Extension magazine - Summer 2023

catholicextension.org
STORIES OF FAITH FROM CATHOLIC EXTENSION
SUMMER 2023
‘YOU BEAR
WITNESS TO
THE GOD-
GIVEN DIGNITY
OF EVERY
PERSON.’
—Pope Francis
THE
GRATITUDE
CATHOLIC
EXTENSION
FOR
POPE’S
20
Nun up against organized crime 30

Extension | Summer 2023 3
S T O R I E S O F F A I T H F R O M C A T H O L I C E X T E N S I O N
Catholic Extension has published Extension
magazine since 1906 to share with our donors
and friends the stories illustrating our mission:
to work in solidarity with people to build up
vibrant and transformative Catholic faith
communities among the poor in the poorest
regions of America.
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catholicextension.org
Board of Governors
CHANCELLOR
Cardinal Blase J. Cupich
Archbishop of Chicago
VICE CHANCELLOR
Most Reverend Gerald F. Kicanas
Bishop Emeritus of Tucson
PRESIDENT
Reverend John J. Wall
VICE CHAIR OF COMMITTEES and SECRETARY
Elizabeth Hartigan Connelly
BOARD MEMBERS
Most Reverend Gerald R. Barnes
Bishop Emeritus of San Bernardino
Most Reverend Steven Biegler
Bishop of Cheyenne
John W. Croghan
Most Reverend Daniel E. Flores, STD
Bishop of Brownsville
Most Reverend Ronald Hicks
Bishop of Joliet
The Honorable James C. Kenny
Most Reverend Robert N. Lynch
Bishop Emeritus of St. Petersburg
Peter J. McCanna
Michael G. O’Grady
Christopher Perry
Andrew Reyes
Sister Fatima Santiago, ICM
Karen Sauder
Pamela Scholl
Most Reverend Anthony B. Taylor
Bishop of Little Rock
Most Reverend George L. Thomas, Ph.D.
Bishop of Las Vegas
Timothy Turner
Most Reverend William A. Wack, CSC
Bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee
Edward Wehmer
Your investment in Catholic Extension is tax
deductible to the extent allowed by law. Catholic
Extension is a nonprofit 501(c)( 3 ) organization.
ISSN Number: 0884-7533
©2023 The Catholic Church Extension Society
All rights reserved.
Pope praises
our work 20
Our president, Father Jack Wall,
met Pope Francis in a private
audience in Rome as part of a
Catholic Extension delegation
that included our chancellor,
Cardinal Blase Cupich; our
vice chancellor, Bishop Gerald
Kicanas; and more than 60
women faith leaders. The
Holy Father thanked Catholic
Extension for “caring for the
needs of the poor and most
vulnerable.”
BUILD to Catholic Extension’s Board 10
NEWS BRIEFS | First woman religious of color to join our
Board of Governors helps advance our mission
Sister Fatima Santiago, ICM, named
Young, old rejoice at new church 12
CHURCH BUILDING | The dedication of St. Peter Claver
Church in Lexington, Kentucky
Faith community survives flames of
destruction 16
CHURCH BUILDING | Ojibwe people open their new church
INSPIRE
Still fighting for justice 32
FEATURE | The untold stories of Catholics in the South
How are good bishops formed? 36
FEATURE | Meet Most Reverend Anthony Celino of El Paso,
Texas
IGNITE
Being Catholic means getting outside
our own ‘bubble’ 40
PARISH PARTNERSHIPS | Connecticut parish supports
Catholics on Native American reservation in Minnesota
Letter from Father Wall 4
Mission needs 8
Catholic cattle ranchers in Nebraska 18
Connect 42
Extension is a publication provided to you and
your family by Catholic Extension. If you do
not wish to continue receiving Extension, email
magazine@catholicextension.org and we will
remove you from this mailing list.
COVER & INSIDE COVER PHOTOS VATICAN MEDIA

4
Letter from Father Wall
Extension | Summer 2023 5
IN 1910, only five years after
the founding of Catholic
Extension, St. Pope Pius
X issued a decree making
Catholic Extension a society
that would henceforth be
under the protection of the
Holy See.
Ever since then, Catholic
Extension has maintained
a special connection with
the Holy See. That connection
is what brought a recent
Catholic Extension delegation
to Rome, where we had
the great honor to meet with
Vatican leaders, including the
pope himself.
But it was perhaps an
even greater honor to be in
the company of incredible
women leaders in the Church
who were part of our delegation
to Rome, many of whom
are past recipients of Catholic
Extension’s Spirit of Francis
Award and Lumen Christi
Award or are the beneficiaries
of Catholic Extension’s
support.
During our pilgrimage,
these extraordinary women
shared with the Holy See
how they are implementing
Pope Francis’ teachings
through their work with
communities on the peripheries.
These heroic and
exemplary women are each
building the “field hospital”
Church that Pope Francis
frequently speaks of, which
walks in solidarity with the
people whom our culture
and society have deemed disposable.
Some of the women who
Follow the women who
follow the risen Christ
joined us in Rome, and
whose reflections you will
read in this magazine, include:
Sister Norma Pimentel, MJ—
who has provided care to
hundreds of thousands at
the U.S.-Mexico border and
received Catholic Extension’s
Spirit of Francis Award while
in Rome.
Jean Fedigan—who is our
2022-2023 Lumen Christi
Award recipient and the
founder of Sister José Women’s
Center in Tucson, Arizona,
which serves women
who have been trafficked and
experienced violence, homelessness
and hunger.
Sister Clarice Suchy, STJ—
who has responded to victims
of the mass shooting
that left 19 children dead in
Uvalde, Texas in May 2022.
Dozens of religious sisters
in our U.S.-Latin American
Sisters Exchange Program—
whose ministries have
directly touched the lives
of hundreds of thousands
of people throughout our
country.
We fittingly began our pilgrimage
with these and other
honored guests in the Church
of Santa Maria sopra Minerva.
Located in the heart of Rome,
it holds the bodily remains
of St. Catherine of Siena,
arguably one of the greatest
women in the history of
Catholicism. Not only does St.
Catherine have the rare distinction
of being a doctor of
the Church (one of only four
women in 2,000 years to hold
such a title), she also helped
save the papacy.
The popes had abandoned
Rome for 70 years. This was
a big problem because part
of what makes a pope the
pope is the fact that he is the
bishop of Rome. But in the
14th century, successive
popes took up their residency
in France, requiring
a no-nonsense woman to
solve this decades-long, international
religious scandal.
During her arduous and ultimately
successful campaign
seeking the pope’s return to
Rome, St. Catherine of Siena
did not mince words, appealing
to his spiritual sensibilities
as much as his masculine
identity.
“I beg of you, on behalf of
Christ crucified,” she pleaded,
“that you be not a timorous
child but manly. Open your
mouth and swallow down the
bitter for the sweet.” She followed
up with this zinger,
after the pope had returned
to Rome but was still second-guessing
his decision:
“Up, father, like a man! For
I tell you that you have no
need to fear.”
St. Catherine’s struggle is
perhaps what the women
of Jerusalem might have felt
when they were trying to
convince the disbelieving
apostles of the resurrection
of Jesus.
On the road to Emmaus,
the apostles could not piece
together the evidence of
Jesus’ resurrection as they
talked through the sequence
of events. They said:
“Some women from
our group, however, have
astounded us: they were
at the tomb early in the
morning and did not find
[Jesus’] body; they came
back and reported that they
had indeed seen a vision of
angels who announced that
he was alive. Then some of
those with us went to the
tomb and found things just
as the women had described,
but him they did not see” (Lk
24:22-24).
The apostles cannot grasp
that which is plainly obvious
to the women. Their stubborn
skepticism on the road
to Emmaus prompts the disguised
Jesus to burst out with
the words: “Oh, how foolish
you are! How slow of heart to
believe all that the prophets
spoke!” (Lk 24:25).
That is why I have always
believed it important to follow
the women who follow
the risen Christ.
In the Gospel stories,
women are the ones who
accompany the suffering
Jesus to the cross while the
other disciples scatter in
fear. They are also the first to
encounter Him as the risen
one and the first to give witness
to his other disciples of
the transformative power of
what God is doing through
His Son for each of us and for
the hope of all humanity.
Today, in many diverse
places, this same paradigm of
“first encounter” is especially
modeled by lay and religious
women of faith, just like the
ones we read about in Scripture,
and just like the women
featured in this magazine
whom we recently introduced
to Pope Francis.
These women are once
again showing us where the
risen Jesus can be found, and
they are patiently waiting for
the rest of us to finally see
Christ with our own eyes.
The women who joined us
in Rome are also like St. Catherine
of Siena, pleading with
the Church to be anchored
in a certain place to maintain
its credibility. Today, the
place that the Church must
not abandon, they tell us, is
its place among the poor and
with those on the peripheries.
Will we listen to the powerful
and prophetic voices of
these women of faith? Will
we follow the women who
lead us to the risen Christ?
Rev. John J. Wall
PRESIDENT, CATHOLIC EXTENSION
Father Jack Wall
stands with our
guests of honor
in Rome. (Left
to right): Sister
Norma Pimentel,
MJ; Jean Fedigan;
Sister Clarice
Suchy, STJ; Sister
Marie-Paule
Willem, FMM;
Father Jack Wall;
Sister Carol
Keehan, DC;
Sister Fatima
Santiago, ICM.;
and Melva
Arbelo.

Diocese of Kalamazoo, Michigan
Extension | Summer 2023 7
BUILD
NEWS BRIEFS 10 | NEW CHURCH FOR THE OJIBWE PEOPLE 16
News from
around the country
New, tax-saving
opportunity!
Your QCD can now be used to fund a Catholic
Extension charitable gift annuity.
Please support our mission!
Saves you
taxes
For the first time ever, new legislation expands charitable, tax-advantaged possibilities for those who
want to use their qualified charitable distributions (QCD) to create a charitable gift annuity (CGA).
To learn more, please contact Betty Assell, Manager of Annuities, at 800-842-7804 or
bassell@catholicextension.org.
+
Provides you
payments for
the rest of your life
Deacon Eddie
Grider incenses
the faithful at
St. Peter Claver
in the Diocese
of Lexington,
Kentucky, at
the church’s
dedication.
See story,
page 12.
catholicextension.org/annuities
Some restrictions apply.

8 BUILD Mission Needs
Extension | Summer 2023 9
Your donation will be
applied to a similar
need should your
specified project be
fully funded before
we receive your
support. Thank you!
Our Lady of Good Counsel Mission
is located just four miles south of the
Guam
California-Oregon
border. Since 1942,
the church has
proudly served
the town of Dorris,
which today has
Caroline Islands
a population of
less than 1,000.
Your donation will
help with repairs to
cracked walls at the mission church.
Marshall Islands
Samoa-Pago Pago
Chalan Kanoa
DORRIS CALIFORNIA
PLEASE HELP UPLIFT FAITH
COMMUNITIES IN NEED
BOISE IDAHO
The Diocese of Boise currently has less
than 70 priests, of which 27 are already
retired, to serve
200,000 Catholics
across the entire
state of Idaho. But a
new generation of
priestly vocations is
emerging in the Gem
State. Your donation
will support the
education of the 14 seminarians who are
currently discerning a call to priesthood in
this diocese.
Hawaii
ISSION NEEDS
Your donation will support a poor faith community in
need this summer and help keep the presence of the
Catholic Church strong in our country. To contribute to
one of these projects, please contact us at magazine@
catholicextension.org or call 1-800-842-7804.
RIPLEY MISSISSIPPI
Sister Carol Ann
Prenger, SSND, has
been serving St.
Matthew Church
in Ripley since
2019. Throughout
the Diocese of
Jackson, Catholics
represent less
than 2 percent of the total population.
Yet this faith community, under Sister
Carol’s guidance, has an ambitious goal
to double the number of people it serves
in the next two to three years. Your
donation will support her salary.
BAYAMÓN PUERTO RICO
Father Luis Marrero Padilla serves San
Miguel Arcángel Parish in Bayamón,
Puerto Rico. The
parish serves a
mix of elderly and
young families.
This poor but
vibrant community
cannot afford to
support Father
Padilla’s salary. Your
donation will ensure that the parish can
continue to operate and bring pastoral
care to its people.
EXTENSION DIOCESES
COPPER HARBOR MICHIGAN
This log cabin church in the northernmost
part of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula was
built using local logs
and rocks. Catholic
Extension supported its
construction in 1952, and
today it serves residents
of and summer travelers
in Copper Harbor, which
is surrounded by Lake
Superior on three sides.
Your donation will support repairs and window
replacements at Our Lady of the Pines Church.
GLENNVILLE GEORGIA
Father Vicente Terrazas serves St.
Christopher Parish and three additional
mission churches within
25 miles of each other
in the rural communities
of southern Georgia.
This includes St. Jude
Mission Church, which
Catholic Extension has
been supporting for
more than 50 years.
Your donation will help this small church
with its operating costs.
Puerto Rico
St. Thomas-
Virgin Islands

10
BUILD
News Briefs
Extension | Summer 2023 11
HIGHLIGHTS
Become a parish
partner
Does your parish
want to support the
mission of Catholic
Extension? Visit
catholicextension.
org/parishpartnerships
or
contact Natalie
Donatello at
ndonatello@
catholicextension.org
to learn more.
Follow us on social
media
Follow Catholic Extension’s
social media
channels to see more
stories, photos and videos
about the vibrant
faith communities we
support!
Facebook:
@CatholicExtension
Instagram:
@catholicextension
Twitter:
@CathExtension
Father Jack Wall, president of Catholic Extension, and Sister Fatima Santiago, ICM, visit San Juan Diego
Mission in Citrus City, Texas, a church built with Extension support.
Visionary sister joins Board of Governors
Sister Fatima Santiago, a Missionary Sister of the Immaculate Heart
of Mary, joined Catholic Extension’s Board of Governors at the beginning
of this year. She is the first religious sister of color to ever
serve in this capacity. A native of India, she has served as a missionary
in many parts of the world. Twenty years ago, she arrived in a
destitute neighborhood in southern Texas, where she saw potential.
With two other sisters, she developed Proyecto Desarrollo Humano,
an outreach center devoted to supporting the social, educational,
health and spiritual needs of women and families. In 2014
she and her fellow sisters received Catholic Extension’s Lumen
Christi Award.
As a member of our Board of Governors, Sister Fatima brings her
pioneering spirit and pastoral wisdom to help Catholic Extension
advance its mission across the country.
PHOTO JUAN GUAJARDO
WOMEN TO VOTE
AT SYNOD
ROME
In April the Vatican
announced that—for the
first time—women and
laypeople will be voting
members alongside
bishops at the global
Synod on Synodality
in October 2023. The
announcement occurred
on the same day that Catholic
Extension brought a
delegation of women leaders
to Rome to meet Pope
Francis in a private audience.
Read the story on
page 20.
CELEBRATING NEW
ORDINATIONS
NATIONWIDE
About 100 ordinations of
priests and an estimated
650 ordinations of
permanent deacons will
occur this year in Extension
dioceses. Catholic
Extension has been supporting
the education
of these newly ordained
leaders in more than 50
dioceses. Read a thank
you letter from a soonto-be-ordained
priest
in Tucson, Arizona, on
page 42. Pictured above:
Deacon Kyle Tannehill will
be ordained in Helena,
Montana, in June 2023.
2022
Catholic Extension published its
2022 annual report that features
15 years of progress since Father
Jack Wall began his
tenure as president. Some of
these achievements include
the significant increase in
our financial impact through
our various programs, which
30 YEARS
OF SUPPORT
MONTANA
Little Flower Parish in
Browning, Montana,
which serves the Native
American people of Blackfeet
Nation in the Diocese
of Helena, has the
longest streak of annual
financial support from
Catholic Extension of
any single faith community
in the country
(30 straight years). The
parish and its Catholic
school, De La Salle Blackfeet
School, continue to
provide immense hope
and opportunity to this
community.
ANNUAL REPORT SHOWS REMARKABLE IMPACT
BISHOP FLORES’
IMPORTANT ROLE
TEXAS
Bishop Daniel Flores of
the Diocese of Brownsville,
Texas, a member of
Catholic Extension’s Board
of Governors, is one of
six leaders around the
world named to the
special commission
tasked with preparing
the Vatican’s upcoming
Synod on Synodality in
October. He said, “It’s a
tender responsibility to
remember those voices
and to carry them into
the wider dialogue of
the communion of the
Church.”
totaled $271 million in 2022 alone. The
report focuses on the hope we see for the
future based on the immense amount of
good being done in the name
of the Church, especially in
the most challenging circumstances
and places. Find the
full report at catholicextension.org/annual-report.
NEWS BRIEFS

12
BUILD Extension | Summer 2023 13
Church Building
In our spring 2023 edition of
Extension magazine, we introduced
you to St. Peter Claver
Church in Lexington, Kentucky,
a historically Black
Catholic church that now
serves a diverse community
of many cultures and races,
including Congolese refugees.
After publishing the article
about the new church construction
project supported
by Catholic Extension, we
received letters asking for a
follow-up story once the new
church was dedicated.
There are many beautiful
things about the dedication
of a new Catholic church, but
maybe the best part is waiting
at the front door. It’s like
the “big reveal” moment on
those home makeover shows,
but it’s even more exciting and
meaningful.
That was especially true
for 94-year-old Clementine
Thompson. When she was a
young girl, she was not welcome
at her local Catholic parish
because she was African
American. Now, as the parish’s
favorite elder, she proudly
headed up the procession line,
which waited at the front door.
Also there was David Young,
who has been a parishioner
since 1978 and is Grand Knight
of the Knights of Peter Claver.
He wanted to cry for joy at
this culmination of 20 years
of blood, sweat, tears, planning,
funding and building
the church. Being a dignified
Grand Knight, he allowed himself
only a modest sniffle.
YOUNG, OLD
REJOICE AT
NEW
CHURCH
The dedication of
St. Peter Claver Church
in Lexington, Kentucky
Many young people were
also lined up at the door. Twoyear-old
Ellie was there with
her mom and dad. She eyed
the beautiful baptismal pool as
a possible setting for a future
adventure.
LEFT Bishop
John Stowe,
OFM Conv.,
presides
over the
consecration of
the new church.
ABOVE Father
Norman
Fischer is the
joyful pastor of
St. Peter Claver
LEFT
Clementine
Thomas
remembers
the days
when Black
Catholics were
unwelcome in
churches.
Rio was there with her
mom, Kimathi. She would be
one of the first junior high students
to be confirmed in the
new church later that month.
She was wide-eyed with
expectation, caught up in the
energy she had only before
experienced at pep rallies.
Engaged couple Brennan
and Ben were there. Their wedding
was right around the corner,
and Brennan was thankful
the main aisle in the new
church was so long. Their 10
bridesmaids and 10 groomsmen
would fit just fine.
Father Norman Fischer, the
ebullient and unstoppable pastor
of St. Peter Claver, waited
at the front door along with
Bishop John Stowe, OFM Conv.,
the visionary leader of the
Diocese of Lexington. Father
Fischer opened the door of
the church, saying, “Enter the
gates of the Lord with thanksgiving,
His courts with songs of
praise!”
The wait was over.
Entering with songs of praise
It has been said that “Catholic”
means “here comes everyone.”
In other words, we are a
universal Church where all are

14
BUILD
Church Building
“And he began to send them out two by two...” – Mark 6:7
Parishioners pray together for the first time in their new church.
welcome. The St. Peter Claver procession
was profoundly, proudly
and perfectly Catholic.
Led by the cross, the people of
God entered, blessing the main
aisle with their footsteps. There
were more than 500 parishioners,
many of whom had absolutely no
success holding back their tears.
They were beautiful: Korean, Filipino,
Congolese, Caucasian and
African American.
Tears mixed with the water from
the stunning baptismal font as
parishioners blessed themselves. It
was a standing-room-only crowd.
St. Peter Claver is built for 400, but
don’t suggest to Father Fischer that
he build a bigger church. Everyone
fit just fine. The church got more
beautiful as each aisle filled in.
The people were accompanied
by altar servers, Anuarite dancers,
the yellow-sashed Knights and
Ladies of Peter Claver, two bluerobed
choirs more than 50 strong,
lectors, ushers, candle bearers, five
drummers and five concelebrants
(making considerably less noise
than the drummers). They rolled
in like a wave.
How loved are the churches that
hold us
The dedication of a Roman
Catholic church is a thing of
beauty. It is a baptism of a building,
a promissory note to the
future, a love note to the generations
passed. It is the best of us, a
thoughtful, moving ritual that perfectly
expresses how loved are the
churches that hold us.
Bishop Stowe preached that the
church already felt like home. It
was the work of the assembly’s
hands and a feast for the eyes. He
said that the living presence of
Jesus was longing to burst out, creating
a new heaven and a new
earth. “And it starts right here, right
now,” he said. At Fourth and Jefferson
streets where the Catholic
Church has been present for more
than a century, a new day was
dawning that would be a source of
new life for the neighborhood.
Then came the anointing. The
four walls were anointed with
holy chrism, signifying that the
new church building is given over
entirely and perpetually to Christian
worship. St. Peter Claver is the
New Jerusalem come to Kentucky.
The sign of peace was holy
chaos. It was clear that the parishioners
were crazy about each
other. It was the kingdom come.
Then everyone, with reverent
excitement, made their first holy
Communion in the new church.
They were second graders again.
Bishop Stowe pronounced a
final blessing. Then the parishioners
were ready to do what he suggested
in his homily, namely that
from this consecrated place, the
assembly would now “burst out as
the living presence of Jesus, creating
a new heaven and a new
earth.”
Father Fischer described the
new St. Peter Claver as the “little
church with a big heart that just
got bigger.” Catholic Extension has
been honored to help.
Donors in the Two by Two Giving Society—leaders giving at least $1,000
annually—walk in companionship and solidarity with poor Catholic faith
communities.
This esteemed group helps Catholic Extension recognize and support the
hidden heroes lifting up the Church on the margins of society.
Contact Kate Grogan, Development Coordinator, at 312-795-6046 or
kgrogan@catholicextension.org for more information.
catholicextension.org/twobytwo

16
BUILD Extension | Summer 2023 17
Church Building
FAITH COMMUNITY
SURVIVES
FLAMES
OF DESTRUCTION
Ojibwe people open
their new church
In 2017 a fire destroyed the
nearly 125-year-old St. Mary’s
Mission Church.
PHOTO CHRIS STRONG
In the early hours of the morning
on December 2, 2017, St.
Mary’s Mission on the Red Lake
Indian Reservation in the far
reaches of northern Minnesota
went up in flames and was
destroyed. The parish serving the
Ojibwe people was established in
1858, and the building that had
just been reduced to ashes had
stood for nearly 125 years.
The people were crushed.
“It was just the worst feeling the
night that it happened,” recalled
Brandi Jourdain, longtime parishioner
and secretary at St. Mary’s
Mission School, located directly
behind the church. Three generations
of her family—her parents,
siblings and children—had attended
the school and worshiped
at the church that was now gone.
“There were so many memories
that went with that church. That
was a huge loss, not just for me but
for our whole community,” Jourdain
said. “The following weekend
we filled up the school gym and
we all had services together and
tried to make peace. There were a
lot of tears shed. Basically, it was a
funeral.”
A critical presence
After the fire, no
one was ready to
give up on St. Mary’s
Mission, especially
Catholic Extension,
which has invested
more than $1.6 million
in this community’s
church
and school over the
past 45 years. The
church’s presence is essential in a
place that faces many economic
challenges. Its school for Native
American children is a safe and
nurturing environment amid the
high suicide rates and drug addiction
that are all too common in
this area.
Among the many ministries
supported by Catholic Extension
was a suicide prevention and grief
counselor for the reservation.
“The mission of this church has
Students at St. Mary’s Mission School
celebrate Mass in the school gymnasium.
served as that safeguard for the
people,” explained Father John
Christianson, pastor of St. Mary’s
Mission Church and school superintendent
and administrator.
Catholic Extension is now
proudly supporting the new
church’s construction, along with
2,000 other donors across the
country who responded to the
mission’s mail campaign. After six
Catholic Extension is helping build a new church for St. Mary’s Mission on the
Red Lake Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota.
long years, those efforts are finally
coming to fruition.
A place of opportunity
The Catholic Church provides
the community not only shelter
and safety but also resources and
opportunity.
Longtime parishioner Charmaine
Branchaud has seen those
opportunities presented to her
family thanks to St. Mary’s Mission
Church and School. She and
her husband sent their two sons
to the school. One of her sons is
now a case manager for the homeless,
helping people get back on
their feet and becoming part of the
solution after witnessing the struggles
the Ojibwe face in Red Lake.
“He loves helping people, and I
think if he hadn’t gotten his Catholic
education at St. Mary’s, I don’t
know that this would have been
part of his personality and char-
acter,” Branchaud said. “Catholic
education instilled this in him. It
made us giving and loving people.”
Giving and loving people like
the Branchauds make up the dedicated
core group of Ojibwe parishioners
at St. Mary’s Mission. Having
their new church now nearly
complete means getting a permanent
place to call their own again.
“These people have been coming
to St. Mary’s for Mass in the
school gym now for six years, and
they’re still coming back,” Father
Christianson said. “So, to give
those people a place that they can
call church, it warms your heart.”
A home for the Ojibwe
The new church will have signage
up both in English and
Ojibwe. The late Father Jerry Rogers,
a two-time Catholic Extension
Lumen Christi Award nominee
who passionately served St.
Mary’s Mission from 2009 until
his death in September 2022, had
commissioned a statue of Jesus
and Mary depicted as Ojibwe people.
St. Mary’s Mission is welcoming
the people of the Red Lake
Indian Reservation back into a
Catholic church where they will
have a home for many generations
to come.
“The new building will become,
in a very short time, an invitation
to evangelization. It will be a great
gift and blessing to the people of
Red Lake Nation,” said Reathel
Giannonatti, director for the office
of stewardship and development
for the Diocese of Crookston. The
dedication of the new church later
this year will be a capstone for
proud Ojibwe Catholics that they
are not and will not be forgotten
by the Catholic Church.
“I get to be inside of a new,
beautiful building,” Branchaud
exclaimed. “It’s absolutely gorgeous!
I fell in love with it as soon
as I walked in. No amount of
thank-yous can even express our
gratitude for helping us build this
church.”

18
BUILD Extension | Summer 2023 19
Church Building
In its early days, Catholic Extension
built thousands of churches
in the American heartland.
When new settlements of Catholic
families were in need of
a church, Catholic Extension
helped erect a place of worship for
these resilient, far-flung communities
of people working the land as
farmers and ranchers.
Although times have changed,
many of these same places maintain
their humble, hardscrabble
way of life.
This is the case for a cluster of
tiny towns and immense stretches
of cattle ranches in the Sandhills
region of northwestern Nebraska.
Three churches in the Diocese of
Grand Island make up the Sandhills
Catholic Community, the two
farthest of which are an hour’s
drive from each other. Catholic
Extension is supporting repair
projects at all three churches to
ensure these sacred spaces are safe
and beautiful for generations to
come.
A shepherd of ranchers
The Sandhills Catholic Community
encompasses 5,000 square
miles and serves about 150 families.
Most parishioners drive 50
miles or more from their cattle
ranches to attend Mass. Father
Matthew Nash, who grew up in
Nebraska, leads the community. He
requested to shepherd the people
of this region.
“The ranchers care about being
good stewards of what they’ve
been gifted. They make sure the
cattle are cared for and raised on
land that is good for them. They
work hard at it,” he said.
Each weekend he drives on long
5,000-SQUARE-MILE
PARISH
REMAINS
A TIGHT-KNIT
COMMUNITY
The story of the Catholic people
of the rural Nebraska Sandhills
stretches of highway to celebrate
Mass at each church. “All three
parishes work cohesively together
and do their best to support one
another,” he said. “They know that
it’s sink or swim for all of us up
here.”
A respect for and active participation
in the Christian faith is
commonplace in this area. Father
Nash said that looking out for each
other and living the beatitudes are
part of people’s DNA. The faithful
welcome and trust one another to
the point that the church doors are
kept unlocked.
“You can ask anyone for help,
regardless of their background,
and they’ll do it,” Father Nash said.
All the Christian denominations
work together toward common
goals, and they take turns hosting
different community events,
such as baccalaureate services for
the graduating public high school
class.
Carol Wright is the office administrator
and a lifelong parishioner
at St. Mary’s Church in Mullen—she
was baptized and married
here. The parish was founded in
the early 1900s, and Catholic Extension
helped build the current
brick church in 1964.
Wright said that everyone in the
Sandhills area believes deeply in
God, and you can see His works
everywhere. “We call it God’s
country,” she said. Caring for one’s
neighbor is just a part of everyday
life. “It’s not just the religion,
it’s the fellowship. I feel we’re very
blessed,” she added.
Leanne French is a lector at the
parish. She moved to Mullen, her
husband’s hometown, in 2001. She
said that when she lived in Seattle,
she didn’t know her priest. When
she arrived in this small ranching
community, she was welcomed
with open arms. She values the
safety and family-oriented atmosphere.
“Your children can pretty
much run loose, and everyone
takes care of them,” she said.
Kris Forsen is a high school
secretary and instructs children
in the parish’s religious education
program. “Our community as a
whole is geared around children,”
she said.
Forty miles west and nestled
up in the hills is All Saints Church
in Hyannis. Maria Thompson has
attended this church for 60 years.
The faith community was there
for her when her husband passed
away a few years ago. Parishioners
brought her food, comfort and all
the support they could. When a
third grade girl saw Thompson sitting
alone in her pew during Mass,
she got up and sat by her, and she
continues to do so today.
Welcoming new life
It is not always easy to make
ends meet, but parishioners are
generous to help those struggling
within and outside of the Sandhills
region. For example, they have
established a fund to support community
members who have cancer,
and they even give to parishes
in Haiti to drill for water.
Although parishioners have
devoted their own time, skills and
money to maintain the churches,
several bigger projects have
stacked up that require greater
attention. This includes repairing
cracked sidewalks and decaying
flooring, replacing ceiling
tiles and painting. The repairs are
LEFT Father
Matthew Nash
serves ranching
families in rural
northwestern
Nebraska.
FAR LEFT St. Thomas
of Canterbury in
Thedford, Nebraska,
is one of three
churches that make
up the Sandhills
Catholic Community.
about looking to the future, welcoming
new life and engaging the
children.
“It’s very welcoming when a
church is clean,” Father Nash said.
“There’s just something inviting
about that. Beauty attracts.”
He said some new families were
initially drawn into the parish
through the beauty of the
churches.
The Sandhill Catholic Community
is grateful for Catholic Extension’s
recognition of the importance
and value of the faithful
who work hard in the heartland of
America.
“The Book of Acts speaks of us
being all one Church collectively
and all one body. It’s beautiful, especially
with Catholic Extension,
to see the one body look after each
of its individual members—that if
the hands are struggling, the feet
and the legs come to the aid,” Father
Nash said. They regularly have
Mass intentions for Catholic Extension
supporters, he said, “to lift
up all those who are so generous
to the Father in our prayer.”

Extension | Summer 2023 21
INSPIRE Features of faith
THE POPE TO WOMEN LEADERS 30 | FIRST AUXILIARY BISHOP IN EL PASO 36
Pope Francis
addresses
Catholic
Extension
‘I am pleased to know of
your concern to place those
who are often victims of
today’s “throwaway culture”
at the heart of the Church’s
pastoral activity’
Pope Francis addresses the
delegation from Catholic
Extension.
PHOTO VATICAN MEDIA

22 INSPIRE
Cover Story
Extension | Summer 2023 23
T
HIS PAST APRIL, Catholic
Extension was delighted to
gather with more than 60 women
faith leaders in Rome for a private
audience with Pope Francis.
The women included religious
and lay leaders from across the
United States who are doing
extraordinary ministry among the
poor, vulnerable and suffering
in our society. The delegation
was led by our chancellor,
Cardinal Blase Cupich; our
vice chancellor, Bishop Gerald
Kicanas; and our president,
Father Jack Wall. The meeting
occurred on a very historic day
in which the Vatican announced
that, for the first time, women
and laypeople would be allowed
to vote alongside bishops at the
Synod on Synodality in October
2023. The announcement was
yet another important step to
affirm and highlight the vital
role that women and indeed all
laypeople play in the life of the
Church, especially in regard to
the care of the marginalized and
voiceless of our society.
As our meeting got started,
Cardinal Cupich offered the
following introduction to the
Holy Father on behalf of Catholic
Extension.
Cardinal Cupich’s
remarks to the pope
Holy Father, good morning!
Thank you for receiving us,
the leaders and guests of
Catholic Extension Society. This
pontifical organization works
with missionary dioceses to build
vibrant Catholic faith communities
among the poor in the poorest
regions of the United States. In
addition to being in missionary
dioceses of the United States, we
are also in Cuba, reconstructing
churches. And we are helping
the bishops in Puerto Rico, who
are receiving grants from the U.S.
federal government to rebuild
churches and schools following
three natural disasters.
You can see that we have
brought with us religious sisters
who are helping in our missionary
dioceses, and in particular Sister
Norma Pimentel, whom you already
know. She will receive today
the Spirit of Francis Award from
Catholic Extension, in recognition
of her efforts to make a Church
that acts as a field hospital and for
her service to migrants.
In the name of all of us here,
we give you thanks, Holy Father,
for the inspiration that you give to
our missionary activity and to the
ministry that we offer to those in
need. We hope that our visit gives
you an idea of how we are all trying
to adopt and put into practice
the concept of a “poor Church
for the poor.” We feel blessed to
be living in these times of your
Petrine ministry. We assure you
of our prayers, and we ask your
blessing of our work. Holy Father,
many thanks!
Pope Francis’
complete remarks to
Catholic Extension
Dear friends, I offer a cordial
welcome to all of you
from the Catholic Extension
Society who have gathered
this week in Rome. Your presence
gives me the opportunity
to express my heartfelt gratitude
for your efforts in providing assistance
to missionary dioceses, particularly
in the United States, and
in caring for the needs of the poor
and vulnerable. I thank you, too,
for your valuable contributions to
the rebuilding of the Church and
the broader society in Puerto Rico,
following the various hurricanes
and earthquakes which brought
such devastation to the island in
recent years. As well, I congratulate
Sister Norma Pimentel, the
Pope Francis greets Cardinal Blase Cupich,
Catholic Extension’s chancellor, as Father Jack
Wall, president of Catholic Extension, looks on
with women faith leaders in our delegation.
PHOTO VATICAN MEDIA
recipient of the Spirit of Francis
Award, for her service to the many
men, women and children arriving
at the southern border of the
United States in search of a better
future. It is a joy for me also to
recognize the presence of leaders
from culturally diverse groups
that the Catholic Extension Society
supports.
In striving to build up the Body
of Christ, the Church (cf. Eph 4:12),
by giving a voice to those who are
frequently voiceless, you bear witness
to the God-given dignity of
every person. This is particularly
important at the present time, as
the entire Church is undertaking
a journey together on the path of
synodality. Listening to and including
the experiences and perspectives
of all, especially those on the
margins of society, enriches the
Church’s life and ministry. For the
Church is like a rich tapestry, made
up of many individual threads that
come from various peoples, languages
and cultures, yet woven
into a unity by the Holy Spirit.
Indeed, the Spirit creates unity by
harmonizing the multiplicity of
the members of the Body of Christ
and the diversity of their gifts. In
this regard, I am pleased to know
of your concern to place those
who are often victims of today’s
“throwaway culture” at the heart
of the Church’s pastoral activity; in
this way, their voices can be heard
and all can benefit.
Dear friends, I encourage you
as well to continue to express
“God’s style” in the work that you
do. God’s style is never distant,
detached or indifferent. Instead,
it is one of closeness, compassion
and tender love. It is my hope that
your service will always reflect
these qualities, showing that God
draws near to our lives, that He is
moved to compassion for those
in difficult situations, and that His
love calls us to be in relationship
with Him and to see our neighbor
as truly a brother and sister. The
Church, therefore, remains grateful
for every expression of fraternal
charity and care shown to all who
are in need, for in this way, God’s
loving mercy becomes visible and
the fabric of society is strengthened
and renewed.
Once again, I express my gratitude
for your commitment to the
Church, and I offer my prayerful
best wishes for your work. Upon
you, your families and all whom
you serve, I invoke the Lord’s
blessings of wisdom and strength,
and I ask you please to remember
to pray for me. Thank you.

Extension | Summer 2023 25
Poor faith communities need your help
BELOW
Michelangelo’s
“Pietà” in St. Peter’s
Basilica in
Vatican City
LEFT Jean Fedigan,
from Tucson, Arizona,
reaches out to the
pope in the name
of the thousands
of homeless and
trafficked women she
has served.
‘
Continue
THE POPE TO WOMEN LEADERS:
to express
God’s style’
MORE THAN 60 religious
sisters and lay women leaders
traveled to Rome on pilgrimage
with Catholic Extension
and gathered for a
private audience with Pope
Francis. All of these women
have walked the painful
pathway of the pietà to follow the risen
Christ.
Michelangelo’s “Pietà” is a mystery. Placed
at the right-hand side of the entrance to St.
Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, it almost overwhelms
the rest of the church. It certainly
overwhelms anyone attempting to take it in.
Mary is so young. She had no idea what her
promise, “May it be done to me according to
your word” (Lk 1:38), would come to mean.
Her son, Jesus, the blessed fruit of her womb,
lies battered, beaten and broken in her lap.
Her motherhood has taken on a new and terof
love and compassion
PHOTO VATICAN MEDIA
Catholic Extension’s support for ongoing ministries
in this Native American parish represents a true miracle for
a community in a desperately poor area.
Donate today
Text “Extension” to 50155 to make a gift
catholicextension.org/give
rible dimension. She is
the Mater Dolorosa, the
Mother of Sorrow.
Her right hand supports
her lifeless son,
trying to delay the final
pull of gravity. Her
left hand, open and extended,
points downward.
Is she trying to say, “Look at what you
have done to my son!” Is it a plea for
mercy? A cry for help? Is she offering up
that which has been so brutally taken? Being
a great work of art, the “Pietà” means
all of those things and more.
Sister Clarice Suchy, STJ, from Sacred
Heart Parish in Uvalde, Texas, joined us in
Rome. She has been caring for the victims
of the mass shooting on May 24, 2022, at
Robb Elementary School, which left 19
children and 2 adults dead.

26 INSPIRE
Cover Story
Extension | Summer 2023 27
Sister Clarice believes that
Mary is extending her hand to
the other women huddled at the
foot of the cross. They, too, are
mothers of sorrow. Their feminine
compassion—forged in
grief—would comfort Mary best.
The women who follow the
risen Christ walk the pathway of
the pietà. They understand that
it is by going to the poor, the broken
and the vulnerable in our
society that we will ultimately
see the face of the risen Christ.
Pope Francis calls the Church
a “field hospital,” which means
that, like Mary and the other
women in the Gospels, the
Church must gravitate to where
people are hurting. And out of
those places of death and despair,
new hope and life is born.
There is Sister Marie-Paule
Willem, FMM, a human rights
activist and war survivor who
has spent a lifetime promoting
the dignity of individuals and
families.
She ministered in Argentina,
Paraguay and Uruguay where
she risked her life on behalf of
the condemned placed in internment
camps. Today she
serves women in detention in
Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Sister Marie-Paule said,
“When I take care of the women
in our jail in Las Cruces, they
look forward to hearing how it’s
possible—even in jail—to feel a
kind of freedom in their hearts.
They themselves have to make
this a place of freedom, even
though they are incarcerated.
And then the hope they have
once they are really physically
free, then they will be free spiritually
and psychologically.”
There is Sister Fatima Santiago,
ICM, a missionary, our
2014-2015 Lumen Christi Award
recipient and a member of Catholic
Extension’s Board of Governors.
She works in the colonias
of Peñitas, Texas, and is dedicated
to the economic empowerment
of immigrant women at
the U.S.-Mexico border.
Sister Fatima said, “In the colonias
the women are the powerhouse
of a community of a
church. With that maternal care
and with their intelligence, they
are able to go for any fundraising
for the church, any sacramental
preparation. Women carry on
the work of the church. I feel it
There is Sister Carol Keehan,
DC, the former CEO of the
Catholic Health Association and
2022 recipient of Catholic Extension’s
Spirit of Francis Award.
She has worked closely with the
U.S. government to ensure affordable
health care for millions
of uninsured Americans.
Sister Carol said, “It is important
that the people’s voice
is heard. Whether they are the
well-to-do child who needed to
find religion and life with Christ,
or the very, very, very poor who
have no voice. Whether it is an
unmarried couple, or the very
poorest who walk across our
borders or the elderly, all their
voices need to be heard.”
There is Melva Arbelo, our
2016-2017 Lumen Christi Award
recipient. She leads Santa Teresita
of the Child Jesus Children’s
Home in Arecibo, Puerto Rico,
for abused and neglected children
ages 3 to 7. The hurricanes
and earthquakes that devastated
the island are nothing compared
to the emotional and psychological
devastation that the children
have suffered. Arbelo, in
the words of St. Teresita, “seeks
to make the Lord known and
loved” through the care and
healing of these children.
There is Sister Norma
Pimentel, MJ, of the Diocese of
Brownsville, Texas. She has provided
care to hundreds of thousands
at the U.S.-Mexico border
and received Catholic Extension’s
Spirit of Francis Award
this year.
Sister Norma said, “We are all
POWERFUL WOMEN OF FAITH
Like Sister Clarice, the other
women on the pilgrimage were
adept at finding the risen Christ
in seemingly hopeless and
God-forsaken situations.
There is Jean Fedigan, our
2022-2023 Lumen Christi Award
recipient. She founded the Sister
José Women’s Center in Tucson,
Arizona, which serves women
who have been trafficked and
experienced violence, homelessness
and hunger.
Fedigan said at a press conference
in the Vatican, “Our
homeless women are in tunnels
and in alleys and on the streets.
We believe that we follow the
mission of Christ. So, when
“
these women come in, we feed
the hungry, clothe the naked
and try to help them heal all in is not only in our communities. so connected at the ground with
the love of God.” It is happening everywhere.” those who are most vulnera-
ABOVE Jean Fedigan protects vulnerable women at the shelter she
founded in Tucson, Arizona. LEFT Sister Clarice Suchy, STJ, hugs a
teacher who sheltered children at Robb Elementary School on the day of
the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in May 2022.
Sister Marie-
Paule Willem,
FMM, is a human
rights activist and
war survivor. She
believes there is
always hope even
in the most difficult
circumstances.
Our homeless women are in tunnels and in alleys and on the streets ... when these
women come in, we feed the hungry, clothe the naked and try to help them heal all in
the love of God.” —JEAN FEDIGAN, 2022-2023 Lumen Christi Award recipient

28 INSPIRE
Cover Story
Extension | Summer 2023 29
“We are all so connected with those who are most vulnerable, with the poorest of the
poor people, with those who are at the peripheries as our Holy Father has asked us to
reach out to.” —SISTER NORMA PIMENTEL, MJ, 2023 Spirit of Francis Award recipient
Pope Francis praised the
work of the women who were
part of Catholic Extension’s
delegation to Rome.
ble, with the poorest of the poor
people, with those who are at
the peripheries as our Holy Father
has asked us to reach out to.
And their voice, their presence,
bringing that forward and having
the world listen to them and
see them is very important. And
I think that this is who we are as
Church.”
There are the women in the
U.S.-Latin American Sisters Exchange
Program who represent
44 religious congregations from
11 countries of Latin America
and who serve immigrant communities
in the United States.
They are taking classes for their
degrees in health and human
services in partnership with St.
Mary’s University of Minnesota.
The sisters celebrated Mass
with Cardinal Pietro Parolin,
secretary of state for the Vatican,
in the beautiful chapel in
the Palace of the Governorate.
What song did they sing for this
formal occasion?
The “Canción del Misionero.”
The missionary song, which has
become their anthem, their rallying
cry, their “mission” statement.
The refrain lyrics simply
say:
“Send me to the people who
need your words, who need the
will to live; where there is no
hope, where there is no joy, simply
because they do not know
You.”
Sister Clarice, Fedigan, Sister
Marie-Paule, Sister Fatima, Sister
Carol, Arbelo, Sister Norma and
the U.S.-Latin American sisters.
Follow the women who follow
the risen Christ and who
are unafraid of the pietà pathways
that are required to find
the risen one.
THE POPE
If the eyes are the windows
of the soul, Pope Francis’ soul
is Michelangelo beautiful. He
entered the private audience
with Catholic Extension briskly
and joked with Cardinal Blase
Cupich, our chancellor, that he
was “still alive” when asked how
he was doing. He clearly loves to
laugh. He clearly loves to make
others laugh. And we were more
than willing to grant him this
pleasure.
The pope spent about 20 minutes
with us. He said, “I encourage
you as well to continue to
express ‘God’s style’ in the work
that you do. God’s style is never
distant, detached or indifferent.
Instead, it is one of closeness,
compassion and tender love.
“It is my hope that your service
will always reflect these
qualities, showing that God
draws near to our lives, that he is
moved to compassion for those
in difficult situations, and that
his love calls us to be in relationship
with him and to see our
neighbor as truly a brother and
sister.”
He recognized that he was in
a room full of people who already
know so well how to express
“God’s style.” And so, it
was notable how many times he
said thank you to our group, in
gratitude for the work of Catholic
Extension, and most especially
to the people who every
day do the heavy lifting on behalf
of the Church to lead God’s
people from death to new life in
Christ.
He greeted each of us individually,
looking us in the eye, like
each of us was the only person
he had ever met. He gently took
each of our hands, shaking them
slowly, his care and attention infallible.
Francis may be a pope,
but he is clearly a pastor first.
When the women reached to
take the pope’s hands, they were
not empty-handed. In Fedigan’s
words, they brought a gift of
hands, all of the hands they’ve
touched and people they’ve
healed. They brought all of those
thousands and thousands of
hands to the pope as their simple
gift.
Pope Francis beamed the
best of his love for Sister Carol,
Fedigan, Sister Marie-Paule, Sister
Fatima, Sister Carol, Arbelo,
Sister Norma and the U.S.-Latin
American sisters. They beamed
back at him, and we realized all
at once that Pope Francis follows
the women who follow the
risen Christ.
Melva Arbelo runs a
home for abused and
neglected children in
Arecibo, Puerto Rico.
Sister Norma Pimentel, MJ,
embraces a homeless child.
She provides care to hundreds
of thousands at the U.S.-
Mexico border.

30 INSPIRE
Feature
Extension | Summer 2023 31
Sister Tere leads a
program across 60
parishes, including those in
cartel-controlled regions.
Boston College graduate courageously puts her skills to use in Mexico
ALMOST A DECADE AGO,
when Sister María Teresa
“Tere” de Loera López
found out she was going
to the United States to
participate in Catholic
Extension’s U.S.-
Latin American Sisters
Exchange Program, she
said she felt “chosen.”
The program is designed to
help Latin American sisters
gain leadership and ministry
skills while in the United States
that they can apply in their
future work in the Global South.
When Sister Tere, a member
of the Catholic Teachers of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus religious
community, completed the program
and returned to Mexico in
2020, she took on the leadership
of a massive religious education
program in the northern
Mexican state of Chihuahua.
Now she serves 60 parishes and
leads a staff of 12.
Part of her job entails driving
out to distant parishes to
train catechists. The farthest
parish is three hours away. Kidnappings
are frequent.
“Those areas are run by drug
cartels, so the roads are lonely
and very dangerous,” she said.
“We drive on our own, since
we have no staff that can ride
with us. That’s been quite a
challenge, but I know that
Jesus, Mary and all the saints
are aboard. It’s very exciting
though, because this is about
lay leader formation, and we
are willing to make the trip for
them. If I die on the frontline,
it will have been worth it.”
Her courage adds new
meaning to the phrase “Jesus is
my copilot.”
On one occasion, her car
broke down when she was
by herself on a remote road
and had no cell phone signal.
She was forced to flag down
another driver, who fortunately
was able to help her. It could
have easily been a kidnapper,
looking for easy prey.
Despite the risks and realities
of life in northern Mexico, she
is adamant that no corner of
her diocese or any community
should be neglected or denied
the love of the Church. She
inspires people with her joy,
ever-present smile and determination.
PUTTING HER TRAINING
TO USE
“Today I continue to apply
the education and skills I
learned as I lead my ministry,”
Sister Tere said. “I am very
grateful for all the support that
Catholic Extension has provided.”
Sister María Teresa “Tere” de Loera
López graduated with a master’s degree
from Boston College in 2019.
The leafy and pristine campus
of Boston College, where
she earned her master’s degree
in applied leadership with an
Extension scholarship, must
feel like a long way from the
cartel-patrolled, desert roads of
northern Mexico. But she insists
that the degree left her with a
wealth of knowledge and ideas
to implement as a leader in
Mexico.
“The marketing class I took
was so empowering because I
remember asking myself if I’d
be able to make
it in the
world,” she said. “That class
gave me the confidence to
know that I can do it, that marketing
is needed to offer a
product. It helped me to think
about ways to make the product
that we offer in the Church
attractive to the people, so they
can come to Jesus. The skills
I acquired at Boston College
helped me get creative to spark
interest among catechists and
parish leaders.”
While she earned her degree,
the program also funded
her ministry in Arkansas
where she worked in rural parishes,
creating religious education
programs and serving
women who were survivors of
domestic violence. She
also helped connect
Hispanic and Anglo
families into
a united community
of faith. She describes
this experience
as “spectacular.”
Nun up against organized crime
A PIONEER FOR
OTHER SISTERS
Sister Tere was part
of the inaugural group
of women religious in
Catholic Extension’s
U.S.-Latin American
Sisters Exchange Program,
which was developed in
partnership with the Conrad N.
Hilton Foundation. A hundred
other sisters have participated
over the past decade, with 50
more set to join the program
later this year.
The five-year program provides
an opportunity for Catholic
sisters from religious congregations
founded and based
in Latin America to come to the
United States to pursue a university
degree while they serve
the poor in an Extension diocese.
She and the 35 other sisters
in the program’s first cohort
became pioneers. In addition
to their significant accomplishments
as ministers in the
United States, they have now
been deployed by their superiors
throughout the world,
applying their skills to the various
ministries and leadership
positions in which they find
themselves.
Sister Tere and her inaugural
cohort also provided Catholic
Extension a road map for
this program, which has continued
to grow and have greater
impact for sisters who have followed
in their footsteps. Her
advice to future sisters participating
in the program is this:
“Take full advantage of the
education that Catholic Extension
has so wonderfully provided
to enrich yourselves and
improve your ministry, so that
in the future you will return
with better skills and abilities
in service of your mission.”

32 INSPIRE
Feature Story
Extension | Summer 2023 33
March 1965. A nun
demonstrates her
support of the Civil
Rights Movement at
the Alabama State
Capitol.
THE UNTOLD STORIES OF CATHOLICS IN THE SOUTH
Still
fighting
for
DID YOU KNOW that two
of Martin Luther King Jr.’s children
were born in a Catholic
hospital in Montgomery, Alabama,
because it was one of
only a few places where Black
families in the South were not
excluded from quality medical
care?
Did you know that, in 1965,
the famous five-day march
from Selma to Montgomery to
advocate for voter rights culminated
on the grounds of a
Catholic parish?
justice
Did you know that the late
Civil Rights Movement leader
John Lewis, whose skull was
fractured by law enforcement
officials as he crossed
the Edmund Pettus Bridge in
Selma, was treated by a Catholic
health facility that saved his
life? And did you know that
when Lewis opened his eyes,
the first person he saw was a
Catholic priest?
These stories of the Civil
Rights Movement abound
among Catholics in Central Al-
abama, but they are largely
unknown elsewhere. They remind
us of what the Church
has done—and continues
to do—in difficult circumstances.
WELCOMING CIVIL
RIGHTS MARCHERS
Leontyne Pringle remembers
marching from
Selma nearly 60 years
ago with her mother. When
asked if it was meaningful to
her that the marchers stopped
on the grounds of St. Jude
Catholic Church in Montgomery,
she replied with a smile,
“Of course. This is where I
went to school.”
St. Jude Church and School
were founded in 1934 to serve,
educate and give opportunities
to Black children. This was
during a time when the Alabama
state government systematically
hindered the eco-
PHOTO © 1965 SPIDER MARTIN

34 INSPIRE
Feature Story
Extension | Summer 2023 35
Leontyne Pringle, a former
St. Jude student, proudly holds
up a commemorative map of
the 1965 march from Selma to
Montgomery, Alabama.
nomic and academic development
of Black people.
The church and school
were part of a larger complex
called the City of St.
Jude, which was founded
by the late Passionist Father
Harold Purcell. The complex included
a racially integrated hospital
(the very one where King’s children
were born) and accompanying
educational, spiritual and social
services.
The City of St. Jude hosted the
“Stars for Freedom” rally the night
before the last day of the march
from Selma to Montgomery. More
than 25,000 people camped out
on the grounds, among them celebrities
who performed songs to
encourage the marchers’ spirits before
they set out for the Alabama
State Capitol the next day.
Holding the event came with
a cost for St. Jude. Apart from the
very real death threats from white
nationalists, many Catholic donors
abandoned the parish for hosting
King, whom they regarded as
a Communist and troublemaker.
This setback hobbled St. Jude’s outreach
efforts for years.
Nearly 90 years after its founding,
St. Jude is still doing all that it
can to help the vulnerable, despite
the fact that Catholics still represent
only 2 to 3 percent of the population
across the state.
Today, the Father Purcell Memorial
Exceptional Children’s
Center serves as a residence for
45 children with lifelong physical
and mental disabilities. The
center’s director, Brenda Hicks, a
2020 Lumen Christi Award finalist
for Catholic Extension, dutifully
serves these children and honors
their human dignity each day.
She knows she is part of a rich legacy.
She was offered this position
on the same day she received two
other job offers that paid more and
did not require her to work a third
shift. Hicks turned them down.
Like the leaders who came before
her at the City of St. Jude, she understands
the importance of sacrificing
for a cause you truly believe
in.
Parish leaders
of Holy Family
Catholic
Community in
Inverness, Illinois,
are supporting
Edmundite Missions.
CARVING A PATH OF HOPE
Meanwhile, 50 miles away in
Selma, the Society of St. Edmund,
a religious order of men who arrived
86 years ago as missionaries,
also has its share of stories.
Edmundite Father Maurice
Ouellet befriended Civil Rights
Movement leaders Lewis and King.
He helped Lewis after his skull
was fractured on the Edmund
Pettus Bridge when state troopers
attacked marchers on “Bloody
Sunday” in 1965. He was subsequently
asked to leave the mission
by Church leaders. They feared the
priest was getting too close to the
Civil Rights Movement and would
be killed.
In spite of Father Ouellet’s
painful exile, the Edmundite missionaries
have stayed in Selma all
these years. Now, a dedicated team
of lay Catholic staff carries out the
mission. It continues to provide
hope to a community that suffers
crushing poverty, poor health and
dismal education attainment levels.
More than 45% of children
live below the poverty line in the
county where Selma is located,
and median household incomes
pale in comparison to the rest of
the country.
Each month, Edmundite Missions
serves more than 25,000
LEFT Brenda Hicks
greets a resident at
the children’s center
at the City of St. Jude
in Montgomery,
Alabama.
ABOVE Edmundite
Missions provides
a home to a
community that
suffers from
crushing poverty.
meals to the hungry. It continues
to offer a health clinic, a desperately
needed service in an area
where diabetes and poor nutrition
are rampant. Its sports and fitness
center are a community focal
point that promotes healthier
lifestyles and keeps kids off the
streets. It offers social enterprises
and job training that help people
be more employable and economically
self-reliant.
In Selma, where there are still
prominent cemetery memorials
to Ku Klux Klan leaders, the
white Edmundite priests who have
died there are buried in the “Black
cemetery.” It is a permanent reminder
to all that there are no divisions
in heaven.
This is what it looks like when
the Catholic Church is firing on all
cylinders, and when it lands on the
right side of history. And it is what
continues to make us believers in
the Church’s future potential.
That is why Catholic Extension
and Holy Family Catholic Community
in Inverness, Illinois, are partnering
this year with Edmundite
Missions to renovate a dilapidated
house in downtown Selma that
will house summer interns from
Catholic colleges around the country.
The hope is that these college
students will not only participate
in the lifesaving work of the
Edmundites but also gain a deeper
understanding of what it means
to be Catholic, the courage that it
takes and the beautiful transformation
that can happen when we
put our faith into practice.
By coming to Selma, these college
students will hopefully see
that, despite its historical baggage,
missteps and past sins, the Catholic
Church has been at its core a
force for good in the world. When
our Church remains focused on
the mission it was given 2,000
years ago to bring the good news to
a world that experiences so much
darkness and pain, new life is truly
possible.
We hope that the unknown
stories of yesterday and today
about the Church’s heroic work in
places like Alabama will be told
and retold so future generations
will come to know the true essence
and potential of the Catholic
Church in America.

36 INSPIRE
Feature
Extension | Summer 2023 37
Each year Catholic Extension
supports the education
of 400 to 500 seminarians
because it is an enormous
expense for financially poor
dioceses. On occasion, as it turns
out, Extension donors are not only
helping educate future priests but
also future bishops.
This was the case for Bishop
Anthony Celino, the first auxiliary
bishop of the Diocese of El Paso,
Texas. He was ordained a bishop
on March 31 of this year at St. Patrick’s
Cathedral. He became the
10th active bishop whose seminarian
education has been funded by
Catholic Extension. He was also
the third Filipino to be elected as a
bishop in the United States.
He now joins the likes of Bishop
Anthony B. Taylor of Little Rock,
Arkansas; Bishop Robert W. Marshall
Jr. of Alexandria, Louisiana;
Bishop Eusebio Ramos Morales
of Caguas, Puerto Rico; and a half
dozen other active bishops who
began their priestly journey with
support from Catholic Extension.
After funding Bishop Celino’s
education at the University of Saint
Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary
just north of Chicago, Catholic
Extension also supported several
of the parishes and ministries
where he has served since being
ordained a priest in 1997.
In an interview with Catholic
Extension, Bishop Celino reflected,
“First and foremost, I would like
to express my gratitude to Extension
and of course the donors who
reach so many places in our country.
Catholic Extension has been a
wonderful partner for the Diocese
of El Paso through the years. I hope
the support and partnership that
MEET MOST REVEREND ANTHONY CELINO
How are good
bishops formed?
we have continues. We are grateful
and we continue to pray for all of
you. As an auxiliary bishop I am
very happy to continue this mission
and to support it. I truly believe
in the mission of the Church
that Extension is part of in a big
way, especially in our rural areas.
So please help us build churches in
rural areas and supporting priests.”
TAUGHT BY GREAT MENTORS
When a new bishop is ordained,
people commonly want to
know how he will lead.
Bishop Celino talked about
those who have mentored him
and helped shape his pastoral
vision.
First, the laypeople of his diocese,
he said, have taught him so
much, especially in the rural areas
of West Texas. He spent a year
at Our Lady of Peace in Alpine,
Texas, a rural parish that encompasses
many missions spread out
over vast distances. The people’s
faith, their simplicity, their love
for the Church and their hospitality
toward priests are more than
fond memories for him. They were
foundational experiences.
His ministry covered a 150-mile
radius around Alpine, requiring
him to be on the road a lot. “Back
in the good old days, priests were
on horseback. We were in pickup
trucks,” he said. Despite the distances
across West Texas, there
was a closeness among the people.
“Families drove me to different
communities. They would say, ‘You
cannot just be driving by yourself.
Something might happen along
the way.’ There’s a beauty of ministering
there. The Church there is
small but dynamic.”
TOP Bishop Anthony Celino was ordained as the Diocese of El Paso, Texas’ first auxiliary bishop.
Catholic Extension supported his seminarian education.
ABOVE The faithful celebrated the first ordination of a bishop from El Paso outside St. Patrick’s
Cathedral.
PHOTOS AL BAEZA AND FATHER MIGUEL BRISEÑO, OFM, CONV. FOR THE DIOCESE OF EL PASO
Pastoring across hundreds
of miles
Valentine
MEXICO
Marfa
Ft. Davis
TEXAS
Alpine
Lajitas
Marathon
Bishop Anthony Celino drove this nearly
300-mile route between parishes to
serve the people of West Texas.
He would see people’s unity
during funerals. “The whole town
just comes together,” he recalled.
“We assisted [families] in their
grief, but we also made sure that
the community was there for
them.”
Another great mentor in Bishop
Celino’s priestly ministry has been
his own bishop of El Paso, Mark
Seitz, who in 2013 was Pope Francis’
first U.S.-appointed bishop.
Bishop Seitz is known as a pastor
of the people and a shepherd who
continually gravitates toward the
peripheries.
“I’ve always admired the work
of our bishop, here in the diocese
and beyond. His influence and
moral voice have transcended the
Diocese of El Paso,” Bishop Celino
said. “When he became bishop, he
appointed me as his vicar general.
I worked alongside him in so
many ways and admired his work
and his commitment, not only
to serving the Diocese of El Paso
but also to helping the community,
especially those who are on

38 INSPIRE
Feature
Extension | Summer 2023 39
the margins of the community:
the immigrants and those seeking
asylum or refuge here in the
country. That is something that I
believe in and that I hope to help
him in—that advocacy to promote
a better life for those who are
seeking it.”
Although Bishop Celino
admires Bishop Seitz and worked
closely with him, actually becoming
a bishop himself was the furthest
thing from his mind.
“When the apostolic nuncio
called me, I actually ignored the
call. There were four missed calls
on my cell phone. Eventually, of
course, the nuncio was able to get
ahold of me,” Bishop Celino said.
“I never felt more trust in God
than I have at this moment in my
life. I have a sense that the Spirit
of God is at work in all of this. The
Holy Spirit is at work in my life at
this time.”
A BISHOP WITH OPTIMISM
Bishop Celino expressed optimism
about the future of the
Church in El Paso. Just as the faithful
formed him as a priest, it’s the
faithful of El Paso who give him
hope as a new bishop.
“I think the people in this
diocese are what makes this place
special, most of all. It’s a very
welcoming community, diverse
and dynamic in so many ways, but
very welcoming. El Paso is a large
city with that small-town feel. It’s
a thriving community where, once
again, we’re building churches on
the east side and on the west side
of the city,” he said.
“Being in the borderland is
a wonderful thing,” he added.
“There’s so much opportunity for
ministries here.”
Bishop Celino feels abundantly
blessed not only to be in El Paso
but also to have been called to
serve as auxiliary bishop where
he will minister alongside Bishop
Seitz as a shepherd to all.
“I feel a great sense of gratitude,
not only to God but also to the
Holy Father for Bishop Seitz and
the people of God here in El Paso,
for his confidence for appointing
me as auxiliary bishop. I’m
really looking forward to visiting
parishes once again and being a
pastor for the whole diocese.
IGNITE Making a difference
PARISH PARTNERSHIPS 40 | CONNECT 42
THE GIFT
THAT PAYS
YOU BACK
A Catholic Extension charitable gift annuity
offers you immediate financial benefits
and will help communities that are poor in
resources but rich in faith. Future
generations will thank you!
• Receive fixed, stable payments for life
• Get immediate and future tax benefits
• Make a lasting impact
For a personalized proposal, contact Betty Assell at
800-842-7804 or Bassell@catholicextension.org
or visit catholicextension.org/annuities
Diocese of Stockton, California
ATTRACTIVE PAYOUT RATES
9.7%
8.7%
7.6%
6.6%
5.4%
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An illustration
of the Native
American Christ
with children
is displayed
at a church in
the Diocese of
Rapid City, South
Dakota. See a
letter from the
Sioux Spiritual
Center, page 42.
AGE
60 65 70 75 80 85 90+
ILLUSTRATION © FATHER JOHN GIULIANI/JBGICON.COM

40 IGNITE
Parish partnerships
Extension | Summer 2023 41
Being Catholic means getting
outside our own ‘bubble’
Connecticut parish supports Catholics
on Native American reservation
BELOW Children
learn about the
rosary at the
Tekakwitha Center
on the White Earth
Indian Reservation
in northern
Minnesota.
St. Thomas the Apostle Parish
in Oxford, Connecticut,
is about 1,500 miles
away from the White
Earth Indian Reservation
in northern Minnesota.
Yet the parish made a very
intentional decision to partner with
Catholic Extension to support the
Tekakwitha Center, which provides
religious education services for the
six remote parishes on the vast reservation
located in the Diocese of
Crookston.
Marcia Franko, who heads St.
Thomas the Apostle’s social justice
committee, said committee members
decided to support the Catholic
faith formation of Native American
children based on their desire
to be part of the universal Church
beyond their own parish. “We
are one, holy, Catholic, apostolic
church,” said Franko. “We really
need to think outside of our own
little space and our own problems
because it’s not just us, it’s
everybody.”
The Tekakwitha Center provides
children with a nurturing Catholic
environment in an area that is
no stranger to struggle. High unemployment
and addiction rates are
sadly commonplace. With outside
funding, children are transported
from across the reservation to the
center where they receive warm
meals and enriching knowledge
about the faith.
St. Thomas the Apostle was
looking to support a faith community
in need that was embedded
in a culture different from its own.
Thanks to Catholic Extension’s Parish
Partnership program, it was
able to learn about the needs at the
Tekakwitha Center, where even
basic resources like catechetical
books and supplies are cost prohibitive
for families.
One body, one Church
Not only did St. Thomas make a
financial impact at the Tekakwitha
Center, which will help 100 children
on the reservation grow in
their faith this year, but the parish
also gave witness to the Catholic
Church’s universality.
“We have to look beyond the
horizon for ourselves,” said Father
ABOVE The
Tekakwitha Center
on the White Earth
Indian Reservation
in northern Minnesota
provides religious
education for more
than 100 Native
American children
each year.
Tom Shepard, the pastor of St.
Thomas the Apostle.
For their part, the catechists at
the Tekakwitha Center are weaving
the example of St. Thomas’ concern
and generosity from afar into their
lessons with the children.
“We are many parts of one
body, and we all belong to each
other,” explained Janet Lhotka,
director of the center. “This is an
opportunity to teach our youth, to
share with them about your support
from across the miles.”
Catholic Extension’s Parish Partnership program
With a compelling list of urgent projects to support our Church, Catholic
Extension has created a turnkey fundraising program that is easily adapted
for any parish and provides materials and guidance. Please contact Natalie
Donatello at ndonatello@catholicextension.org for more information.
“It is so important to know that
we are not an island in our quest to
pass on the love of God to our children,”
added Jean Horack, a catechist
at the center.
In the past 10 years Catholic
Extension has supported religious
education in 1,000 communities,
a large portion of which are Native
American missions, like those on
the White Earth Indian Reservation.
The support of Catholic Extension
parish partners such as St.
Thomas the Apostle helps keep
these religious education ministries
going across many reservations and
tribes where resources are often
scarce. The Tekakwitha Center is an
example of how funds are stretched
and put to great use.
“We take great pride in meeting
the standard of a wonderful experience
for the children each week,
and we thrive in watching them
grow, learn and achieve understanding
of spiritual matters,” said
Father John Cox, OMI, pastor of
St. Ann’s Church in Waubun, Minnesota,
who ministers at the center.
“At the Tekakwitha Center, we
are all God’s children, teaching and
learning together. We model for the
wider community how to interact
positively.”
The Catholic Church’s universality
is more fully expressed when we
take a leap beyond our own bubble
and work in solidarity with one
another across time zones, cultures
and socioeconomic realities for the
betterment of our Church.
We thank St. Thomas the Apostle
and the Tekakwitha Center for
being the latest iteration of the good
that is possible when we open ourselves
up to the wider Church.

IGNITE
42
Connect
Extension | Summer 2023 43
From the mail
Dear Catholic Extension,
I CAN’T TELL YOU HOW GRATEFUL I am that you have kept
us in mind. We operate on a shoestring budget, so every bit
of help we can garner is received with gratitude! Your help
and that of many others help us to continue our mission to
serve the special spiritual needs of Native American Catholics
who need all the help they can get with the integration
of faith and culture. The Sioux Spiritual Center is a precious
asset in the Diocese of Rapid City for that purpose! Thank
you for your generosity!
› Carole M. Brown | Director, Sioux Spiritual Center
Diocese of Rapid City, SD
PHOTO RC PHOTO STUDIO
Dear Catholic Extension,
LAST YEAR’S EVENTS
with Hispanic Youth Group
allowed me to have beautiful
encounters with Jesus.
These personal encounters
have brought me to
a deeper discovery of my
identity and have given me
internal healing, which have
helped me grow in my spiritual
journey with God and
strengthen my trust in His
plan for me.
› Yazmine Justiniano |
Parish leader, Hispanic
youth ministry
Diocese of Birmingham, AL
Dear Catholic Extension,
I’M THE CAMPUS MINISTER AT OLE MISS in Oxford, Mississippi.
I wanted to express my gratitude to the donors for
their generosity. Your support allows us to continue ministering
to the Catholic students at Ole Miss. We are able to
create a community that is rich in Catholicism for students
to continue to grow in their faith alongside their peers.
We host several events and retreats throughout the
year. We have social events as well as events that are more
geared toward formation. Over the years, we have seen our
community flourish and are extremely grateful for the financial
support you give us as we continue to keep up with this
exciting trend. Thank you!
› Viridiana Olivi | Campus minister, University of Mississippi
Diocese of Jackson, MS
Dear Catholic Extension,
IN A PERSONAL WAY, I want to thank God first of all for so
much kindness and gratuitousness toward me and for my
religious community, to thank the Catholic Extension program
that has entrusted us with this mission, and to thank the
bishops of this diocese who have been attentive to us.
I feel that this opportunity is not only allowing me to
develop academically through the master’s degree that I am
pursuing at St. Mary’s University, but also to grow in an integral
way, thanks to the different courses that we have been
allowed to participate in as well as the spiritual accompaniment
and psychological knowledge that I have received
during this time. I have obtained new tools and methodologies
to be able to share and carry out our mission and
charism, to be light for those who need it most and to accom-
pany many people whom God has given us in this beautiful
mission, especially Hispanic families, supporting them in
their integral formation and the growth of their faith.
› Sister María Jesús Martínez Perez | U.S.-Latin American
Sisters Exchange Program participant
Diocese of Brownsville, TX
Dear Catholic Extension,
LOOKING BACK SINCE THE YEAR I entered
seminary formation, I reflect upon all the
support and prayers I have received in my
vocational journey. It was a great joy to be
ordained a transitional deacon on July 2.
All this would not be possible without your
kind support and generous hearts. As I prepare
to conclude my studies be ordained
as a priest, I am reminded of the words of
St. Teresa of Calcutta: to always be kind and
merciful to the people of God.
› Deacon Abundio Colazo-Lopez |
Seminarian
Diocese of Tucson, AZ
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