heart of his parish is La
Lomita, a one-room, adobe chapel
on the Rio Grande that is stiring the
debate about border security
and religious rights.
The diocese objected to
the wall near La Lomita,
and Father Snipes quickly
became its spokesperson.
“This chapel is beautiful,
sacred and worthy of
respect and reverence,” he
said.
The chapel is meaningful
to the Oblates. They
travelled great distances on horseback
to minister to the poor and
built La Lomita in the late 1800s.
Catholic Extension’s first Texas
grant went to this chapel in 1906.
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120
Years Oblates
have served La
Lomita Chapel
Father Snipes felt a close connection
to the simplicity and
humility of La Lomita. He loved its
“old culture of sweet hospitality”
and no electricity. In 1980 he took
his final vows as a relgious priest
there.
Donning a Stetson and
accompanied by his many
rescue dogs, the folksy
pastor is fondly called “the
cowboy priest.”
He firmly believes the
Gospel is for everyone —
including the farmers and
ranchers he serves. He
relates to them. “Don’t
dazzle them with your
brilliance or baffle them with your
cow patties. You have to come
down off your high horse,” he said.
He serves a region with 75,000
residents. He leads faith formation
Father Roy Snipes, always
accompanied by his dogs,
leads the charge to protect
access to La Lomita Chapel.
programs, sacramental preparation
classes, liturgical celebrations and
fundraising activities at his parish,
which Catholic Extension has supported.
But La Lomita remains his primary
focus now. In February 2019
Congress amended a bill to protect
La Lomita and the surrounding
park, a victory for Father Snipes
and the diocese. Shortly afterward,
however, a national emergency on
the border was declared, questioning
the protections.
La Lomita is beloved by the
entire community of Mission.
Every year, thousands of Catholics
lead a procession to the chapel
on Palm Sunday to honor this holy
site. They are strongly advocating
to keep access to La Lomita free
and open to all.
“This threat to our chapel has
turned into a lot of beautiful, positive
expressions of tenderness,
faith and devotion,” Father Snipes
said. “We have tremendous support
from our community and
now we must keep La Lomita
accessible.”
In guarding the sacred grounds
of the chapel, Father Snipes is
showing that courage and conviction
are core Catholic values worth
defending.

24 INSPIRE
Lumen Christi Finalist
Extension | Winter 2019 25
DEACON JOHN ARCHER |
ARCHDIOCESE OF MOBILE, ALABAMA
On ocean’s tide:
a maritime ministry
brings faith alive
They are the unseen
ones. Arriving in the
Port of Mobile, Alabama,
on cargo
freighters nearly
1,000 feet long, they
load and unload shipping containers,
moving tons of freight and
advancing a global economy.
They are essential to
international commerce
and yet, are invisible to
most people.
They are the 32,000 seafaring
workers who arrive
in the port annually, sailing
from distant corners of the
world.
They spend up to nine
months at sea. With spotty
cell service, making regular
family contact is difficult. With
limited shore time, due to regulatory
issues and work duties, going
to Church is almost impossible.
These seafarers are Deacon
John Archer’s ministry.
He coordinates the Catholic
Maritime Ministry in the Archdiocese
of Mobile, Alabama. As a
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minister of the Apostleship of the
Sea, he serves the sailors by energizing
their faith through prayer
and simply “passing time” with
them on board.
“I bring them the ministry of
presence and remind them that
their Church is here to visit them,”
he said. “We sit together
prayerfully, and eventually
the sharing begins. They
tell their stories, and their
needs emerge.”
Additionally, he runs
errands for them or brings
sailors into town for shopping.
About 30 times a year,
he arranges Mass to be celebrated
on board by Father
Lito Capeding, chaplain of
the ministry. “You can really feel
the joy they experience in receiving
our Lord,” Archer said. Many
have not been able to attend Mass
for months.
While the archdiocese has provided
ministry and hospitality to
seafarers since 1948, this ministry
changed after 9/11 when security
measures and visa requirements
tightened, drastically limiting the
ability of sailors to leave their ships
while docked.
When Archer joined the Apostleship
of the Sea in 2017, after
retiring from 40 years working in
finance in California, he was instrumental
in reimaging this ministry
with its new regulations. He knew
that his presence was critical for
those who could not leave the ship.
During a recent visit, he noticed
a sailor who seemed particularly
down.
“I sat with him awhile, and he
eventually opened up, sharing that
his daughter was heading off to
college. Though this would usually
be a proud moment for a parent,
he was feeling sad that he had
TOP Deacon John Archer’s maritime ministry
is based at the Port of Mobile.
ABOVE Deacon Archer serves sailors who are
at sea for months, away from their families and
without access to churches.
missed most of her
upbringing living
his life at sea,” he
said.
“Most people forget
that there are
people on these
vessels,” he added.
“People see the
ships. They see the
shipping containers.
But they do not
see those responsible
for getting those
containers from point A to point B,
let alone recognize their immense
emotional and spiritual needs due
to the isolation that comes with
being a person of the sea.”
32,000
seafarers passing
through Port of
Mobile annually
Archer partners with others to
support the sailors. “He has established
a much-respected presence
with port facility operators, port
police, agents, and the harbormaster,
that brings great credit to this
ministry and facilitates a more effective
outreach,” said Donald
Rose, a retired U.S. Coast Guard
captain who works with Archer.
“Indeed, the ministry itself has
become a visible witness to everyone
that these mariners, from all
faiths and cultures, are our ‘neighbors,’
and calls us to a new awareness
of how the Gospel message is
real and relevant,” Rose said.

26 INSPIRE
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Extension | Winter 2019 27
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SISTER BARBARA BOGENSCHUTZ, OP |
DIOCESE OF RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA
Offering hope to
Native Americans
Sister Barbara Bogenschutz serves Native Americans who face harsh living conditions
and extreme poverty in the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.
Dominican Sister Barbara
Bogenschutz
does not let a dark
night or the fact that
she’s driving alone
deter her from picking
up a hitchhiker on a rural road
on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
in South Dakota. This is her
home, she knows everyone, feels
safe and wants to lend a hand.
“The greatest blessings and
challenges in this ministry are the
same,” she said. “I never know
what the day will hold, and I am
never lacking in ‘that-was-a-first’
experiences,” she said.
Our Lady of the Sioux Church in
Oglala, with 250 members, is the
Church’s main pastoral presence
on the reservation’s western edge.
Sister Barbara is parish life coordinator at Our
Lady of the Sioux Church in Oglala.
As its parish life coordinator, Sister
Barbara is dedicated to assuring
residents that they are not alone.
She has served the Lakota people
since 2010.
“The Eucharist comes in many
ways all week long,” she said.
“When I arrive where I am going, I
always find God is already there.”
She knows that God is alive in those
whom she serves, and her role is to
help parishioners deepen this relationship.
The reservation, which is set in
rolling hills, sprawls 2.1 milion
acres — which is bigger than the
states of Delaware and Rhode
Island combined. Its 40,000
inhabitants are Oglala Lakota and
10°F
Average winter temperature for
people living in substandard
housing on reservation
the median household income
in Oglala Lakota County is only
$17,300. In an area with limited
economic opportunities, unemployment
is at 89 percent.
Catholic Extension has supported
Pine Ridge Reservation
since 1920 and, in recent years,
has given $270,000 to Our Lady of
the Sioux Church.
Sister Barbara has a keen sense
of the community’s humanitarian
and spiritual needs. For example,
she installed a water faucet in
the church parking lot for everyone
on Pine Ridge Reservation to
access free, potable water. Having
fresh water has been a life-changing
experience for the community.
Residents also lack electricity
and sewage systems and most use
wood stoves to heat their homes
during cold, severe winters.
Under her leadership, the parish
provides a range of social services
to help with these challenges.
Sister Barbara raises funds
to help people with household
payments and gas for their cars,
organizes community events
and bingo at the parish, visits
the homebound and arranges a
monthly food bag distribution.
She organizes a children’s Mass
to keep native traditions alive, and
with a high percentage of these
children being raised by their
grandparents, this special faith formation
is essential.
She also works with four Catholic
cemeteries on the reservation,
offering active bereavement and
funeral ministry.
“With an infectious spirit and
love, Sister Barbara finds practical
solutions to the difficulties faced
by those she serves,” said Bishop
Robert Gruss, who led the diocese
until a recent transfer.
Last year, when hailstorms and
high winds destroyed nearly 500
homes on the reservation, she took
charge of rebuilding the 61 damaged
homes in her town.
“Sister Barbara is very entrepreneurial,”
said Jesuit Father Joe
Daoust, the parish pastor. “With
that rebuilding project, she saw
a need and figured out a way to
address it.”

28 INSPIRE
Lumen Christi Finalist
Extension | Winter 2019 29
ANDY CORNETT | DIOCESE OF PENSACOLA-TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA
An Army veteran who leads with love
In the middle of chaos,
retired Army officer Andy
Cornett is the person you
want to lead. After Hurricane
Michael hit the Florida
Panhandle in 2018, devastating
the Panama City community,
he leapt into action.
“When the storm hit, my faith
came alive. I saw a chance to help
and show people that God is with
us. We are not alone,” he said.
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After serving in the U.S. Army
for 23 years, he had learned how to
lead a mission in times of crisis.
As a parishioner at St. Dominic
in Panama City, his thoughts
quickly turned to how the parish
might reach out. He wanted to help
those who were in despair and
send them a simple message that
there is a God who cares.
He contacted the pastor, Father
Michael Nixon, offering to gather
and manage volunteers. The parking
lot at St. Dominic became a
staging area for all the relief efforts
in the region: food, water, clothing
and medicine — millions of
pounds of these necessities made
their way through St. Dominic in
the ensuing months. Cornett was
at the heart of directing this massive
effort.
Cornett led the response at five
distribution sites serving 81,000
81,000
Number of people
served by Cornett
and his team after a
Category 5 hurricane
individuals over seven weeks. He
managed more than 4,000 volunteers
who recorded over 25,000
hours. The effort served an estimated
150,000 hot meals, including
a sit-down Thanksgiving meal
for 2,000 people.
Cornett’s contributions have
been diverse, including home visits
and basic cleanup. He visited
elderly people who had been living
in a trailer for months after
their homes were flooded. He also
removed downed trees, which littered
homes, yards and roads.
Throughout all, Cornett has
remained laser-focused on the
real mission: sharing God’s love.
His motto is, “Let all who encounter
you every day encounter
Christ.”
Most Rev. William A. Wack,
CSC, the bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee,
said, “Andy is a very
humble servant. His efforts and
leadership, at a time of great turmoil
and tragedy in his community,
is an inspiring story of God’s
gifts being put to work for His
glory.”
Catholic Extension has granted
nearly $11.6 million to the diocese
over the years for campus ministry,
church building, lay leadership
training, and hurricane recovery
and rebuilding.
ABOVE Among Cornett’s many duties in the aftermath of the hurricane was
clearing fallen trees.
LEFT Retired Army officer Andy Cornett organized thousands of volunteers to
serve residents after Hurricane Michael devastated Panama City, Florida.

30 INSPIRE
Lumen Christi Finalist
Extension | Winter 2019 31
9,000
Uninsured patients
that are served
by this wholistic
heathcare ministry
annually
DEACON DON BOUCHARD, DO, MBA |
DIOCESE OF KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN
Bringing
heart to
healthcare
Deacon Dr. Don
Bouchard’s mission
is to make wholistic
healthcare accessible
to the poor within
the context of Catholic
social teachings.
Bouchard, a deacon with the
Diocese of Kalamazoo, Michigan,
founded Holy Family Healthcare
(HFH), a nonprofit dedicated to
caring for body, mind and spirit.
With advanced degrees in business
and medicine, he believes
that healthcare goes beyond
treating sicknesses and injuries.
Healthcare is meeting physical,
mental and spiritual needs.
The staff of HFH is inspired by
the Corporal Works of Mercy in
caring for patients and honoring
the dignity of each one.
Bouchard started HFH in 2014
as a mobile health center, visiting
seasonal farmworkers who were
isolated in migrant camps in rural
Michigan. It has since expanded to
offices in Kalamazoo and Hartford.
In 2018 HFH served 9,000
patient visits for children and
adults, often providing services at
no cost. No one is ever turned away
for lack of identification or ability
to pay.
In its wholistic approach, the
clinic operates the largest food pantry
in Allegan County, which is one
of nine counties that constitute the
diocese.
During the summer, Bouchard
travels to the fields, handing out
sports drinks to migrants who work
up to 12 hours a day. He says the
drinks are a relief and a message:
“We appreciate that you’re here.”
Holy Family Healthcare has also
established La Escuela Familia to
bring Hispanic families together for
education in both faith and culture.
Closet of Beatitudes
HFH has a Closet of Beatitudes
(Bea’s Closet) that offers free
clothing to residents. Bouchard
recalls a woman named
Minerva, a mother of seven and
an aunt to countless more, who
often came to Bea’s Closet to
pick up clothes for the children.
One day, Bouchard told
Minerva to take some clothes
for herself.
The next time he saw her,
he realized something was
different. Minerva stood with
her back straight and her
shoulders back — and she was
wearing a new blouse from
Bea’s Closet.
“I mean, that’s healthcare,”
Bouchard said.
Last year, 17 children received full
scholarships to attend Catholic
schools.
“We are treating each one as a
child of God,” said Bouchard. “We
are accepting and loving them
and addressing their needs. We
are upholding their human
dignity.”
Catholic Extension has
long-supported migrant
ministries in Kalamazoo,
particularly in reaching
out to migrants in the
fields to offer Mass and
faith formation. We have
also supported health
ministers in the diocese’s
“Trauma Recovery Program”
for people who are in crisis.
In understanding that healing
means treating the whole person,
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ABOVE Deacon Don
Bouchard regularly
visits migrants in the
fields of Kalamazoo
to help them stay
connected.
LEFT In providing
healthcare,
Bouchard treats the
physical, mental and
spiritual needs of lowincome
patients.
Bouchard is transforming
the lives of thousands of
poor and marginalized
people, who are often
neglected in today’s complex
healthcare system.
In powerful ways,
Bouchard is addressing the
needs of mind, body and
soul and changing the way
that people view healthcare.

32 INSPIRE
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Extension | Winter 2019 33
RIGHT The Santa Monica Angels
have a wholistic approach to serving
the children of their poor parish.
BELOW Serving hot meals to hungry
students before religion class is one of
their outreach ministries.
SANTA MONICA ANGELS | DIOCESE OF LAREDO, TEXAS
Feeding hungry children: body and spirit
It all started when the children
in María Jaime’s religious
education class would
show up on Saturdays and
ask, “Do you have food?”
And with good reason. Their
last meal had been the previous
day, Friday at school.
For 10 years, Jaime has been
teaching religious education every
Saturday at Santa Monica Mis-
sion in El Cenizo, a remote town
in southern Texas on the banks of
the Rio Grande River in the Diocese
of Laredo.
Her students are mostly the
children of local families who
struggle financially. Jaime knew
that when students are hungry, little
else matters, especially learning.
So, she and other volunteer
teachers decided to take matters
into their own hands, preparing
food for their students to enjoy
before class.
And with this simple, yet profound
act of love, along with tacos,
cookies and juice, the Santa Monica
Angels program was born.
Mrs. Jaime, Angélica Cantú,
Rosa Dávila, Martha Arroyo and
Norma Losoya comprise the
Santa Monica Angels. In their
boundless love and energy,
they provide spiritual and physical
nourishment to 60 children
weekly.
“We want the children to know
that the Church is there for them,”
said Jaime. “When we meet their
basic needs, we put them
60
Hungry mouths and
souls fed weekly in
children’s class
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Santa Monica
Mission in El Cenizo,
Texas, serves a poor
community, mainly
immigrants, to help
them manage their
struggles with dignity.
on a good path for their
future. When they are
being cared for, we see
them gain confidence.”
The women coordinate
the children’s religious
education and youth
activities, events, fundraisers
and special outreach
programs of evangelization
and social services
at the mission — all without
a formal budget.
Santa Monica Mission is surrounded
by a tightknit community
of 3,500 residents, primarily
from Mexico and Central America.
Nearly 70 percent of the population
lives below the povery line
and face daily challenges.
Amidst this great scarcity, Santa
Monica Mission, which
serves about one third of
the town’s population, resonates
with spiritual abundance
and unites families
and neighbors. Under
the leadership of Father
Joel Pérez, it has created a
spirit of hope.
The Santa Monica
Angels, who are always
cheerful and positive,
greatly inspire others to
also be charitable. Since the food
program began, many parents
are becoming involved in helping
with the religion classes.
“The impact is great. Through
our program, people see kindness
and want to be kind themselves,”
she said.
“Serving people makes you
want to be better every day,”
she added. “When you decide
to serve the Lord, you want to
be more like Him every day, and
everything changes. Serving Him,
through these children, gives me
a joy that I want to share.”
Since 2002, Catholic Extension
has given nearly $170,000 to
the Santa Monica Mission for this
program, and salary support for
priests and sisters.
Bishop James Tamayo of Laredo
said, “The Santa Monica
Angels are a model of stewardship,
sacrifice and service for the
people of Santa Monica Mission.
Their dedication to the Lord’s
mission, in one of the poorest
communities of our country,
will inspire the faithful in all corners
of the nation to find ways to
share their gifts of service and
love.”

34 INSPIRE
Lumen Christi Finalist
Extension | Winter 2019 35
Nothing could have
prepared Father
Fabian Marquez
for the mass
shooting on
August 3 in El
Paso. He never could have
imagined that a gunman
would come to his hometown
and target Hispanics and
immigrants, the people he knows
so well, and randomly kill 22 people.
It was unthinkable.
But in those dark days in El Paso,
he had to step up to lead and unite
his devastated parishioners and the
surrounding community.
He was summoned to comfort
the families who lost loved ones,
and through his example, showed
the entire community how to
respond to this unspeakable horror
with love, compassion and
hope. He showed them “El Paso
strong.” A recent New York Times
article described his deeply spiritual
response to the tragedy and his
ability to galvanize residents and
bring them together in solidarity.
El Paso residents — who immediately
responded to the tragedy
with an immense calm, strength
and forgiveness — are forever
scarred by this tragedy, but with
the guidance of Father Fabian and
other leaders, they are healing.
Father Marquez, pastor of El
Buen Pastor, a small mission parish
on the outskirts of El Paso, is
a dynamic and energetic leader
who has long been dedicated to
improving the lives of immigrants
and refugees.
One parishioner recalled how
Father Marquez recently helped
a family at the Diocesan Migrant
FATHER FABIAN MARQUEZ |
DIOCESE OF EL PASO, TEXAS
A pastor’s compassion
shines through the darkness
Center, a temporary shelter that
was housed in the Catholic Pastoral
Center in the Diocese of El
Paso. A father arrived at the center
with three children in tow,
pointed to his son and tearfully
said, “I think it’s his birthday.
We’ve been traveling so long, I’m
not sure what day it is.”
Father Marquez asked the parish
volunteers, who serve regularly at
the center, to buy a cake and a gift
for the boy. Together they ate and
sang “Las Mañanitas,” a traditional
Latin American birthday song.
It was a joyful moment in a very
difficult journey for this migrant
family, who had traveled some
2,000 miles. After this vital nourishment,
they continued on their
journey, awaiting their hearing for
legal status in the United States.
El Buen Pastor Mission Church is
in the poor Sparks neighborhood.
The mission, completed in 1998,
has 180 registered families.
17
Funerals and services
pastor attended for
shooting victims
ABOVE Father
Fabian Marquez, is a
dynamic pastor of El
Buen Pastor Mission
in El Paso and
director of youth and
young adult ministries
for the diocese.
Since 1999, Catholic Extension
has funded El Buen Pastor for
parish and salary subsidies and
church building.
With Father Marquez’s arrival
in 2015, parishioners have become
deeply engaged in the mission’s
outreach ministries, and also serving
the wider community.
“Father Fabian welcomes the
neighbor, the poor and marginalized
and teaches his congregation
to do the same,” said parishioner
Rocio Valenzuela.
Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso
said, “The parishioners are committed
to serving their brothers
and sisters in Christ and providing
a safe refuge. They are leaders
in our community.” Bishop Seitz
wrote a pastoral letter that is a special
insert in this magazine issue.
Father Marquez, who is also the
director of youth and young adult
ministries for the diocese, brings
a ministry of presence and a message
of hope to El Paso.
Parishioner Liliana Esparza said,
“To know Father Fabian is to know
compassion, kindness and love. So
great is Father’s love for others that
one can’t help but want to live by
his example.”
ABOVE Father
Marquez, at a talk
show in El Paso,
gets his parishioners
involved with the
larger community.
BOTTOM LEFT After
the mass shooting
in El Paso in August,
Father Marquez
provided comfort and
hope at the scene of
the massacre.
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36 INSPIRE
Lumen Christi Finalist
Extension | Winter 2019 37
Longtime friends Mike
Hentges and Steve
Smith saw a pressing
need in their Missouri
community—homeless,
pregnant women were
desperately seeking support to
become responsible mothers. They
wanted to reach out to help. “We
realized that if we help the mothers,
the babies will be cared for,”
said Smith.
They realized that their most
important contribution could be
to offer housing and guidance to
help these women through healthy
pregnancies and to learn parenting
skills.
They founded St. Raymond’s
Society (SRS), a nonprofit that
shelters and mentors pregnant
women. The shelter is named for
St. Raymond, the patron of childbirth,
midwives and expectant
mothers.
Since the first house opened
in 2012, SRS has grown into four
locations. With 11 employees and
more than 150 volunteers, they
provide maternal and pastoral care
to vulnerable women. And by redirecting
the path of the women
they serve, they completely
change the trajectory of the lives of
their children.
Most mothers stay at the SRS
house for several months, during
pregnancy and after their babies
are born. They receive basic supplies
and counseling in a loving,
faith-filled environment.
They are nurtured and given security
and self-confidence. The SRS
staff move the mothers toward
self-sufficiency, helping them
find employment, obtain college
MIKE HENTGES
AND STEVE SMITH |
DIOCESE OF
JEFFERSON CITY,
MISSOURI
Caring for
mothers
helps babies
too
degrees and secure stable housing.
“Our staff have moved from being
‘house moms’ to being certified
life coaches,” said Smith.
Through the vision of Hentges
and Smith, and their dedication to
the SRS houses, remarkable stories
of transformation abound. Janey
came to them in crisis—pregnant
with triplets and no place to live.
She moved into a SRS house and
Smith and
Hentges mentor
and guide young
pregnant mothers
who are alone
with no social
network or
financial resources
in Jefferson City,
Missouri.
began her new life. She held a job,
finished her education and worked
on her relationship with the babies’
father (who was also mentored by
SRS house). After the babies were
born prematurely, community
members, from all walks of life and
faith traditions, provided aroundthe-clock
care for them. With the
babies now healthy, the couple will
soon be married.
While the houses serve women
regardless of their religious affiliation,
the founders said that from
the beginning — this project was a
mission of the Church. “It is amazing
what God can do with a little
‘yes’ from us,” said Smith.
“Even if you’re certain that
you’re doing God’s work — or perhaps,
especially if you’re certain
you’re doing His work — you have
to rely on God. You need Him for
guidance, strength, humility and
the unexpected miracles that get
you through impossible situations,”
Hentges added.
Bishop W. Shawn McKnight of
Jefferson City said, “Steve and Mike
give clear witness to our obligation
to attend to those who are, indeed,
the least among us.”
Catholic Extension has supported
many young adult, health
and family ministries in the diocese,
including campus ministries
and a Healthy Family Program,
which provides health education
and advocacy to families, particularly
mothers and children.
Learning self-reliance allows
these mothers to focus on what’s
most important: loving their
babies.
150
Mothers in crisis
served annually by this
empowering ministry
2019 u 2020
Lumen
Christi
AWARD
FINALIST
Steve Smith
(left) and Mike
Hentges founded St.
Raymond’s Society
to offer a caring
environment for
homeless, expectant
mothers to give them
a fresh start.

38 INSPIRE
Lumen Christi Finalist
Extension | Winter 2019 39
The Glenmary
Missioners regularly
serve Mass in a converted
barn in the fields of rural
Tennessee that is fondly
called “the manger.”
GLENMARY HOME MISSIONERS | DIOCESE OF KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE
Missionaries in Appalachia:
growing the faith
According to a recent
Gallup Poll, church
attendance in the
United States is at
an all-time low. But
in eastern Tennessee,
the Glenmary Home Missioners
are building churches to meet
the needs of a growing Catholic
population.
Bishop Richard Stika of Knoxville
said, “Nowhere is the missionary
spirit that embodies Christ’s
light more evident than in these
Appalachian counties where an
incredible transformation has
occurred in less than eight years.
The Glenmary charism is simply
to go where there is no Catholic
Church community and to start
one, literally going door-to-door
to introduce themselves and to
share the Good News.”
Catholic Extension has long
partnered with the Glenmary Missioners
in the deep South.
Catholics are the minority in
this area, representing about 3
percent of the population. One
of Catholic Extension’s earliest
grants in 1907 was to build Blessed
Sacrament Church in Harriman,
the area’s first Catholic church.
One hundred years later, several
counties still have no church or
organized Catholic community.
In 2011, the Glenmary Home
Missioners (GHM) arrived to bring
the Catholic faith to the inactive
and fallen away, and to build up
the faithful. Through their tireless
efforts, two new churches have
recently been constructed and a
third is in the works.
The missioners — Fathers Tom
Charters and Steve Pawelk, Brothers
Craig Digmann, Joe Steen and
Tom Sheehy, and Kathy O’Brien
2
New churches in
Appalachia built
with our support
— started from ground zero. They
took out ads in local newspapers
to announce meetings and held
Masses in makeshift spaces.
Father Tom began with a handful
of Catholics gathering in someone’s
living room in Erwin. Soon
they rented local spaces and started
fundraising for a church.
The surrounding residents, who
are mainly Protestants, started
noticing the GHM, who were
reaching out to the poor, homebound
and elderly in the area,
regardless of their faith. For many,
the missioners are the first Catholics
they had ever known.
At one fundraiser a woman
approached Father Tom and said,
“I’m a Baptist, but I see
how much good you’re
doing in our community. I
want to see it continue —
here’s a check for $500.”
Additionally, the community
received a $50,000
matching grant from Catholic
Extension to build St.
Michael the Archangel
Catholic Mission, which
was completed in 2018
and has 115 families.
In nearby Maynardville, a similar
story unfolded. With no church
when the GHM arrived, Father
Steve held a “bring-your-ownchair”
Mass for 26 people in a
house’s carport. Soon the congregation
turned to big spaces and
fundraising. They too received
a $50,000 matching grant from
2019 u 2020
Lumen
Christi
AWARD
FINALIST
Catholic Extension. Early this year,
they dedicated St. Teresa of Kolkata
Church, with 142 families.
Parishioner Ken Barren said,
“We have become a true community.
Many people here live in rural
areas with faraway neighbors. The
church is a gathering point for us.”
Additionally, in neighboring
Rutledge, Father Steve and Brothers
Craig, Tom and Joe are
creating a Catholic community
called St. John Paul
II Catholic Mission.
In an area where onethird
of the children live
below the poverty line, the
GHM collect and distribute
food, clothing, blankets
and backpacks filled with
school supplies. They organize
summer activities for
children.
The missioners are building
churches for isolated Catholics with
few places to gather and worship
together. They are bringing the
presence of the Catholic Church to
a region that is largely non-Catholic.
True to their spirit, they are
the hands and feet of Christ for so
many who have never met Him.
Fathers Pawelk (left) and Charters with parishioners at two new churches in Maynardville and Erwin that Catholic Extension helped to fund.

40 INSPIRE
Lumen Christi Finalist
Winter 2019 41
ABOVE Sacred Heart
of Jesus Church
was at the heart
of restoring hope
in the devastated
community of Salinas
after Hurricane Maria.
LEFT Father
Omar Soto Torres
prioritizes and
engages youth at his
church in the Diocese
of Ponce.
Father Omar Soto
Torres courageously
led the recovery
efforts to provide
humanitarian and
spiritual support
to hundreds of
residents.
FATHER OMAR SOTO TORRES |
DIOCESE OF PONCE, PUERTO RICO
Young pastor finds his
vocation on peripheries
In the rural town of Salinas,
Puerto Rico, Father Omar
Soto Torres, a young priest
with a big smile and relentless
energy, has emerged
as an inspiring leader in a
critical moment. The town is poor
and most struggle to survive, with
more than half the population
living below the poverty line and a
median household income of just
$16,000. Then the area was hit by
Hurricane Maria in 2017, devastaing
homes and plunging residents
into further financial woes and
filling them with despair.
Father Omar arrived to be pastor
of Sacred Heart of Jesus Church,
a simple chapel in the poorest
area of town, just days after the
hurricane. The parish rectory had
been destroyed. Alone and without
resources, he discovered that he
was being called not to be a victim
or a frightened refugee, but he was
being called out of the rectory and
into the community.
He brought the people together
to check on their neighbors, feed
the hungry and check on the
elderly. Parishioners distributed
food, water and first aid, locally
and to neighboring towns.
Often it is in these times
of crisis that true leadership
emerges. Father Omar
knew his community was
devastated and he leapt
into action. He provided
solace, spiritual guidance
and optimism during their
darkest days.
“I realized that a priest
is not a guy who only
stands behind the altar,
but also must be integrated with
the people,” he said.
He started organizing street
Masses and to reach out more
intentionally to the youth of the
community. With a special ability
to make the Gospel simple,
accessible and joyful, he focuses
on engaging young people to help
them see that the Church is part of
a brighter tomorrow.
2019 u 2020
Lumen
Christi
AWARD
FINALIST
Sacred Heart of Jesus
Parish received $5,000 in
funding through Catholic
Extension’s Patrons of
Puerto Rico program,
which assists parishes
for hurricane rebuilding.
Catholic Extension has
long supported ministries,
leaders and church
building in the diocese.
In the midst of this tragedy,
Father Omar has stepped up
courageously to lead his parish and
has inspired a renewed closeness
and dedication to the faith among
parishioners and townspeople.
Parishioners say this resurgence
has helped them feel more united
as part of a faith community that
serves the greater whole.
With this mission, he is leading
parishioners of Sacred Heart in
their toughest moments and finding
his own strengths as a priest
and his own calling as a shepherd.
Father Omar said, “My greatest
blessing is being a priest. I am
able to influence people with the
Gospel and let them know that
there is always hope. The center is
not me, it is Jesus. I am convinced
that I am where God wants me
to be to proclaim Jesus. I want to
bring others to Him and to make
Him present to those in need.”
Bishop Rubén González Medina
of Ponce said, “Father Omar has
distinguished himself for his
humanitarian aid and for the
growth of the Catholic faith in his
community. He has demonstrated
dynamism and responsibility in all
his courageous endeavors.”

Extension | Winter 2019 43
IGNITE
DONOR PROFILE 44 | CONNECT 46
Making a difference
$60
How can you make
a difference this
Christmas?
10 additional wishes on list
For decades, the Christmas Wish List has been an
annual tradition at Catholic Extension. Please
select an item from our list that touches
your heart and extend your support to
a community in need.
Please visit catholicextension.org/wish
Cover a seminarian’s educational
costs for one day
DIOCESE OF MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
$90
The diocese is experiencing a tremendous growth in
vocations, with 19 young men studying to become
future priests. They’ll be greatly needed since 14
current priests will retire in the diocese in the next few
years. You can help answer their calling.
Support weekly fuel costs for
priest serving remote areas
DIOCESE OF SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
Father Roberto Montoro Sasia is
parochial vicar of the Cathedral of
Madeleine in Salt Lake City and drives
more than 300 miles each weekend to say
Mass at three poor parishes in the state.
Your gift can help him bring the Word of
God to isolated Catholics.
$95 Pays for one week of summer camp for a deaf child in Diocese of Lafayette
$60 Defrays transportation costs for priests and deacons in Archdiocese
of Anchorage
$45 Supports a director of religious education in Diocese of
Great Falls-Billings
$50 Helps grow our Holy Family Fund
$85 Sustains a vibrant campus ministry in Diocese of Shreveport
$40 Helps publish a free Catholic newspaper in Diocese of Rapid City
$110 Supports a priest on the Zuni Reservation in the
Diocese of Gallup
$50 Funds a new deacon training program in Alaska
$150 Supports four sisters doing God’s work in Diocese of
Little Rock
$95 Supports Catholic Student Union at Florida State
University in Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee
Help construct a new rectory for
a rural church
DIOCESE OF SAN ANGELO, TEXAS
St. Margaret Parish in central
Texas desperately needs a new
rectory. The parish serves a
remote population, with many
Hispanic immigrants.
$65
Support a sister’s outreach
ministries to Native Americans
DIOCESE OF SUPERIOR, WISCONSIN
$75
For more than 45 years, Sister Phyllis Wilhelm,
OSF, has served Native Americans, and since
2008 has been pastoral associate of St. Mary
Parish in Odanah, which is part of he Bad River
Band of Ojibwe. Help her keep this community
close to the Church.
$160
Support a dedicated sister
for one week
DIOCESE OF HOUMA-THIBODAUX,
LOUISIANA
The Sisters of the Missionary Catechists
of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary
minister to more than 8,000 families in
this rapidly growing diocese. Help them
serve these inspiring Catholics.

44
IGNITE
Donor Profile
Extension | Winter 2019 45
Supporters in Omaha
drawn to Catholic
Extension’s mission
early in life
Keeping God at the center
Tom Kerins’ affinity
for Catholic
Extension is deeply
ingrained. He was
raised in Ogden,
Utah, in the heart of
Mormon country. As the grandson
of four Irish-Catholic immigrants
and the son of two devoutly Catholic
parents, he was one of few
Catholics in the Diocese of Salt
Lake City.
“I grew up in missionary territory
in a very non-Catholic area,”
he said. “When you’re in the
minority, it intensifies your faith.
We stuck together and looked out
for each other.”
Tom’s upbringing instilled
empathy for Catholics who are living
in small clusters in rural areas,
far from the comforts of the established
Church and ready access to
the sacraments. Catholic Extension
has long-supported the Diocese
of Salt Lake City, which
encompasses the entire state of
Utah, to support isolated Catholics
there.
And helping people stay connected
to their faith is why the
Kerins support Catholic Extension.
“We want to reach people who
cannot help themselves. So many
Catholics in the United States do
not have the basic elements of
Church. They have a hunger for
Christ, but they don’t have access
to the sacraments. So much of our
faith comes through the sacraments.
We are extending an arm
of the Church to bring these to
them.”
Tom’s mother was an enthusiastic
suporter of Catholic Extension.
He remembers her talking
about the home missions, the
Extension magazine that arrived
regularly and the thank you notes
she received describing the fascinating,
far-off ministries she was
supporting. He was impressed.
After attending the University
of California at Davis, Tom moved
to Omaha with the Air Force and
met his future wife, Joanne. They
married in 1991. With the Air
Force, Tom studied economics and
became a professor in Colorado
Springs. A few years later, they
returned to Omaha where Tom has
been a financial adviser for
26 years.
Joanne, who is from Iowa, is
the middle child of eight and also
raised Catholic. While she and her
siblings faithfully attended CCD
classes — she particularly liked the
social part — she later realized that
there were gaps in her catechism
training. After attending Creighton
University, she taught 8th grade,
including confirmation classes,
at a Catholic school in Omaha. In
teaching the students, she discovered
a few missing pieces in her
own education, which led her to
study hard to stay ahead of her students
to give them a good foundation
in Catholicism. She understands
the importance of catechism
classes, which are so often
lacking in mission dioceses and
which Catholic Extension helps to
support.
Tom and Joanne have five children.
The oldest is 26 years old and
the youngest, whom they adopted
Tom and Joanne
Kerins discuss
the role of faith in
their lives and our
missionary Church.
PHOTO NATHAN ELSE
from Romania, just started college.
They all live away from home but
visit often.
Joanne is deeply involved
with a project that helps immigrants
and refugees at their parish,
St. Vincent de Paul. Three
years ago, the parish adopted two
Syrian families. Joanne volunteered
to help get them settled —
teaching them English, helping
them through medical appointments
and even teaching the men
to drive!
Through the parish’s outreach
program, she teaches English
twice a week to Syrian and
Afghani women. This effort was
started last year when Omaha’s
Literary Center of the Midlands
closed, leaving many students in
need of tutoring, and the Church
stepped up. “It is an incredible
experience to help those who want
to help themselves,” she said.
Tom also savors volunteering. He
has served on the Archdiocese of
Omaha’s finance committee, and
for the last 10 years, he has mentored
at nearby Boys’ Town: teaching
math, giving advice and sharing
his faith. “Most of these boys don’t
have fathers,” he said. “Their lives
are tough. They’ve gotten into trouble
with drugs or gangs, and I help
them think how their lives could
be different.”
Sharing his faith and using it as
a basis for inspiration comes easily
to Tom. “Faith is core in our lives,”
he said. “It is a focus and a motivator.
Our relationship with God
shapes our decisions and how we
approach life. We look to the Gospel
for guidance in everything —
how to raise our kids, work issues,
how we support aging parents.”
“Tom is really good at keeping
God central in our lives,” Joanne
added. “When the children come
to him with concerns, he asks, ‘Are
you praying about it?’”
In the last three years, Tom has
served as a judge for the Lumen
Christi Award. He is inspired by
the nominees and in awe of the
depth and diversity of their ministries,
which “take his breath away.”
Reflecting upon them, he jokes
with Joanne, “If we want to get
to heaven, we better step up our
game.”

46
IGNITE
Connect
Extension | Winter 2019 47
From the mail
Dear Catholic Extension donors,
I HAVE RECENTLY finished with my
studies at the seminary, and I am
ready to move on to the next step—
priesthood.
I will look back on the seminary
experience as a blessing, and I know
there are countless people that I have
to thank for helping me through those
seven years, and you, as a Catholic
Extension donor,
are one of them.
The financial
assistance
helped me to
not worry and
focus on prayer
and studies, which was a true blessing!
Thank you and may God bless you,
› Father Adrián Cisneros | Diocese
of Stockton, CA
Dear Catholic Extension donors,
A FEW HISPANIC WOMEN have
come to realize their personal call
as Christians to go out and serve
the Hispanic community of this
diocese, leaving behind their fears
of unpreparedness. Attending
V Encuentro would have been
Father Meyer joins students at Newman Center in Grand Forks
Dear Catholic Extension,
THANK YOU FOR the grants that are helping us target key areas of engaging
students on campus. Our university has a significant amount of students involved
in music majors and music education on campus, so having a music director that
is able to provide an opportunity for them to share their talents at the Newman
Center is an important way to get them more involved and also provide a deeper
experience of sacred music at Mass to lift up the entire community in prayer and
praise of God.
› Father Luke D. Meyer | Pastor
St. Thomas Aquinas Newman Center, University of North Dakota
Diocese of Fargo, ND
impossible for some of the participants
without Catholic Extension’s help.
› Maria Oszwaldowska |
Administrative Assistant for
the Office of Vocations and
Stewardship
Diocese of Rapid City, SD
How will you be remembered?
Do you want to support Catholic Extension in a meaningful way?
Learn how you can build a legacy of faith, hope and change in the lives of
Catholics in America for generations to come.
Contact the Planned Giving team at 1-800-842-7804
or plannedgiving@catholicextension.org
"
Please cut along the dotted line and mail to:
Catholic Extension, 150 South Wacker Drive, Suite 2000, Chicago, IL 60606
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shines throughout America
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Kenai in the Archdiocese of Anchorage, Alaska

NIGHT WILL BE NO MORE
Pastoral Letter to the People of God in El Paso
Night will be no more, nor will they need light from lamp or sun,
for the Lord God shall give them light, and they shall reign forever and ever.
(The Revelation to John 22, 5)
Most Reverend Mark J. Seitz, D.D.
Bishop of The Catholic Diocese of El Paso
All photos by Fernie Ceniceros, Catholic Diocese of El Paso

Dear Friends of Catholic Extension,
This issue of Extension
celebrates Lumen Christi,
Light of Christ, and the
many powerful ways that
His light shines in those working to
build up vibrant and transformative
Catholic faith communities in the
poorest regions of America.
In the times in which we live,
His light is needed more than ever.
Almost daily, we learn of the many
places across our great land that
experience tragic moments of darkness
which only seek to divide us
and keep us from the union in which
God created us to be.
Following the horrific mass
shooting in El Paso, Texas, which
claimed the lives of 22 innocent
people, Bishop Mark Seitz of the
Diocese of El Paso wrote a moving
pastoral letter entitled “Night Will
Be No More.” In it, he sheds light
on the distressing realities of racism
affecting our country and threatening
our ability to live as a people of God.
He writes, “Every race and color
and tribe and people and language
and culture are threads in the vibrant
and diverse tapestry of the Reign of
God…Challenging racism and white
supremacy, whether in our hearts
or in society, is a Christian imperative
and the cost of not facing these
issues head on, weighs much more
heavily on those who live the reality
of discrimination.”
We are so grateful for the courage
and compassion of Bishop Seitz, a
servant bishop who leads a diocese
that Catholic Extension has long
supported. He is joined by many
other pastoral leaders – bishops,
priests, religious and lay from other
Extension dioceses whose insight
and wisdom is a source of inspiration
and encouragement not only to
the people with whom they journey
in faith, but to all of us who are
convinced of the transformative
power of faith to change our ways
of thinking and acting in our
American culture and society.
I urge you to read this prophetic
pastoral letter, and we hope to
continue to offer you the opportunity
to hear “the voice of the
voiceless” from the Catholic faith
communities you so generously
support.
May the light of Christ shine
brightly in the brave hearts and
lives of our brothers and sisters in
El Paso during this time of darkness
and sorrow.
God bless,
Rev. John J. Wall
PRESIDENT, CATHOLIC EXTENSION
Have among yourselves the same
attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus,
Who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.
Phillipians 2, 5-8
Racism is not merely one sin among many; it is a radical evil.
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Brothers and
Sisters to Us
¡Lo que no nos deja dormir
es que nos han amenazado de Resurrección!
¡Porque en cada anochecer ...
todavía seguimos amando la vida
y no aceptamos su muerte!
Julia Esquivel, Threatened with Resurrection
IN MEMORIAM
Jordan
Andre
Arturo
Jorge
Leo
Maribel
Adolfo
Sara
Angelina
Raul
Maria
Alexander
David
Luis
Maria
Ivan
Gloria
Elsa
Margie
Javier
Teresa
Juan de Dios

PASTORAL LETTER TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD IN EL PASO
Night will be no more, nor will they need light from lamp or sun,
for the Lord God shall give them light, and they shall reign forever and ever.
(The Revelation to John 22, 5)
+ In the Name of the Most Holy Trinity. Amen.
INTRODUCTION
August 3rd, 2019: Matanza en El Paso
My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Why so far from my call for help,
from my cries of anguish?
Psalm 22, 2
This letter is an attempt to complement
those efforts and to reflect on
these issues from the perspective of
the border.
6. In the first part of this letter, I hope
to bear some of the weight of the
reality of racism that has been part
of the experience of many here on
our border. In the second part, we
will shoulder this reality in the light
of the life, death and Resurrection of
Jesus. Finally, we will ask how grace
can heal the shared wounds of our
borderland community and transform
the awful events of this summer into
something meaningful.
7. This may be hard. I know it will be
difficult at times for me. Words like
racism and white supremacy make
us uncomfortable and anxious and
I don’t use these labels lightly. We
live in a brutally unforgiving culture
where these words are tossed about
like weapons. But perhaps we are
also aware that these conversations
may require changes to the we think
and live. Challenging racism and
white supremacy, whether in our
hearts or in society, is a Christian
imperative and the cost of not facing
these issues head on, weighs much
more heavily on those who live the
reality of discrimination.
8. Perhaps we thought that prejudice
and intolerance were a cancer
of years past. Maybe we felt that El
Paso was immune from the xenophobia
ravaging the United States.
On August 3rd, we were robbed of
that innocence. But do not be afraid.
The Lord Jesus can lead us through
this dark moment into something
bright and unexpected. For even if a
whole army of hate should threaten
us, if we are faithful to Jesus and hold
on to love, in the words of the poet
Julia Esquivel, what can they do but
threaten us with Resurrection?
1. On August 3rd, 2019, El Paso was
the scene of a massacre or matanza
that left 22 dead, injured dozens and
traumatized a binational community.
Hate visited our community and
Latino blood was spilled in sacrifice
to the false god of white supremacy.
2. The killing became part of a
growing litany of deadly shootings in
the United States. It is a list so long
that each mass murder competes
for our attention and memory. What
happened was swallowed up in a
spectacle of debate on gun control
that holds our children and families
hostage. It made our community
cannon fodder in a political battle
rending the soul of our nation. Yet
once the country’s attention moves
on, who will remember the names of
the dead?
3. Faith assures us that because of
the Resurrection of Jesus, death cannot
have the last word, for ‘death no
longer has power over him’ (Romans
6, 9). But to encounter meaning
in the matanza of August 3rd with
integrity, we must brace ourselves for
the task of naming truths which are
uncomfortable and perhaps buried
inside all of us.
4. After prayer and speaking with
the People of God in the Church of
El Paso, I have decided to write this
letter on the theme of racism and
white supremacy to reflect together
on the evil that robbed us of 22 lives.
God can only be calling our community
to greater fidelity. Together we
are called to discern the new paths of
justice and mercy required of us and
to rediscover our reasons for hope
(cf. 1 Peter 3, 5).
5. This letter comes shortly after the
recent pastoral letter against racism
by the bishops in the United States,
Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring
Call to Love, which I recommend
to our priests and community. My
brothers in the episcopate have also
published penetrating reflections on
the intersection of race and violence,
especially Bishop Edward Braxton.
PART I
This is Racism
9. How do we begin to understand
the El Paso matanza? How should
we think about racism and white
supremacy?
10. The never-ending mass shootings
leave us feeling dazed, wounded,
fearful and helpless. Causes and
solutions seem evasive and our
nation’s political life is broken. The
Catholic Church in the United States
supports the ban on assault weapons
that lawmakers senselessly let expire
in 2004 and our Church continues to
advocate for reasonable regulations
on firearms that Congress still won’t
pass. The constant pressures on
families and the embarrassing lack
of access to mental healthcare in this
Do not stay far from me, for trouble is near, and there is no one to help.
Psalm 22, 12
country surely also play a role.
11. But the mystery of evil motivating
attacks like the El Paso matanza goes
deeper than these. It is something
more complex than laws and policies
alone can fix. What else explains the
perversity of attacks on African Americans,
Jews, Muslims, Sikhs and other
communities?
12. This mystery of evil also includes
the base belief that some of us are
more important, deserving and
worthy than others. It includes the
ugly conviction that this country and
its history and opportunities and resources
as well as our economic and
political life belong more properly
to ‘white’ people than to people
of color. This is a perverse way of
thinking that divides people based
on heritage and tone of skin into ‘us’
and ‘them’, ‘worthy’ and ‘unworthy’,
paving the way to dehumanization.
In other words, racism.
13. Racism can make a home in our
hearts, distort our imagination and
will, and express itself in individual
actions of hatred and discrimination.
Racism is one’s failure to give others
the respect they are due on account
of being created in the image and
likeness of God. And it is more
than that.

14. If we are honest, racism is really
about advancing, shoring up, and
failing to oppose a system of white
privilege and advantage based on
skin color. When this system begins
to shape our public choices, structure
our common life together and
becomes a tool of class, this is rightly
called institutionalized racism. Action
to build this system of hate and inaction
to oppose its dismantling are
what we rightly call white supremacy.
This is the evil one and the ‘father
of lies’ (John 8, 44) incarnate in our
everyday choices and lifestyles, and
our laws and institutions.
15. The theologian Father Bryan
Massingale has aptly named all of
this soul sickness. Truly we suffer from
a life-threatening case of hardening
of the heart. In a day when we prefer
to think that prejudice and intolerance
are problems of the past, we
still find acceptable groups to treat as
less than human, to look down upon
and to fear.
PART II
16. A series of shootings -- Roseburg,
Charleston, Orlando, Pittsburgh, and
Oak Creek, just to name a few -- now
undeniably demonstrates that our
unwillingness to stamp out racism
continues to accrue debts being paid
for in blood, the blood of people of
color and those we deem different.
Abraham Lincoln’s anxious premonition
about the terrible consequences
of slavery seems to ring true -- ‘if
God wills that it continue until all the
wealth piled by the bondsman’s two
hundred and fifty years of unrequited
toil shall be sunk, and until every
drop of blood drawn with the lash
shall be paid by another drawn with
the sword, as was said three thousand
years ago, so still it must be
said the judgments of the Lord are
true and righteous altogether’.
17. The matanza in El Paso focused
our attention on the grave racism
directed at Latinos today, which has
reached a dangerous fever pitch.
Latinos now tell me that for the first
time in their lives they feel unsafe,
even in El Paso. They feel that they
have targets on their backs because
of their skin color and language.
They feel that they are being made
to live in their own home as a ‘stranger
in a foreign land’ (Exodus 2, 22).
18. Our highest elected officials have
used the word ‘invasion’ and ‘killer’
over 500 times to refer to migrants,
treated migrant children as pawns on
a crass political chessboard, insinuated
that judges and legislators
of color are un-American, and have
made wall-building a core political
project. In Pope Francis’ words, these
‘signs of meanness we see around us
heighten our fear of the other’. The
same deadly pool of sin that motivates
the attack on migrants seeking
safety and refuge in our border community
motivated the killing of our
neighbors on August 3rd. Sin unites
people around fear and hate. We
must name and oppose the racism
that has reared its head at the center
of our public life and emboldened
forces of darkness.
19. This hatred of Latinos is not new.
Ancient demons have been reawakened
and old wounds opened. One
of my brother bishops has rightly
called racism ‘the ugly, original sin
of our country, an illness never fully
healed’. The El Paso matanza is reminiscent
of a long history of importation
of hate here in this community,
killings, matanzas and racism directed
at Latinos, Asians, Blacks, Indigenous,
mulattoes and mestizos in the
southwest that goes back centuries.
El Paso historian Dr. Yolanda Leyva
has observed that the El Paso matanza
‘is the predictable outcome of 200
years of a White supremacist idea’s
growth.’ It is a story often forcibly
pushed underground.
20. In the next section I will attempt
to summarize some of the history
of white supremacy in our borderland
community, though it is not
exhaustive. A sincere reckoning with
our past and lamentation over it are
essential for transformation. We need
spaces in our churches and community
to do that. As Bishop Mario
Enrique Ríos noted when publishing
the definitive account of the racially
motivated massacres of the Guatemalan
conflict, ‘The recovery of
memory is irreplaceable in the work
of winning peace’. So the first step
for all of us in El Paso is to recover
a buried memory that lives in each
of us. It is a story of race, deeply
embedded in our society, yet deeply
counter to Jesus’ life and teaching.
‘Heart-Sick’: The Legacy of Hate and White Supremacy on the Border
Tú no vales. You don’t count.
21. We in the borderlands understand
in our bones the reality of
hate directed at Mexicans and how
people can be ‘othered’. Our faith
community was born in the fraught
encounter between Indigenous
They open their mouths against me,lions that rend and roar.
Psalm 22, 14
communities and Spanish colonists, a
‘choque de culturas’. In that encounter,
an insidious message was sent
like the report of cannon fire throughout
the American continent which
reverberates to the present day: Tú
no vales. You don’t count.
22. A sober reading of the history
of colonization can discern both
the presence of a genuine Christian
missionary impulse as well as the
deployment of white supremacy
and cultural oppression as tools of
economic ambition, imperial adventurism
and political expansion.
23. The Spanish colonists who
brought faith to the Americas also
brought with them their own human
circumstances intertwined with the
‘tricks and powers’ of the world.
They came from the experience of
a nation newly united just as much
around Catholicism as a nationalism
built on the violent subordination
and expulsion of Jews and Muslims.
They brought these exclusionary attitudes
with them to the New World.
It was in the encounter between the
Spanish colonists and Indigenous
communities that fateful identities
were co-produced and sinful notions
of civilized versus uncivilized and the
invention of the savage were born.
Such notions began a new era of a
‘heart-sick’ world. It was Pope Benedict
XVI who told us that ‘it is not
possible to forget the suffering and
injustice inflicted by colonizers on
the Indigenous populations, whose
fundamental human rights were often
trampled upon’.
24. Few things were more important
in the story of race and the community
in El Paso than Popé’s Pueblo
Revolt in 1680. The successful revolution
resulted in the expulsion of colonists
from New Mexico to Paso del
Norte where the provisional capital
of the royal province was established.
At this time, Paso del Norte also
became home to the Ysleta del Sur
Pueblo, who have shaped the history
of the borderlands ever since. The
suffering, exploitation and divestment
of culture, language, religious
tradition and memory experienced
by the Pueblo peoples at the hands
of colonists and, yes, members and
leaders of the Church, must be acknowledged.
The pain and experience
of estrangement is still experienced
by some communities today.
25. Rooted in our history, many
here can rightly say that we did not
cross the border but that the border
crossed us. Even the Church in El
Paso fell at different times under
different national flags and under the
jurisdiction of the Mexican dioceses
of Guadalajara, Durango and then
under Texas dioceses only after the
Mexican-American War. ‘Manifest
Destiny’ as well as shifting colonial,
nationalistic and expansionist winds
led to constantly shifting borders.
26. In Latin America there has been
more fluidity between races through
inter-marriage and more blending of
cultures and religions when compared
to the experience of Native
Americans and African Americans.
Yet the attitudes of the Spanish colonizers
included the erroneous notion
of racial purity based on light skin, a
belief which in some places continues
today, even in internalized fashion.
This type of racism collided in
the borderlands with the more overt
racism of the United States. This was
the racism of the ‘one-drop theory’
(whereby one drop of African blood
renders all descendants the members
of a slave class) used to justify the
criminal practice of chattel slavery.
Both the racism that privileges lighter
skin over Indigenous, Ladinos, Mulattoes
and Mestizos as well as the
racism based on hypo-descent used
to subjugate African Americans linger
troublingly on the border today.
27. Prior to 1835, the area known as
Texas was part of Mexico. American
immigrants settled in the Mexican
territory and brought with them
Black slaves. By 1825 one out of five
American immigrants living in Texas
was an enslaved African. Historians
acknowledge that the most significant
factor in determining the economic
development and ideological
orientation of Texas at the time was
slavery. The 1835 Texas Revolt and
the establishment of the Republic of
Texas in 1836, were driven, among
other factors, by the will to protect
the institution of Black slavery after its
abolishment by Mexico in 1829.
28. During this time, many Irish, too,
arrived to escape the stifling racism
they were subject to in the eastern
United States. Many Irish felt more
solidarity with Mexicans on account
of their shared Catholic faith and
shared experience of racial discrimination;
the famous San Patricios battalion
fought on the side of Mexico
during the Mexican-American War.
The coming of the railroad not long
after the entrance of Texas into the
United States in 1850 brought more
Irish as well a large number of Chinese
laborers into our region as part
of the project to connect the Atlantic
and Pacific oceans. These workers
were paid much less than their White
counterparts and received the most
dangerous and even deadly assignments.
After the railroad was completed,
the Chinese workers quickly
became the target of racist anti-immigrant
legislation and policies like
the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882,
one of the first examples of anti-immigrant
legislation in US history.
29. After its entry into the United
States, Texas saw dramatic mass
migration into the state from White
settlers from other parts of the
country. These settlers brought new
industrial farming practices which
cleared desert brush and cacti as
well as the expansion of the railroad
network and impressive economic
growth. But they also brought with
them harsh, prejudicial attitudes towards
Mexicans, Mexican Americans
and Indigenous in the region as well
as legalized discrimination against African
Americans. In their wake came
‘Juan Crow’ laws of segregation, the
prohibition of then-common interracial
marriage, new racial hierarchies,
the dispossession of tribal communities,
efforts to disenfranchise Mexican
residents and a true campaign
of terror. This campaign included
the lynching and murder of likely
thousands of Latinos, terror undertaken
just as much by vigilantes as
by official state actors like the Texas
Rangers, and often in concert. What
was it that they feared?
30. Just one example of this campaign
of terror was the Porvenir
matanza, which took place only hours
from El Paso in Presidio County. 15
men and boys of Mexican descent
were murdered, with impunity, by
vigilantes, army soldiers and Texas
Rangers. In that moment of horror,
did not Jesus look through the eyes
of those young children at their

victimizers and ask, ‘What do you
fear?’ Their families, petrified, took
their bodies across the river into
Mexico for burial. This experience
of persecution at the hands of state
authorities was the experience of
many families in this region. Their
stories were brutally suppressed and
their pain has been passed down
in intergenerational trauma. The
ripple effects of this campaign shape
perceptions of law enforcement and
immigration enforcement to this day
in our region.
31. We can see uncomfortable parallels
in the treatment of asylum seekers
from Mexico during the time of
the Mexican Revolution in the early
1900s and in current policies like the
deployment of troops to the border,
the punitive Remain in Mexico policy
and the forced detention of families.
Then as now, fears were callously
whipped up and there was talk of
‘invasion’ which led to brutal actions
against refugees. In 1913, ‘Texas
governor Oscar Colquitt dispatched
over 1,000 state militiamen and the
Texas National Guard to appease
residents of Brownsville and El Paso’.
These soldiers transformed the border
into a militarized zone, replete
with ‘barbed wire, spotlights, tanks,
machine guns and airplanes used to
surveil Mexican residents’. A prison
camp was constructed for refugees
across 48 acres at Fort Bliss, which
included electrically charged barbed
wire. Deployments like these would
happen again and again.
32. The legacy of hate towards Latinos
is not just part of the distant past.
Many in our community are the proud
children and grandchildren of braceros,
Mexican workers who supplied
agricultural labor needs from 1942 to
1964, including the time of the Second
World War. Just as the Chinese
were greeted with harsh repressive
measures after the completion of
the railroad, many braceros were
forcibly deported back to Mexican
after laying down roots here in the
United States as part of the infamous
Operation Wetback, the largest mass
deportation in American history.
33. Older generations of El Pasoans
still talk about entrenched attitudes
against Latinos and how the system
was stacked against them growing
up. Latinos were excluded from
political life by a closed network
dominated by White, wealthy men.
Latino children at school didn’t see
themselves, not in the faces of their
teachers or school leadership, but
only custodial and cafeteria staff. It
was expected that they would be
confined to schools and neighborhoods
south of the I-10 highway.
It was forbidden to speak Spanish
outside the home or at least highly
discouraged. Names were frequently
anglicized and many were denied
opportunities for higher education
and pigeonholed for low-wage jobs.
Many Native Americans felt even
more homeless, doubly discriminated
against, and sometimes still feel
impelled to hide their roots.
34. The wall is a powerful symbol
in the story of race. It has helped
to merge nationalistic vanities with
racial projects. Wall building at the
border didn’t start in 2016. El Pasoans
have watched its growth in fits
and starts. We saw steel barriers go
up at the time of NAFTA; at the very
moment when NAFTA ensured the
right of wealth to cross the border
freely we limited and criminalized
human mobility.
35. Some cannot understand the
visceral reaction of many in the
borderlands to the wall. It is not
just a tool of national security. More
than that, the wall is a symbol of
exclusion, especially when allied to
an overt politics of xenophobia. It is
an open wound through the middle
of our sister cities of El Paso and
Ciudad Juárez. The wall deepens
racially charged perceptions of how
we understand the border as well as
Mexicans and migrants. It extends
racist talk of an ‘invasion’. It perpetuates
the racist myth that the area
south of the border is dangerous
and foreign and that we are merely
passive observers in the growth of
narco-violence and the trafficking of
human beings and drugs. The wall
is a physical reminder of the failure
of two friendly nations to resolve
their internal and bi-national issues
in just and peaceful way. It validates
James Baldwin’s fear that Americans
are addicted to innocence. It is a
destructive force on the environment.
The wall kills families and children.
There will be a day when after this
wall has come crumbling down we
will look back and remember the wall
as a monument to hate.
36. Everyday in El Paso there are subtle
ways that the voice of the poor
is removed from them. Our biases
prevent us from seeing that the slow
erosion through active neglect of our
communities south of the I-10 highway,
as well as the loss of schools,
housing, and culture to gentrification,
are really an attack on the right to
a good and dignified life. Our bias
won’t let us feel within our bellies
the injustice of the environmental
contamination in the Chamizal and its
effects on their children. Those communities,
too, have every right to be,
as Pope Saint Paul VI said, ‘artisans of
their destiny’.
37. The Mexican farmworkers who
pick our pecans, pistachios, onions,
tomatillos and chiles often sleep on
our streets downtown. Invisible to
many of us on the street and in the
fields, they labor to exhaustion to
produce abundance on our tables
but are still paid little more than slave
wages, without adequate health,
disability or retirement benefits. Why
don’t we reward their efforts and
their skills when the work they do is
so essential for our life and health?
38. After 9-11, our people felt the
interrogating stares of authorities
and fellow citizens, questioning
whether they belonged. Today,
darker skinned residents and citizens
are routinely asked to show identity
cards by border enforcement agents
when crossing in the middle of the
international bridge while lighter
skinned individuals pass by unimpeded.
Recently we saw the frightening
presence of armed militia from outside
our community herding migrants
like cattle. Even some of our seminarians
have talked about experiences
in seminaries in different parts of
the country where it was presumed
that their academic preparation was
inferior and when they were the butt
of jokes suggesting that their families
must know something about drug
trafficking.
39. This is a history of racism and its
deadly effects. Why is there greater
poverty, less access to education and
health care and lower wages in our
border community? Not because
anyone is inherently inferior, criminal
or lazy. But because on these criminal
pretexts people on the border have
had less opportunity. This is institutional
racism. And yet the people
of the borderlands are not victims.
Resilience and dignity are the jewels
in the crown of this long and ongoing
struggle and are the mark
of our people. The people of the
borderlands have built a real community.
Against walls and inequality
and fear, we have maintained our
vital connection with Ciudad Juárez.
In spite of this story of oppression,
railroads and highways are built, food
is grown in abundance, our sons and
daughters battle and die with valor in
the armed services, our people build
wind turbines and airplane consoles,
we paint murals of beauty, we speak
many languages, our young people
are passionate about justice and the
environment, we thrive in the desert.
40. Great progress has been made
in recent years, with the passage of
civil rights legislation, victories in the
courts, and hard won wins of civically
engaged communities, genuine
public servants and organizers in
the workplace. Latinos have worked
hard to build a more just society.
Our schools and universities are
more reflective of our population
and are more bilingual. Our children
have graduated from distinguished
academic institutions to become
fine theologians, teachers, doctors
and lawyers. Our community has
demonstrated remarkable hospitality
to migrants and refugees.
Borderland culture is more and
more seen as an asset to celebrate
rather than a deficit of which to be
ashamed. Our Church has also made
progress; Patrick Flores was named
bishop of El Paso in 1978, the first
Mexican American bishop in the
United States. Latino/a theologians
have long offered inspired insights
on these matters. In my pastoral
reflections here I stand upon their
shoulders. Those in leadership in our
diocesan church increasingly reflect
our population. Our liturgies, with
diverse language and song, more
fully anticipate the diversity and unity
of the Reign of God.
41. The Ysleta del Sur Pueblo talk
about how by the 1970s their people
had dwindled in number to only
around 400 members. Today, the
community numbers in the hundreds
of families and they have created
worthy spaces to develop their
economy and promote their cultural
heritage. They have invested generously
in renewing and restoring their
mission church, where they were not
even permitted to enter through the
front door in the nineteenth century.
Now during Mass they can proclaim
the Scriptures and pray the Our
Father in their native language. They
can invoke the intercession of the
canonized Kateri Tekakwitha through
song and dance.
42. In the aftermath of the matanza,
we immediately saw the unique spirit
of El Paso in an overwhelming community
response, a people united
in prayer and service, regardless of
race, age, nationality, gender, religion
or political belief. Yet August 3rd also
reminded us that our achievements
are to be defended and deepened,
not taken for granted.
Purification of Memory
43. Pope Saint John Paul II set an
example for us all during the Jubilee
Year 2000 when he asked pardon for
the violation of ‘the rights of ethnic
groups and peoples’ and ‘contempt
for their cultures and traditions’.
On many occasions leaders in the
Church did little to disrupt patterns
of sin that demonized those who
thought differently, looked different
and prayed differently. We often took
the European experience of Christianity
to be normative and failed to
appreciate the ways that God was
already at work, and still at work
today, in indigenous peoples and
cultures. We perpetuated damaging
notions of power and the desire to
dominate and so contributed to the
exploitation of peoples and the environment.
There are some who still
feel estranged from the Church on
account of those actions and omissions
which diminished the credibility
of the Gospel.
44. I am grieved as I reflect upon
this and I realize that and nothing I
can say will undo that harm. Nor do
I have the answers as to how we can
move forward together. But I extend
my hand in humility and friendship to
those individuals and communities
who feel estranged from the Church.
I want you to know that the Church
is with you and stands beside you in
your work to build a more just world.
I stand beside you and am ready to
learn from you.
45. The example and lives of the
martyrs also shows us what genuine
Christian witness is. We see this
example in the lives of Saint Oscar
Romero; Blessed Father Stanley
Rother; the four Maryknoll women
missionaries killed in El Salvador in
1980; the six Jesuits, their housekeeper
and her daughter killed in
El Salvador in 1989; our own San
Pedro de Jesus Maldonado. In the
spirit of these examples which make
the Gospel credible I wish to build a
bridge. They show us that true evangelization
is ‘to lay down one’s life for
one’s friends’ (John 15, 13). Like them
I pray that I may speak without fear
when it is called for and help to give
voice to those who have not been
heard.

PART III
He Took the Form of a Slave
Tú vales.
46. Year after year, after fall winds
bring cooler weather into our desert
valley, the ground beneath us in El
Paso literally begins to hum in the
evenings. Throughout the land, danzantes
and matachines are rehearsing
their ritual dance in preparation
for the explosion of rhythm, chant,
theatre, light and color that will take
place on the 12th of December. It is
the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
The origins of devotion to Our Lady
of Guadalupe are veiled in mystery.
But to generation after generation
she reveals the solidarity and closeness
of God.
Why do they dance?
47. Perhaps like nowhere else, the
people of our border community
identify with Our Lady of Guadalupe.
She is in shopping malls, restaurants,
Ubers, hair salons and family
altares. There is a beautiful Virgin in
the Chamizal special to the women
there who lost their manufacturing
jobs, whom they lovingly call Nuestra
Señora de los Desplazados, Our Lady
of the Displaced.
48. Despite everything others tell us,
we in the borderlands know that this
valley between the Sierra Madre and
the Rocky Mountains is home to one
But you, LORD, do not stay far off; my strength, come quickly to help me.
Psalm 22, 20
binational cultural reality. We live in a
state of in-betweenness, neither here
nor there, ni de aquí ni de allá. The
weight of a violent history, gross nationalisms,
politics, walls, passports,
the global economy and the legacy
of race compete to define our people,
to define us. To make our people
feel like foreigners in a foreign land.
Truly we are suffering from a heart
sickness ‘that says we are able to be
only one or the other’.
49. The dehumanization of Indigenous
and Blacks, and the displacement
of the American Indian
meant that these communities were
deprived of the narratives, land and
religious traditions that gave their
life consistency and meaning. New
racialized narratives for self-understanding
were forced upon them and
they were forced to see themselves
through the eyes of their masters. In
order words, tú no vales. But no one
has the right to impose that type of
identity.
50. Against that dehumanization, as
once she said to San Juan Diego,
who represented a people dehumanized
and disenfranchised, Guadalupe
says to our people today, ‘you count’,
tú vales.
51. To the refugee turned away at
the border, she says ‘tú vales’. To the
worker displaced by free trade, she
says ‘tú vales’. To the border agent
who envisioned giving your life in
service to a just cause but now struggle
in confusion, and to your family,
she says ‘tú vales’. To the family with
mixed immigration status, she says,
‘ustedes valen.’ To the millennial who
left family and culture and tradition in
search of success and the American
dream but now feel empty inside,
she says ‘tú vales’. To those at home
in neither English or Spanish or who
feel awkward at not knowing enough
of either, she says ‘ustedes valen.’ To
the family that bears the weight of
intergenerational trauma expressed
in depression, abuse and divorce,
she says ‘ustedes valen’.
52. Her simple message persuades
us, as it did that day on Tepeyac, that
she is the God-bearer, Theotokos.
Only a woman such as this young,
brown, mestiza empress, born on the
edges of empire and who revealed
herself anew on the edges of empire,
could have convinced our people of
the nearness and tenderness of God.
She who shares in our in-betweenness.
She is the Mestiza, who takes
what is noble from each culture,
elevates it and points out new ways
towards reconciliation. She takes on
our people’s pain and trauma and
she transforms it to give birth to
hope and redemption.
53. Guadalupe teaches us how we
might go about repairing the sin
of racism. She shows us that our
deepest identity is not given to us by
empire, or politics or the economy
or the colonist, but is a gift of God.
Our identity is formed in the gracefilled
relationships we freely pursue
with God, others and Creation. In
the words of Pope Francis, ‘human
life is grounded in three fundamental
and closely intertwined relationships:
with God, with our neighbour and
with the earth itself’. On our border
we have seen that racism radically
undermines those relationships.
54. The story of Guadalupe is the
story of Jesus, who divested himself
of the privileges of divinity, ‘taking
the form of a slave’, to become flesh
like us. His was a Jewish body that
embodied Israel’s universal vocation
to be a blessing for all the nations (cf.
Genesis 28, 14). If after the Resurrection,
the Church continues Jesus’
mission of restoring the ‘unity of the
whole human race’, then to speak of
the Church and the Reign of God is
to speak of inclusion and diversity.
This is the very opposite of the racist
obsession with whiteness and purity
and the false promises of resurgent
ethno-nationalisms. Understood in
this way, racism is a sign of the anti-reign
and baptism and the Eucharist
are the graced gateway to a fully
reconciled humanity.
55. Every race and color and tribe
and people and language and
culture are threads in the vibrant and
diverse tapestry of the Reign of God.
Our suffering and pain and dispossession
are transfigured in the Jesus
who died on the Cross and who
invites us to relocate our broken history,
our imperfect lives, our desires
PART IV
They Threatened Us with Resurrection
Our Responsibility to Build the Temple
of Justice
58. The validation that comes from
Our Lady of Guadalupe is not static
acceptance. Our Lady affirmed Juan
Diego against dehumanization. And
that affirmation came with a divine
charge to make persistent petition
before the authorities and build a
All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD;
All the families of nations will bow low before him.
Psalm 22, 28
temple. Guadalupe validates our
desire to do good, our longing for
transformation and our agency to
enact good in the world. And she
entrusts us with a mission. To those
who know the pain of racism and
injustice and live in that place neither
here nor there, ni de aquí ni de allá,
Our Lady of Guadalupe hands on a
sacred petition from her Son, to be
and aspirations and our work for justice
in the drama of His Reign which
is unfolding all around us through the
power of His Resurrection.
56. That is the drama unfolding in the
dance of the matachines each year.
That is why they dance.
57. With her knee raised in dance,
Guadalupe invites us to leave behind
fear and join her in the work of
advancing justice in America with joy.
We are called to die to an attitude of
fear and rise with a will to encounter
others in vulnerability, to appreciate
the gifts of every culture and people,
with a willingness to be changed for
the better by right relationships with
God, others and the earth. In the
Resurrection of Our Lord, now ‘there
is no fear in love, but perfect love
drives out fear’ (1 John 4, 18).
builders of a new Temple of Justice
in the Americas, a Temple of a
New Humanity.
59. But as builders of the Temple of
Justice here in the Americas, it is not
enough to not be racist. Our reaction
cannot be non-engagement. We
must also make a commitment to be
anti-racists in active solidarity with the

suffering and excluded. Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. put it well when he
said, ‘I can never be what I ought to
be until you are what you ought to
be, and you can never be what you
ought to be until I am what I ought
to be’. The same thing is said in the
Mayan tradition, ‘In Lak’ech’, tú eres
mi otro yo, or ‘you are my other self’.
Guadalupe, the Mestiza, teaches us
that our destinies are bound up with
one another. We must take active
steps to defend the human rights of
everyone in our border community
and their dignity against dehumanization
as we work to forge a new
humanity. What racism has divided,
with the help of God, we can work
to restore.
60. The burden of the history of
injustice on the border is heavy. We
must wrestle deeply with this legacy,
lament over it passionately, confront
our own biases candidly and repudiate
racism completely. God offers
us the chance to build a new history
where racism does not prevail. The
‘manifesto’ of hate and exclusion
that entered our community can be
countered with a manifesto of radical
love and inclusion. I want to see an El
Paso that addresses both the legacy
of racism and one which builds more
just structures to eradicate and
overcome that history. A new history
of respect for human rights, inclusion
and bridge building. The Reign
of God is reflected in a community
that brings together the best of all
cultures, where the aspirations of all
find a home and where the needs
of the poor are put first. If we do
this, we can make a vitally needed
contribution to the nation from our
border, here on the edges of empire,
towards turning the page on
injustice and hate and white
supremacy definitively.
61. ‘God gave the earth to the whole
human race for the sustenance of all
its members, without excluding or
favouring anyone’. We must work to
ensure all our children have access
to quality educational opportunities,
eliminate inequality in the colonias,
pass immigration reform, eradicate
discrimination, guarantee universal
access to health care, ensure the
protection of all human life, end the
scourge of gun violence, improve
wages on both sides of the border,
offer just and sustainable development
opportunities, defend the
environment and honor the dignity of
every person. This is how we write a
new chapter in our history of solidarity
and friendship that future generations
can remember with pride. This
work of undoing racism and building
a just society is holy, for it ‘contributes
to the building of the universal
city of God, which is the goal of the
history of the human family’. It anticipates
that day when ‘night will be no
more, nor will they need light from
lamp or sun, for the Lord God shall
give them light, and they shall reign
forever and ever.’
The Need for New Leadership
62. This historical moment also
requires a new kind of leadership to
which I believe our border community
can make a real contribution. In
all fields, Latinos have risen to the
heights of power. We should not fear
power. Power has been given to us
as stewards by our God, who asks
of us to be co-creators in bringing
about His Reign. But we must learn
the use of power in new, creative and
grace-filled ways, not reproducing
the tactics and methods of domination
and division that belong to
the oppressor. This will require us to
stand beside the poor as they find
their voice and to take a supportive
role in their work for justice. We must
build each other up rather than seeking
to outsmart and outflank; that is
not the way of true leadership or of
love. Love is spontaneous, unselfish,
full of surprise, life-giving and forgiving.
If we are to move our borderlands
towards a reconciled community
beyond faction and resentment,
we must commit ourselves to a love
which is not merely self-directed, a
love which we must learn at the feet
of Jesus of Nazareth.
63. This new type of leadership must
restore agency to those communities
and individuals who have
been victimized and also center
their voices, memories and hopes
in discerning the path ahead. In the
coming months, I commit to engaging
these voices more intentionally
in hopes that together we can turn
back the tide of racism in our border
community.
Our Catholic Community, An Oasis
of Justice
64. The Catholic Church in El Paso
must be on permanent mission, an
ongoing conversion to the Lord, so
that we might be salt and leaven
in the work of justice in the borderlands.
Charity and justice must be the
work of each of our parishes, flowing
from the Word of God, our baptismal
commitment and our Communion at
the Eucharistic table.
65. Our pastors should take care in
the celebration of Baptism, especially
baptisms during the Eucharist on
Sundays, to allow the profound symbols
of the sacrament to shine with
clarity. In the purifying waters we celebrate
the radical transformation and
equality that comes from renewal in
Christ. In the anointing with holy oils
we proclaim a reverence for human
life without distinction. The strength
of these symbols should flow into our
daily parish life and work for justice.
66. Likewise, in our celebration of
Mass, pastors can lead our people
to a deeper consciousness of the
weight of communal and historical
sin that we bring to the table of
the Lord in the penitential rite. We
should ask ourselves carefully who is
yet not present, and whose cultures
are not yet reflected at the banquet
of the Lord that we celebrate at the
altar. In our preaching and celebration,
we should lead our people to
greater awareness of the connection
between the love of God celebrated
in our temples, and the love of God
to be practiced outside their doors,
including work to end prejudice and
discrimination.
Faithfulness to Our Identity
67. I would like to thank our priests
who showed tenderness in ministering
to the dead and wounded on August
3rd. Some arrived to the scene
before it was even secure. I thank the
courageous first responders. I thank
the leaders of the interfaith community
who organized prayer and vigils
and a space for our people to expose
their pain to the healing power of
grace. I am grateful to the community
organizations that organized
financial support and provided legal
assistance. I thank our NGOs and
public leaders who have deepened
their work for justice. I thank the
churches and organizations which refused
to give into fear and continued
to receive migrants. I thank the journalists
who continue to work tirelessly
to witness to what is occurring at the
border with compassion and truthfulness.
I thank our teachers and therapists
and doctors for accompanying
us on the road to healing. I thank our
people for their resilient spirit. I thank
God for His constant presence and
faithfulness to us.
68. I know God will never allow the
hate that visited our community on
August 3rd to have the last word.
We must recommit ourselves to the
hospitality and compassion that characterized
our community long before
we were attacked, with all the risk and
vulnerability which that entails. We
must continue to show the rest of the
country that love is capable of mending
every wound. What can they do
but threaten us with Resurrection?
69. If there is anyone who feels so
alone, so isolated and so tortured
that you feel your only way out is to
succumb to the darkness of racism
and violence and pick up a gun, I say
to you today: there is a place for you
in our community and our church.
Lay aside your weapons of hate.
Put away your fear. Here there is a
teacher, a sister, a deacon, a priest,
a counselor ... a bishop, waiting to
welcome you home and greet you
with love. Tú vales.
70. I also make a direct appeal to
my brothers and sisters in Texas and
those in positions of authority to
spare Patrick Crusius from execution.
Justice is certainly required. But the
cycle of hate, blood and vengeance
on the border must meet its end.
While the scales of justice may
seem to tilt in favor of the necessity
of lethal retribution, God offers us
yet another chance to choose life.
Choose in a manner worthy of your
humanity.
71. In the absence of immigration
reform, I also renew my appeal to
the President of the United States, to
the Members of Congress and to the
jurists of our highest Courts. I beg
you to listen to the voice of conscience
and halt the deportation of
all those who are not a danger to our
communities, to stop the separation
of families, and to end once and for
all the turning back of refugees and
death at the border.
Given this day, the 13th of October, the XXVIII Sunday in Ordinary Time
and the vigil of Indigenous People’s Day, in the year of our Lord 2019.
Your servant in Christ,
+ Mark Joseph Seitz
Bishop of El Paso

PRAYER TO OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE
O Mary of Guadalupe, our Mother,
Consolation of our frail humanity,
We need you in this moment of pain,
Be with us here in El Paso.
You who accompany us on the journey of life,
Guiding us in joyful dance,
Be a bridge between heaven and earth,
Between us your sons and daughters.
Defend us from what would devour us,
And take away the promise of new life,
With arms of war and words that kill,
With racism personal and structural,
With massacres against innocents.
All of us are daughters and sons of the Most High,
Equal in dignity, deserving of respect,
Worthy of a place on this earth,
Worthy of the call to build your Temple of Justice.
With your protection and inspiration,
We will write the next chapter of our history,
Weaving together a new beautiful tapestry,
Across these great borderlands.
Ask your beloved Son, dear Mother,
To bring the dawn of a new day,
To drive away the night,
A day when sorrow and mourning will flee,
Because they can only threaten us with Resurrection.
We place all this in your loving hands,
To bring to Christ, your Son and our Savior.
END NOTES
[1] See Edward K. Braxton, How to come together
in response to the gun violence epidemic,
America (11 September 2019), https://www.
americamagazine.org/politics-society/2019/09/11/
bishop-braxton-how-come-together-response-gun-violence-epidemic.
[2] See United States Conference of Bishops, Responsibility,
Rehabilitation, and Restoration: A Catholic Perspective
on Crime and Criminal Justice (2000).
[3] Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address (1865),
https://www.bartleby.com/124/pres32.html.
[4] USA Today Analysis (8 August 2019), https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2019/08/08/
trump-immigrants-rhetoric-criticized-el-paso-dayton-shootings/1936742001/.
[5] Pope Francis, Message for 2019 World Day of Migrants
and Refugees (2019), https://drive.google.com/
file/d/1e1Qz84xq3xK3qsECjqwp-IwPnUPaghuT/view.
[6] Charles J. Chaput, Statement of Archbishop Charles
J. Chaput, OFM Cap Regarding Racial Violence in Charlottesville,
Virginia (2017), http://archphila.org/statement-of-archbishop-charles-j-chaput-o-f-m-cap-regarding-racial-violence-in-charlottesville-virginia/.
[7] Yolanda Leyva, The El Paso Shooting Is a Reminder
of an Ugly Side of Texas History, Time (8 August 2019),
https://time.com/5647705/texas-history-el-paso/.
[8] Arzobispado de Guatemala, Oficina de Derechos Humanos,
Guatemala Nunca Más, Volumen I (Guatemala:
ODHAG, 1998), p. XIV.
[9] Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience, 23 May 2007,
http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2007/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20070523.html.
[10] See Randolph Campbell, An Empire for Slavery: The
Peculiar Institution in Texas,1821-1865 (Baton Rouge:
LSU Press, 1991).
[11] Ibid.
[12] See Stanford University’s Chinese Railroad Workers
in North America Project, https://spice.fsi.stanford.
edu/multimedia/chinese-railroad-workers-north-america-project.
[13] See Monica Muñoz Martinez,The Injustice Never

Leaves You: Anti-Mexican VIolence in the Southwest
(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2018).
[14] Ibid., p. 17.
[15] Ibid.
[16] Ibid., p. 18.
[17] Pope Saint Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Populorum progressio
(1967), 65.
[18] Day of Pardon, Universal Prayer: Confession of Sins
and Asking for Forgiveness, 12 March 2000, http://www.
vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/documents/ns_lit_
doc_20000312_prayer-day-pardon_en.html.
​[19] Ibid.
[20] See the Holy See’s Commission For Religious Relations
With the Jews, We Remember: A Reflection on
the Shoah, http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/documents/rc_pc_chrstuni_
doc_16031998_shoah_en.html, 1998: ‘Despite the
Christian preaching of love for all, even for one’s enemies,
the prevailing mentality down the centuries penalized
minorities and those who were in any way different.’
[21] Gloria Anzaldua, Borderlands La Frontera (San Francisco:
Aunt Lute Books, 1999), p. 41.
[22] Pope Francis, Encyclical Letter Laudato si’ (2015),
66.
[23] The Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic
Constitution on the Church ‘Lumen gentium’ (1964), 1.
[24] Martin Luther King, Jr., Commencement Address
for Oberlin College, ‘Remaining Awake Through a Great
Revolution’ (1965), http://www2.oberlin.edu/external/
EOG/BlackHistoryMonth/MLK/CommAddress.html.
[25] Pope Saint John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus
annus (1991), 31, http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_
enc_01051991_centesimus-annus.html.
[26] Pope Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in veritate
(2009), 7.
[27] See Bryan N. Massingale, Racial Justice and the
Catholic Church (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 2010), p. 122-
125.
​NIGHT WILL BE NO MORE
First published in El Paso, TX 2019
Copyright © Mark J. Seitz 2019
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
Every reasonable effort has been made to trace copyright
holders of material reproduced in this publication,
but if any hav been inadvertently overlooked the Publishers
would be glad to hear from them.
Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New
American Bible, Revised Edition © 2010, 1991, 1986,
1970, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington,
DC. All Rights Reserved.