Extension Magazine - Spring 2022

catholicextension.org 

STORIES OF FAITH FROM CATHOLIC EXTENSION 

SPRING 2022 

ALL OF US 

not just a few of us 

ARE CALLED TO DO 

GOD’S WORK 

IN THE 

WORLD 

STORIES OF HOW OUR CHURCH AND SOCIETY HAVE BEEN TRANSFORMED 

BY THOSE FOLLOWING THEIR GOD-GIVEN VOCATION TO LOVE AND SERVE

Extension | Spring 2022 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 in America’s 

poorest regions to build up vibrant and 

transformative Catholic faith communities. 

Contact Us 

Catholic Extension 

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Chicago, IL 60606 

800.842.7804 

magazine@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 Curtis J. Guillory, SVD 

Bishop Emeritus 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 

Andrew Reyes 

Karen Sauder 

Pamela Scholl 

Most Reverend Anthony B. Taylor 

Bishop of Little Rock 

Most Reverend George L. Thomas, Ph.D. 

Bishop of Las Vegas 

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 

©2022 The Catholic Church Extension Society 

All rights reserved. 

Extension is a publication provided to you and your 

family by Catholic Extension. If you do not wish to 

continue receiving Extension, e-mail magazine@ 

catholicextension.org and we will remove you 

from this mailing list. 

God-given 

vocations 12 

Our cover image is an original work of art 

symbolizing the content of this magazine. 

Catholic Extension is a papal society, 

acting as a bridge-building agent for the 

Catholic Church in America. As such, we 

work in solidarity with people throughout 

the country, who are fulfilling their unique, 

God-given vocations, whether as lay 

people, religious or clergy. 

The Church can never be reduced 

to just its formal structures and visible 

leaders. Rather, as Pope Francis has been 

pushing us to understand, the Church 

needs all of us together to follow our 

baptismal call to participate in Christ’s 

mission of bringing good news to our 

world. In this edition we lift up examples of 

what this hope-filled, participatory, diverse 

and mission-driven Church has looked like 

in our American Catholic experience in 

various places and contexts. 

COVER ILLUSTRATION LUCIE RICE 

BUILD 

Support a poor parish in need 

this Lent 8 

MISSION NEEDS | In this season of prayer and almsgiving, 

you can help these five parishes seeking our help. 

Program helped struggling Catholic 

schools survive pandemic 10 

INSPIRE 

in the United States 12 

COVER STORY | How two congregations of religious men have 

beautifully dedicated themselves to missionary work in the 

United States 

IGNITE 

NEWS BRIEFS | Four Catholic schools serving mostly Native American 

students remain open through expert guidance offered by a Catholic 

Extension initiative. 

The impact of religious orders of men 

Sisters see us all as equals 24 

COVER STORY | Working to develop God-given potential within 

each person 

‘It’s beautiful because they are living 

the mission with so little’ 38 

PARISH PARTNERSHIPS | How a Chicago parish supports the poorest 

Catholic parishes in the country 

A legacy that carries on the work of the 

Church 40 

DONOR PROFILE | Trailblazing principal leaves gift to educate 

future priests 

Letter from Father Wall 4 

Seminarian profile 30 

Connect 42

4 

Letter from Father Wall 


Our vocation 

to do God’s work 

in the world 

Before beginning his public 

ministry, Scripture tells us that 

Jesus retreated to the desert for 

40 days of prayer and fasting. 

This moment in the life of 

Christ became the basis for our 

Lenten season. 

Before my ordination to the 

priesthood in 1968, I elected 

to retreat from the seminary 

for a year of discernment, to 

help me determine whether I 

was truly being called to be a 

priest. I found that going to the 

proverbial desert enabled me 

to hear the voice of the Lord 

with greater clarity. 

During that grace-filled time 

in my life, I befriended a wise 

person who would become 

one of my lifelong mentors, 

the late Msgr. Dan Cantwell. 

I remember one day having 

a heartfelt conversation with 

him regarding my future. He 

said, “Jack, I cannot tell you 

whether you should become 

a priest. But I can tell you that 

you should not become a 

priest if you don’t first believe 

in the priesthood of the 

faithful.” Those words have 

forever stayed with me. 

Only three years earlier, 

the Second Vatican Council 

had developed what would 

become a seminal teaching 

document called “Lumen 

Gentium,” which reoriented 

our thinking on what a 

“vocation” is and how it is 

properly exercised. It turns out 

all of us, not just a few of us, 

are called to do God’s work in 

the world. 

The council fathers helped 

us see that the vocation of 

the “ministerial priesthood” 

and the vocation of the 

“priesthood of the faithful” 

(meaning all baptized people) 

are not on two different 

wavelengths. Rather, they are 

closely interrelated because 

each is a “participation in the 

one priesthood of Christ.” All 

the baptized faithful exercise 

their “priesthood” through 

prayer and “witness of a holy 

life, and by self-denial and 

active charity,” the council 

told us. 

This is what Msgr. Cantwell 

was trying to make sure I fully 

comprehended if I were to be 

ordained a priest. 

This magazine attempts 

to show you the good that 

comes about when both the 

ministerial priesthood and 

the priesthood of the faithful 

embrace their respective 

vocations. They do not exist 

in competition with one 

another. They complement 

one another. 

You will read stories about 

ordained people, religious 

women and men, and 

laypeople who have accepted 

God’s calling and have worked 

hard to bring about hope 

and transformation in the 

poorest regions of the country. 

Catholic Extension supports 

all their vocations. 

• Catholic Extension has 

always supported the 

ministerial priesthood 

through our close 

collaboration with bishops 

in Extension dioceses, our 

funding of missionary 

priests serving in far-flung 

communities and our 

funding of the education of 

hundreds of seminarians 

each year. 

• Simultaneously, Catholic 

Extension fully supports 

the gift of religious life 

through our partnership 

with countless religious 

women and men working in 

solidarity with God’s people 

throughout the country. 

• And, in a very special way, 

Catholic Extension supports 

the largest priesthood, 

namely all the baptized 

faithful, by funding the 

salaries and education of 

lay leaders in the Church, 

investing in youth and 

young adult leaders and 

funding ministries that help 

families raise their children 

in the Catholic faith. 

I constantly remind our 

staff members at Catholic 

Extension that they must have 

“vocational sense” about what 

they do, in the hope that they 

see their work not just as a job 

or career but as something that 

is significant for the future of 

our Church and country. 

I share that same sentiment 

with all of you, our donors, 

who have embraced our 

mission. I hope you too feel a 

vocational sense about your 

choice to support us. In doing 

so you are affirming your 

own vocation as a baptized 

person called to charity and 

generosity, and your support 

is affirming the vocations of 

the thousands of people in 

Extension dioceses whom you 

are helping. 

Our Lenten season calls 

us to prayer and reflection, 

LEFT Father Jack Wall connects with parishioners in the 

Diocese of Little Rock, Arkansas. 

ABOVE Father Jack Wall (left) as a young priest with his 

mentor, the late Msgr. Dan Cantwell, in the Archdiocese 

of Chicago. 

as well as sacrifice through 

almsgiving, fasting and 

abstaining. And so, my 

sincerest prayer for this Lenten 

season is that God may bless 

all of you for the gift of prayer 

and almsgiving that you have 

already provided us. 

May this Lenten season 

prepare us to receive Christ’s 

gift of self-sacrificial love, 

which leads to a whole new 

creation—a whole new way of 

being human—and brings us 

into closer communion with 

God and one another. 

May God bless you and all 

whom you love, 

Father Jack Wall 

PRESIDENT, CATHOLIC EXTENSION


MISSION NEEDS 8 | NEWS BRIEFS 10 

Good news from 

around the country 

BECOME A 

TWO BY TWO 

PARTNER 

Catholic Extension’s premier leadership 

annual giving society with exclusive benefits. 

This esteemed group of individuals represents our most 

engaged, dedicated and loyal annual giving donors who 

make an annual contribution of at least $1,000. 

Benefits provide access to the following: 

• Lumen Christi Award judging 

• Extension Magazine 

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• Mid-Year Impact Report 

• Regular email updates 

For more information: 

CONTACT 

Shea Gilliland 

Manager of Development 

817.371.7826 

sgilliland@catholicextension.org 

VISIT our website at 

catholicextension.org/2by2 

St. Joseph’s 

Parish in 

Mayfield, 

Kentucky, became 

a relief center 

after tornadoes 

destroyed the 

town in December 

2021. Parishioners 

like Freddy 

Gonzalez walked 

door to door to 

assess people’s 

needs and deliver 

aid. See News 

Briefs, page 10.

8 BUILD Mission Needs 


Guam 

Marshall Islands 

Samoa-Pago Pago 

Chalan Kanoa 

Alaska 

WHITERIVER, ARIZONA 

St. Francis Church 

serves roughly 280 

people on the Fort 

Apache Reservation. 

This church, along 

with St. Catherine 

in Cibecue, was 

staffed for 80 years 

by Franciscan 

priests. Since the Franciscans’ departure 

two years ago, the Diocese of Gallup has 

been tasked with staffing new priests to 

serve this faith community. Your donation will 

support the salary of Father John Cormack, 

whose ministry serves this Native American 

community. 

PLEASE SUPPORT 

LENTEN ALMSGIVING 

OPPORTUNITIES 

MILAN, MISSOURI 

St. Mary Mission 

Parish in the Diocese 

of Jefferson City is in 

desperate need of a 

new parish hall and 

office space. The 

current office space is 

in this manufactured 

home from 1991, 

which also serves as the parish rectory. 

Your donation will go toward a new parish 

hall for this vibrant faith community seeking 

adequate facilities to serve their community. 

CATHOLIC EXTENSION 

MISSION AREAS 

PROJECTS IN MISSION AREAS 

THAT NEED YOUR SUPPORT 

NON-MISSION AREAS 

ISSION NEEDS 

Hawaii 

Your donation will support a poor parish in need this Lent and help keep the presence of 

the Catholic Church strong in our country. These parishes are among hundreds supported 

by Catholic Extension that are located in low-income communities or in areas where 

Catholics are a minority. To contribute to one of these projects, please contact us at 

magazine@catholicextension.org or call 1-800-842-7804. 

Your donation will be applied to a similar need should your specified project be fully funded before we 

receive your support. Thank you for your compassion toward those we serve. 

HUGO, OKLAHOMA 

Immaculate Conception, 

a mission church on 

the Oklahoma-Texas 

border in the Diocese of 

Tulsa, was the 10,000th 

church to be built in 

the United States with 


funding. Dedicated 

in 1992, this faith community is located in 

an area where more than 40 percent of the 

population lives below the poverty line. Your 

support will help this 85-family parish pay for 

its operating expenses, parish retreats and 

new hymnals. 

JENKINS, KENTUCKY 

Located in the 

Appalachian Mountains 

in eastern Kentucky, 

Jenkins was chosen 

by Mother Teresa as 

the location for her first 

convent in the rural 

United States. Three 

Missionaries of Charity 

sisters serve this faith community through social 

outreach in partnership with St. George Catholic 

Church. Your donation will help support a muchneeded 

subsidy for the church to operate. 

HOUMA, LOUISIANA 

Despite its own financial 

needs as a parish, St. 

Lucy Catholic Church 

in the Diocese of 

Houma-Thibodaux 

continues to open its 

doors to a community in 

need. Parishioners serve meals and distribute 

groceries to combat hunger. Help support this 

parish, the only Black Catholic church in the 

Houma area, so it can continue to extend God’s 

love throughout the community. 

Puerto Rico 

St. Thomas- 

Virgin Islands

10 

BUILD Extension | Spring 2022 11 

News Briefs 

HIGHLIGHTS 

Dress Celebrates 

Faith and Culture 

A young woman from 

a parish supported by 

Catholic Extension in 

the Diocese of Yakima, 

Washington won a 

national dressmaking 

contest by creating a 

magnificent folkloric 

dress inspired by 

her native culture 

and Catholic faith. 

See the inspiring 

video by visiting 

catholicextension. 

org/larissa. 

Cardinal Cupich visits Puerto Rico 

Catholic Extension’s chancellor, Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, traveled 

to Puerto Rico in October 2021 to advocate on behalf of the Puerto 

Rican Church. The Church sustained significant damage after 

Hurricanes Maria and Irma struck the island in 2017, followed by 

a series of catastrophic earthquakes in 2020. This was the cardinal’s 

second visit after having been sent there by Pope Francis in 

December 2017. The Holy Father asked the cardinal to keep him 

apprised of the situation. In the aftermath of these disasters, Catholic 

Extension organized an islandwide disaster recovery team 

to serve all six of Puerto Rico’s dioceses. With the help of these 

recovery experts, our goal is to enable dioceses to access federal 

funding to rebuild nearly 1,000 Catholic churches and schools. 

“Catholic Extension is committed to walking with the Church in 

Puerto Rico and has boldly stepped forward to help the bishops 

on the island navigate the complex process of applying for recovery 

funding,” Cardinal Cupich said. 

LIVE THE LENTEN 

JOURNEY 

NATIONWIDE 

In this time of prayer, 

fasting and almsgiving, 

all are invited to join our 

Lenten video series, which 

features weekly reflections 

and Gospel readings 

proclaimed by priests 

in diverse communities 

supported by our donors. 

This series is part of our 

Thriving Congregations 

Initiative, made possible 

through support from 

Lilly Endowment Inc. Visit 

catholicextension.org/ 

lentenjourney to join 

the series. 

PARISH ASSISTS 

VANDALIZED CHURCH 

MISSISSIPPI 

Last year St. Therese of 

Lisieux Church, a 90-yearold 

parish in Gulfport, 

Mississippi, was chronically 

victimized by vandals. 

Their air conditioning units 

were stolen so that their 

copper pipes could be 

harvested. Nonetheless, 

the parish kept their food 

pantry services open to the 

needy. Thanks to help from 

one of Catholic Extension’s 

parish partners, St. 

Theresa Church in Florida, 

the Mississippi parish’s 

facilities are secure and fully 

functioning once again. 

TORNADO-STRUCK 

COMMUNITIES 

KENTUCKY 

The Diocese of Owensboro, 

Kentucky, heroically 

responded to communities 

devastated by the tornadoes 

that struck western 

Kentucky shortly before 

Christmas. Resurrection 

Parish in Dawson Springs, 

built with support from 

Catholic Extension, was 

among the many destroyed 

buildings in the area. 

Extension will continue to 

work in solidarity with the 

diocese as it recovers and 

continues to serve 

its people. 

NEW CATHOLIC 

STUDENT CENTER 

COLORADO 

Catholic students at the University 

of Colorado at Colorado 

Springs are now able 

to worship together in a new 

campus ministry center. This 

is the first Catholic chapel 

and student center for the 

rapidly growing university. 

Catholic Extension supported 

this ministry’s building 

project, which is among the 

130 college campus ministries 

in 68 dioceses supported 

by our donors in the past 

10 years alone. 

PROGRAM HELPED STRUGGLING CATHOLIC SCHOOLS SURVIVE PANDEMIC 

Thanks to Catholic School Management, a division of 

Christian Brothers Services, four Catholic schools that 

largely serve Native American students in the Diocese of 

Gallup, New Mexico, report remaining financially solvent 

throughout the pandemic. Their enrollment, which initially 

plummeted, has returned to pre-pandemic levels. The four-year 

program funded by Catholic Extension promotes long-term viability 

of schools by improving the effectiveness of school boards, communications, 

fundraising and enrollment management. Religious Sister 

of Charity Marsha Moon, principal of St. Anthony’s School in Zuni, 

New Mexico, said, “We were able to develop a strategic plan, which 

not only speaks to now but also projects into the future.” 

NEWS BRIEFS


INSPIRE Features of faith 

FIRST LAYPERSON TO LEAD SEPI 18 | FORDHAM UNIVERSITY 20 LATIN AMERICAN SISTERS DISCUSS VOCATION 24 | SEMINARIAN RANDY TEJADA 30 

Today, in the 87 

dioceses supported 

by Catholic Extension, 

there are 2,300 

religious priests and 

brothers. 

Religious life is a 

dynamic institution 

in Catholicism. It 

continues to evolve 

over the ages and across the Earth in 

response to the promptings of the Holy 

Spirit and in response to the needs of the 

Church and world. 

The Benedictines have been a religious 

community for almost 1,500 years. The 

Franciscans have been around for more 

than 800 years. The Jesuits just celebrated 

500 years of existence. Each group of 

religious has gifted us with its unique 

charisms and contributions. 

Much of the narrative lately on 

religious men has centered on their 

dwindling numbers and the subsequent 

withdrawal of religious priests and brothers 

from the missions, institutions and 

places that they once staffed and served. 

Presently, there is half the number of 

religious priests in the United States 

(about 10,300 today) than there was 50 

years ago, and about a third the number 

of religious brothers ( 3,800 today) than a 

half century ago, according to the Center 

for Applied Research in the Apostolate at 

Georgetown University. 

This, indeed, represents a seismic shift 

in the Catholic Church in the United 

States that has many ramifications. But 

a case can be made that the causes 

that these religious men espoused, the 

missions they founded and the values 

and faith they shared with generations 

of people remain alive and well in many 

parts of our Church, even when these 

religious men are no longer present. 

Meanwhile, the religious men who 

remain in active ministry in Extension 

dioceses continue to strengthen the 

foundation of faith and leadership among 

the people they serve, which will not 

easily collapse if these religious men are 

no longer around. 

In this article, we acknowledge 

two congregations of religious men in 

particular that have beautifully dedicated 

themselves to missionary work here 

in this country and continue to do so 

in extraordinary ways. The Missionary 

Oblates of Mary Immaculate and the Missionary 

Servants of the Most Holy Trinity 

have worked side by side with Catholic 

Extension over the past century to serve 

the Church in the poorest regions. We 

are happy to report that the fruits of their 

efforts both past and present continue to 

impact the Church in America. 

THE IMPACT OF 

RELIGIOUS ORDERS 

OF MEN IN 

THE UNITED STATES 

RIGHT Catholic Extension supported the “Cavalry of Christ,” horseback priests of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate

14 INSPIRE 

Cover Story | Vocations 


f 

or many decades, the 

Missionary Oblates of 

Mary Immaculate, a 

missionary congregation 

of religious men, have 

collaborated closely with 

Catholic Extension to 

serve Catholic faith communities 

in many dioceses. 

St. Eugene de Mazenod, a 

French priest, founded the congregation 

in 1816. Today, nearly 4,000 

Oblate priests and brothers serve 

in 60 countries. Pope Pius XI once 

referred to the Oblates as “specialists 

of the most difficult missions,” 

which is undoubtedly what 

brought them from France to the 

peripheries and frontier lands of 

this country. 

Catholic Extension first joined 

forces with the Oblates by supporting 

their missionary priests working 

along the U.S.–Mexico border. 

These iconic horseback-riding 

priests were aptly nicknamed the 

“Cavalry of Christ.” The first funds 

that Catholic Extension ever raised 

shortly after its founding in 1905 

were directed to support Oblate 

priests at La Lomita Chapel, a historical 

mission church located 

on the banks of the Rio Grande 

in Texas. The chapel continues 

to be served by Oblate priests. In 

fact, in 2019 Catholic Extension 

named La Lomita’s pastor, Father 

Roy Snipes, OMI, as a 2019 Lumen 

Christi Award finalist. The incomparable 

“cowboy priest” is rarely 

seen without his signature Stetson 

hat, his dog Bendito (Spanish 

for “blessed”) and his University 

of Texas A&M attire. He 

relishes his role as pastor of Our 

Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Mission, 

Texas (which includes La Lo- 

RIGHT Father Roy Snipes, OMI, 

serves as pastor in the Diocese of 

Brownsville, Texas. 

mita), where there is great fervor 

among the people. Father Snipes 

regularly takes his old pontoon for 

rides along the Rio Grande, seemingly 

undistracted and undeterred 

by the hovering drones and watchtowers 

closely surveilling him. 

Oblate priests have long been 

immersed in the realities of the 

U.S.–Mexico border. In 1914 many 

refugees, including priests and religious, 

fled Mexico on account of 

the Mexican government’s 

persecution 

of the Catholic 

Church. Father 

Henri Constantineau, 

treasurer of 

the Southern Province 

of the Oblates, 

went personally 

to Catholic 

Extension’s offices 

in Chicago 

to appeal for special 

assistance on 

behalf of the refugees. 

Archbishop 

James Quigley 

of Chicago, then Catholic Extension’s 

chancellor, was so moved by 

the Oblate priest’s words that he 

gave him $5,000 of immediate aid 

($140,000 in today’s dollars), representing 

the first funding in a decades-long 

commitment of Catholic 

Extension to Mexican exiles 

fleeing religious persecution. 

Catholic Extension continues to 

support the Oblates in the border 

region, mainly in the present-day 

dioceses of Brownsville, Texas, and 

Laredo, Texas. This includes years 

THE MISSIONARY OBLATES 

OF MARY IMMACULATE 

‘SPECIALISTS 

OF THE MOST 

DIFFICULT 

MISSIONS’ 

of support for the recently retired 

Father Bill Davis, OMI, a beloved 

pastor of San Francisco Javier Mission 

Church in Laredo—a poor parish, 

but one rich in faith. Likewise, 

in 2020 Catholic Extension funded 

the renovation of three Oblate-operated 

missions near Roma, Texas, 

where Father Pablo Wilhelm, OMI, 

serves a very young Catholic community. 

The funds for this project 

were raised by Catholic Extension’s 

parish partner St. Paul the Apostle 

in Gurnee, Illinois. 

A FAR-REACHING MISSIONARY 

SPIRIT 

The Oblates are versatile missionaries. 

This has led them to 

Alaska, where to this day some of 

the missions of the Archdiocese of 

Anchorage-Juneau are staffed by 

Oblate priests supported by Catholic 

Extension. Among the Oblate 

missionaries in the state is Archbishop 

Emeritus Roger Schweitz, 

OMI, who served as archbishop in 

Alaska from 2001 to 2016. Many 

Alaskan missions are not accessible 

by road, and Archbishop 

Schweitz, possessing the same 

ABOVE In 2003, then- 

Archbishop Roger 

Schweitz, OMI, prepares 

to travel by plane to 

isolated parishes in Alaska. 

LEFT Father Roger 

Bergkamp, OMI, pictured 

here in 2013, is among the 

Oblates who have served 

parishes supported by 

Catholic Extension in the 

Archdiocese of Anchorage- 

Juneau, Alaska. 

missionary spirit of the horseback-riding 

priests a century ago, 

obtained his pilot’s license so he 

could fly himself to those regions 

whenever necessary. 

The Oblates also have a well-established 

presence in Belleville, Illinois, 

another Extension diocese. 

They are best known there for their 

operation of the National Shrine of 

Our Lady of the Snows—a place of 

prayer and pilgrimage. They also 

staff missions in the surrounding 

area, such as Holy Rosary Parish in 

Fairmont City, Illinois, where Catholic 

Extension funds the salary of a 

bilingual Oblate priest, Father Harold 

Fisher, OMI. 

Perhaps the most prominent 

Oblate was Catholic Extension’s 

late chancellor, Cardinal Francis 

George, OMI. Prior to becoming the 

chancellor of Catholic Extension, 

Cardinal George served as bishop 

in the Diocese of Yakima, Washington, 

another Extension diocese. 

Cardinal George used that experience 

as a “mission bishop” to 

guide his role at Catholic Extension. 

Whenever he was making a 

decision on behalf of Catholic Extension, 

he would recollect what 

it was like to be a new bishop in 

a poor diocese. This, coupled with 

his formation as a missionary, 

drove his thought process. 

Near the end of his tenure as 

chancellor in 2014, in an interview 

with Extension magazine 

he said, “Faith is a gift. … If people 

don’t have faith, what do they 

have? Where do they turn for an 

understanding of who God is and 

who they are? Christ wants everybody 

in the world, whom he died 

to save, to know Him. … Catholic 

Extension has been a very generous 

means to help the Church 

achieve that goal for the last hundred 

years.” 

The Oblates instinctively understand 

the wisdom of Catholic Extension’s 

mission of building vibrant 

and transformative Catholic 

faith communities in the poorest 

regions of America. Their collaboration 

with Catholic Extension, no 

doubt, has been a great benefit to 

the Church in this country, especially 

in the most difficult circumstances 

and challenging places.

16 INSPIRE 



catholic Extension’s 

mission has been advanced 

in countless 

places and times by the 

presence of the Missionary 

Servants of the Most Holy Trinity, 

a religious congregation of men 

founded in the United States who 

recently celebrated their centennial 

anniversary. 

Their founder, Father Thomas 

Judge, was born in Boston. In 1915, 

as a young Vincentian priest, he 

was assigned to Alabama. There he 

felt called to create a movement 

that would encourage lay Catholics 

to be evangelizers of the faith. He 

believed this movement to be especially 

critical in an area like the 

Deep South, where Catholics were 

a small minority. 

Long before the Second Vatican 

Council unequivocally affirmed 

the indispensable role of the laity 

in the Church, Father Judge understood 

that every Catholic, by virtue 

of baptism, is called to be, in his 

words, “an apostle.” 

Today the Missionary Servants 

work in myriad U.S. dioceses, including 

those supported by Catholic 

Extension, and in dioceses in 

Latin America and the Caribbean. 

In each place and each cultural 

context where they are present, 

the Missionary Servants pursue the 

vision of their founder by encouraging 

laypeople to step forward as 

leaders and evangelizers in their 

communities. The results are undeniable. 

MISSIONARY SERVANTS 

OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY 

RELIGIOUS 

MEN WHO 

FORM LAY 

‘APOSTLES’ 

RIGHT Father 

Seraphim Molina 

S.T., leads St. 

Kateri Tekakwitha 

Parish in prayer 

in the Diocese of 

Tucson, Arizona. 

He served this 

parish for 12 years. 

ishes like Sacred Heart in Camden, 

Mississippi, where they serve the 

Black Catholic community. More 

than providing subsidies to maintain 

the status quo, we have partnered 

with the Missionary Servants 

to support a community 

where the laypeople have become 

a sizeable force of transformation 

in an impoverished area. Parishioners 

have created a lively community 

of faith that energizes their 

work, which includes providing 

thousands of meals each year, offering 

after-school programs for 

kids and caring for elders, among 

many other charitable services. 

Catholic Extension has also 

been privileged to support the 

work of the Missionary Servants 

at St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish 

among the Pascua Yaqui tribe, 

whose ancestral lands are near 

Tucson, Arizona, in the Sonoran 

Desert. 

Missionaries first came to this 

area 400 years ago, and something 

very interesting happened. 

The Pascua Yaqui people developed 

their own system of religious 

leadership that did not rely on foreign 

clergy to sustain the faith. To 

this day, the laity have special titles 

that designate their roles in leading 

community prayers, songs and 

devotions as well as visiting the 

sick and dying. When the Missionary 

Servants arrived in this community, 

they understood the significance 

of these lay leaders as the 

primary teachers of the faith and 

continued to support them. 

Our Lady of Soledad Catholic 

Church in Coachella, California, is 

another location where the Mis- 

This cabin chapel in rural Alabama is where 

the founder of the Missionary Servants 

of the Most Holy Trinity, Father Thomas 

Judge, CM, launched a movement of lay 

women and men missionaries in 1917. 

ABOVE The Missionary Servants of the 

Most Holy Trinity encourage all Catholics 

to be ‘lay apostles.” In the Coachella Valley, 

parishioners served by the Missionary 

Servants gather by the thousands for an 

annual 30-mile pilgrimage in honor of Our 

Lady of Guadalupe. 

STRENGTHENING PARISHES 

AND LEADERS 

Catholic Extension has been 

honored to support the work of 

the Missionary Servants in parsionary 

Servants encouraged the 

role of the laity with great success. 

On holy days and cultural feast 

days, as many as 10,000 people 

make their way through the parish 

doors. This required the construction 

of a bigger church, one 

that seats more than 1,200 

people at a time. Catholic 

Extension donors contributed 

toward this project. 

Many parishioners in 

Coachella are Latino and 

work the low-paying jobs 

in the nearby crop fields, 

but this has not stopped 

the laity from understanding 

that they have a special 

role to play in their 

community. 

The parish is growing thanks to 

the commitment of the laypeople 

who have been animated and affirmed 

by their priests. A prime example 

is the Valley Missionary Program, 

a lay volunteer organization 

of the parish, which for nearly 40 

years has served 15,000 people 

in the outlying communities. The 

program operates 150 small faith 

communities and supports a parish-based 

shelter that has helped 

thousands of migrants. 

With the support of the Missionary 

Servants, these parishioners are 

fulfilling the vision of the Second 

Vatican Council, which called upon 

all laypeople to “zealously participate 

in the saving work of the 

Church.” 

THE MISSION CONTINUES 

TO UNFOLD 

In 2021 Catholic Extension partnered 

with the Missionary Servants 

of the Most Holy Trinity to pilot a 

program in response to the worsening 

opioid crisis in this country. To 

date, leaders from three Extension 

dioceses—Youngstown, Ohio; Santa 

Fe, New Mexico; and Cheyenne, 

Wyoming—participated in the 

iTHIRST program. The Missionary 

Servants developed this program 

to help more parish lay leaders effectively 

work with those suffering 

from addictions and their families 

and promote more parish recovery 

ministries. 

Father Judge’s dream remains 

alive and well, as laypeople in the 

diverse parishes and regions served 

by the Missionary Servants are encouraged 

to lean into what Father 

Judge called “a missionary spirit, an 

evangelical burning.” The Church 

is better off because ordinary people 

in communities that are often 

written off have accepted this calling 

to be a transformative force in 

the world.

18 INSPIRE 



DR. OLGA VILLAR BECOMES 

FIRST LAYPERSON TO LEAD 

SOUTHEAST PASTORAL INSTITUTE 

A PIONEERING 

WOMAN IN MINISTRY 

gression. “I feel honored to be the 

first one to make this transition. 

It’s like coming of age,” said Villar. 

She steps into SEPI’s executive 

leadership position with many 

aspirations, aiming to empower 

Catholics to be well formed in their 

faith and ready to lead in their 

communities. She plans to focus 

on the Church’s youth. Villar remembers 

being a teenager searching 

for mentorship and inspiration 

in her faith, which she found 

through SEPI. 

“Empowering young people is 

where my passion is at this moment,” 

Villar said. “It’s about going 

back to see myself as a 14-year-old, 

18-year-old or 20-plus and connecting 

with those young people 

that I see across the Southeast.” 

Villar plans to carry on the mission 

that SEPI initiated more than 

four decades ago by its founders, 

the Piarist Fathers. This religious 

congregation of men continues to 

inspire her. 

In addition to working with 

youth and forming lay leaders in 

southeastern dioceses, Villar is 

spearheading a multi-diocesan 

program—supported by Catholic 

Extension—that will help form 

ABOVE Father Jack 

Wall listens to Dr. 

Olga Villar speak at 

an Extension-hosted 

convening of Catholic 

leaders in ministry. 

RIGHT Dr. Olga Villar 

visits with children in 

central Mississippi 

who are part of a 

healing program for 

immigrant families. 

The program is made 

possible through 

Catholic Extension’s 

collaboration with the 

Southeast Pastoral 

Institute. 

dr. Olga Lucía Villar 

was appointed executive 

director of the 

Southeast Pastoral Institute 

(SEPI) in November 

2021. She is 

the first lay leader 

and woman to be appointed to the 

top position of the Miami-based 

organization. SEPI, which was 

founded in 1979, provides education 

and pastoral services to Hispanic 

Catholics in 30 dioceses 

across nine states in the southeastern 

United States. The bishops 

of these member dioceses govern 

SEPI and appointed Villar to the 

position. 

The collaboration between 

Catholic Extension and SEPI over 

the years has been strong and mutually 

beneficial. SEPI’s region 

covers 15 Extension dioceses, and 

the organization shares Catholic 

Extension’s goals to develop leaders, 

form young Catholics and animate 

the Church at the grassroots 

level, especially among marginalized 

populations. 

From the beginning, SEPI’s mission 

has been to form lay leaders 

in the Church. So, becoming a layled 

organization was a natural promany 

new Spanish-speaking deacons. 

Additionally, she and Catholic 

Extension continue to collaborate 

on a trauma recovery and healing 

program for 700 families and children 

in central Mississippi who 

were separated or impacted by the 

largest immigration raid in U.S. history 

in 2019. 

PREPARED FOR LEADERSHIP 

WITH EXTENSION SUPPORT 

Villar is well equipped to address 

the diverse needs of the dioceses 

SEPI serves. She has inter- 

mittently taught courses at SEPI 

for 22 years, and she has also been 

prepared for leadership with help 

from Catholic Extension. Villar was 

first introduced to Catholic Extension 

in 2012 when she began as the 

director of Hispanic ministry in the 

Archdiocese of Mobile, Alabama. 

She had great success in this ministry, 

particularly in engaging Catholics 

who had been disconnected 

from the Church. Her position was 

created and funded by Catholic Extension 

donors. 

She says that apart from just 

Dr. Olga Villar visits 

a rural community 

in Alabama that 

had been praying 

together in a shed 

before she helped 

integrate them into a 

local parish. 

funding her salary, Catholic Extension 

gave her the opportunity 

to grow as a leader through education 

and dialogue with other leaders 

who, like her, were funded by 

Catholic Extension. 

“I realized that I needed to have 

more dialogue between academics 

and pastoral ministry to be able to 

enrich my experience and be able 

to pass it on in a better way,” Villar 

said. “That was given to me by 

Catholic Extension.” 

After attending a summer education 

program in Hispanic ministry 

at Boston College, a program 

Catholic Extension invited her to 

participate in, Villar understood 

how crucial an advanced, higher-education 

experience could be 

for her ministry. 

She went on to earn her doctorate 

in Hispanic pastoral ministry in 

2016 from Barry University in Miami 

Shores, writing her thesis on 

the same faith communities she 

was serving in Alabama at the time. 

Throughout her time in Alabama, 

Villar also grew professionally 

through regular convenings of 

leaders in Hispanic ministry hosted 

by Catholic Extension. She deeply 

appreciated the enriching opportunity 

of getting to know other leaders 

who were ministering throughout 

the country. 

“It was about making sure that I 

listen to different voices throughout 

the country, because it is important,” 

Villar said. “Catholic Extension 

empowered me in that way.” 

During those formative years 

as an Extension-sponsored leader, 

she met colleagues she refers to as 

some of the closest people with 

whom she journeys in the Church. 

Getting to see all the “amazing people” 

in Catholic Extension’s various 

leadership initiatives reinforces in 

her the importance of finding leaders 

for SEPI who have been transformed 

through their own experiences 

making an impact in their 

faith communities. 

“Once you join the Catholic Extension 

family, you want more people 

to be involved in whatever way 

they can be involved,” Villar said. 

“Each person is touching several 

others and making an impact on 

others.”

20 INSPIRE 



The following story, written by 

Tom Stoelker and reprinted 

with permission from Fordham 

News, focuses on two 

current Fordham University 

students with ties to Catholic Extension: 

Bishop Ryan Jimenez and Edgar 

Guzmán. 

For over 50 years, Catholic Extension 

has proudly worked with Fordham 

to support scholarships for students 

from Extension dioceses seeking 

degrees at the Graduate School 

of Religion and Religious Education. 

Since 2012, Fordham has been a partner 

institution in Catholic Extension’s 

Young Adult Leadership Initiative, 

which offers theology degree scholarships 

to students from Extension dioceses. 

The initiative enables these dioceses 

to retain, educate and develop 

new generations of outstanding young 

adult leaders. 

Bishop Jimenez, who is working 

toward a doctorate with tuition assistance 

from Catholic Extension, leads 

the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa located 

in the Northern Mariana Islands, a 

commonwealth of the United States 

in the western Pacific Ocean. Catholic 

Extension has supported this island 

diocese since its inception in late 1984. 

“It is important for me to put into 

my context of ministry the theories 

learned through this graduate program,” 

Bishop Jimenez told Catholic 

Extension. “I believe that this continuing 

formation will help me be a better 

shepherd to the flock entrusted to me.” 

Meanwhile, Guzmán is pursuing 

his master’s in theology at Fordham 

as one of Catholic Extension’s Young 

Adult Leadership Initiative scholars. 

He also serves as director of campus 

and young adult ministries for St. Paul 

Catholic Newman Center at California 

State University, Fresno in the Extension-supported 

Diocese of Fresno. 

PHOTOS COURTESY OF DIOCESE OF CHALAN KANOA 

GRADUATE STUDIES AT FORDHAM UNIVERSITY 

PROVIDE CATHOLIC LEADERS OPPORTUNITY 

TO ENHANCE MINISTRY 

FAR LEFT Along with shepherding the Diocese 

of Chalan Kanoa and pursuing a doctoral 

degree at Fordham University, Bishop Ryan 

Jimenez ran the Chicago Marathon in 2021. 

LEFT Bishop Ryan Jimenez was ordained a 

priest for the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa in 2003 

and appointed as its second bishop in 2016. 

ENRICHING DRIVEN MINDS 

over the course of the 

past 10 years, the Graduate 

School of Religion 

and Religious Education 

(GRE) has partnered 

with Catholic Extension’s Young 

Adult Leadership Initiative to 

reach master’s and doctoral candidates 

serving as leaders in hardto-reach 

Catholic communities. 

In Catholic Extension’s early 

days, it provided funds for priests 

to celebrate Mass from remote 

places, like the backs of rail and 

motor cars in isolated rural towns. 

Today, GRE helps Catholic Extension 

reach far-flung parishes 

through technology, said Patrick 

Holt, Ph.D., assistant dean at GRE. 

“These church leaders work in 

locations where they could not 

afford to leave their ministry to go 

and get the kind of schooling we 

offer,” said Holt. “Most of the ministry 

schools are in the Northeast, 

the Midwest or California, but the 

Catholic population is growing in 

the rural South and the borderlands 

of the Southwest.” 

As GRE has one of the most 

established online ministry programs 

in the country, they became 

a natural fit for the program’s mission, 

he said. The two-year program 

also hosts students in person 

at the Rose Hill campus twice for 

two weeks over the summer. Once 

there, they stay in campus housing, 

share meals, and bridge their 

online learning with real-world 

fellowship, he said. 

“It’s here that they get to meet 

our faculty and create community 

and learn together outside of the 

classroom,” he said. “They then 

take those connections back to the 

disparate places that they work.” 

Holt added the program has 

had great success, with many graduates 

going on to hold senior positions 

in dioceses and churches 

from as far away as the Asia Pacific 

region. Some also come to the 

Catholic Extension program having 

already achieved great success, 

such as Ryan Jimenez, bishop 

of the mission diocese of Chalan 

Kanoa in the U.S. Commonwealth 

of the Northern Mariana Islands. 

LEARNING FROM THE BRONX IN 

THE WESTERN PACIFIC 

Bishop Jimenez is a doctoral 

student who immigrated to the U.S. 

to teach religion to high school students 

after several years of teaching 

in remote areas of the Philippines. 

He said that youth ministry 

remains close to his heart. 

“Many of our youth are ‘nones’ 

and it’s really important for me to 

meet them where they’re at and

22 INSPIRE 



Before he discerned 

his vocation to the 

priesthood, Bishop 

Ryan Jimenez (far 

left) was a Catholic 

school teacher on the 

island of Rota 

in the Northern 

Mariana Islands. 

PHOTO COURTESY 

OF DIOCESE OF 

CHALAN KANOA 

“I think Fordham 

keeps my mind 

changing, growing.” 

BISHOP RYAN JIMENEZ 

think about where our young people 

are coming from,” Bishop 

Jimenez said in a phone interview. 

“Gone are the days of the strict 

reward-and-punishment model of 

religious education that says, ‘Do 

this; Do that.’” 

Bishop Jimenez said that GRE 

professors working with Catholic 

Extension have encouraged him to 

reflect and keep himself open to 

the realities his congregations face. 

He said that many in his mission 

are migrants to the U.S. who were 

born and bred as Catholics. But the 

unrooted circumstances of migration 

do not allow for regular access 

to the sacraments, forcing many to 

live outside of church doctrine. 

“Many feel they cannot receive 

the sacraments and so they feel 

unwelcome,” he said. 

He said that while much of the 

commonwealth is Catholic, not 

all worship or believe in the same 

manner. Part of the challenge is to 

connect with divergent constituencies. 

“For the community I’m in, one 

challenge is accepting and welcoming 

LGBTQ people,” he said. 

“How do we find the balance 

between accepting and non-judgment 

as Jesus would and address 

pastoral issues even as I’m bound 

to follow rules? I can’t change 

church structure.” 

Just shy of 50 years of age, 

Bishop Jimenez said that it has 

been 17 years since he was last in 

school. He said that he chose to 

go to Fordham to become a more 

effective leader. 

“You can’t give what you don’t 

have,” he said. “I need to update 

myself with recent studies and 

different approaches to the practice 

of service so that I can inspire 

others. I think Fordham keeps my 

mind changing, growing.” 

MEETING MEXICAN AMERICAN 

STUDENTS WHERE THEY ARE 

Edgar Guzmán became a master’s 

candidate in the summer of 

2019 thanks to the program. He is 

the campus ministry director at 

St. Paul Catholic Newman Center 

in Fresno, California. He’s the 

only youth minister in an office 

that serves four campuses. His thesis 

focuses on ministering to sec- 


has proudly 

partnered with 

Fordham University 

to support theology 

degree scholarships 

for students from 

Extension dioceses 

for over 50 years. 

ond-generation Mexican Americans 

who have grown up in the 

U.S., but don’t necessarily feel as 

though they belong. Like Bishop 

Jimenez, Guzmán is trying to meet 

the student population he serves 

where they’re at. 

“The young people that I 

administer to are the sons and 

daughters of farmworkers,” said 

Guzmán. “I try my best to relate to 

them as a Mexican American and 

as someone kind of living in two 

worlds.” 

Guzmán cited a scene from the 

At age 33, Edgar 

Guzmán is the director 

of campus ministry 

at California State 

University, Fresno in 

the Diocese of Fresno. 

He is pursuing 

his master’s in theology 

at Fordham University 

with a scholarship 

from Catholic 

Extension. 

PHOTO EDGAR GUZMÁN 

movie “Selena,” where a Mexican 

American father complains to his 

son and daughter. 

“The father says, ‘We’re not 

Mexican enough for the Mexicans 

and we’re not American enough for 

the Americans.’ That is definitely 

true. That is definitely something 

we relate with,” said Guzmán. 

But Guzmán noted that being 

Mexican is far from being part of a 

monolithic identity. There’s a great 

difference between regions, as well 

as different perspectives on gender 

roles, sexual identity, class, and age. 

“I’m 33 years old and the majority 

of the students that I work with 

are about 10 years younger than 

me. So, there is definitely a generational 

gap,” he said. “I don’t have all 

the answers, but I have some suggestions 

and some insights that 

maybe they do not have right now.” 

EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE AND 

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS 

Guzmán said that in addition to 

practical theology, GRE has given 

him a sounding board of peers. 

“Sometimes I feel very isolated 

and very alone just because there’s 

no other Newman Center [Catholic 

ministries at secular universities] 

in the Diocese of Fresno. 

We’re the only one and I’m the 

only campus minister that’s full 

time,” he said. “But with my classmates 

who work with other young 

adults or in campus ministry, 

I’ve definitely been able to peek 

behind the curtain, if you will, of 

other ministries and specifically 

on the East Coast. So that’s been 

very helpful.” 

He added that the program 

has given him the vocabulary 

to express himself and tools for 

insight. He also noted that some of 

the classes he’s taking were unexpected, 

like those on sociology 

and child behavior. 

“That threw me off at first, 

because I said, ‘What does this 

have to do with religious education?’ 

When in reality, if I’m a 

minister, if I’m someone who’s 

going to be pastoring to young 

people, I have to learn how to walk 

with them, with all their baggage, 

which we all have,” he said. “So, 

the courses have taught me how to 

love in a more holistic way.”

24 INSPIRE 



Sisters in the U.S.-Latin American Sisters Exchange Program join Father Jack Wall, president of Catholic Extension, during a gathering in Chicago 

to complete a course on restorative justice at Loyola University Chicago. 

SISTERS SEE US ALL AS EQUALS 

WORKING TO DEVELOP GOD-GIVEN POTENTIAL 

WITHIN EACH PERSON 

in the most forgotten corners 

of the United States, a dramatic 

transformation is taking 

place within the hearts 

and minds of thousands of 

people. That change is made 

possible by groups of Latin 

American Catholic sisters who 

have come to the United States at 

Catholic Extension’s invitation to 

go out to the margins of our society 

and serve the poor. 

In 2013 Catholic Extension partnered 

with the Conrad N. Hilton 

Foundation to develop the U.S.- 

Latin American Sisters Exchange 

Program. 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 and create new ministries 

in Extension dioceses among the 

poor, particularly Hispanic immigrants 

and their families. It involves 

sisters from 26 congregations and 

eight countries. 

The program has three main 

objectives. First, it offers higher 

education degrees to Latin American 

sisters serving in the U.S., who 

would otherwise have no such 

opportunities. Upon completion 

of the program, these sisters will 

be able to serve in leadership positions 

within their religious communities. 

Second, during the five-year 

The U.S.-Latin American Sisters Exchange Program includes offering higher education 

degrees through St. Mary’s University of Minnesota to Latin American sisters serving in the 

U.S. to develop their leadership and pastoral skills. 

period in which the sisters are 

in the U.S., the program helps 

establish new services and 

outreach to develop the human 

potential of tens of thousands of 

disadvantaged people. The sisters 

are mindful that their spiritual 

witness is a sign of hope. Their 

services are offered in dioceses 

supported by Catholic Extension, 

where, according to U.S. Census 

data, more than 80 percent of the 

most impoverished counties in the 

country exist. 

Finally, the program seeks to 

create a robust, collaborative and 

mutually supportive network of sisters 

from multiple congregations. 

A study by the GHR Foundation 

found that two out of three international 

sisters ministering in the 

United States expressed the need 

for mutual support and mentorship. 

The program addresses this 

need by providing the space and 

opportunity for the sisters to build 

lifelong relationships with each 

other. They share their journey as 

religious women together and collectively 

grow in knowledge and 

friendship. Their joy is so palpable 

and expressive that, when they 

convene to attend a class, retreat or 

training hosted by Catholic Exten- 

sion, they often pray, sing and even 

dance together. The sisters also 

meet on Zoom to connect, learn 

and share questions, ideas and suggestions. 

All of these formative 

experiences provide the basis for 

intercongregational collaborations 

after the program concludes. 

EDUCATIONAL AND 

MINISTERIAL ACHIEVEMENTS 

Now in its eighth year, the program 

has seen immense success. 

The first cohort of 36 sisters arrived 

in 2014 and departed in 2019. The 

sisters served 12 diverse communities 

across the country, stretching 

from Yakima, Washington, to Portland, 

Maine. They did not just serve 

people and abandon them. Rather, 

they developed lay leaders who 

could carry on the mission the sisters 

started after their departure. 

The sisters’ education greatly 

enhanced their pastoral and leadership 

skills. Eleven of the sisters 

in the first cohort earned master’s 

degrees in applied leadership from 

Boston College. 

Now back in their home countries, 

several of them have gone on 

to leadership roles, including one 

sister who was elected superior of 

her Mexico-based congregation 

and another who has become a 

formation leader of incoming novices 

of her community. All of the 

sisters continue to enjoy and grow 

from the friendships they developed 

among each other now three 

years after the program concluded. 

In late 2019 the second cohort 

of sisters began their journey 

thanks to new investment from the 

Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and 

other partner donors and foundations. 

This second cohort includes 

44 sisters serving 14 dioceses in 

the U.S. All are currently pursuing 

either a bachelor’s degree in health 

care and human services management 

or a master’s degree in integrated 

studies with a concentration 

in human services and pastoral 

care. The sisters study together 

at St. Mary’s University of Minnesota, 

taking a combination of 

online courses and periodically 

convening for in-person classes. 

They are studying a variety of topics 

to improve their knowledge and 

skills in their ministries, including 

counseling, cultural competence 

for service providers, human services 

systems, community engagement 

partnerships and more. 

In addition to these studies, 

they have completed several specialized 

training programs, including 

a course on social and restorative 

justice offered through 

Loyola University Chicago. They 

also received trauma intervention 

training through Trauma Recovery 

Associates, an organization that 

equips community leaders who do 

not hold degrees in psychology to 

identify signs of trauma and offer 

healthy living skills. 

Meanwhile, all of them are in 

active ministry, meaning they

26 INSPIRE 



can apply what they learn in the 

classroom to real situations they 

encounter in ministry, which relate 

to the spiritual, psychological and 

physical well-being of people. 

AN AMERICAN MISSION 

More than halfway through 

their 5-year program, four of 

the sisters in the current cohort 

recently met with Catholic 

Extension to share their perspective 

on their missionary vocations, 

the unique challenges they face 

in the communities they serve 

and their actions to empower the 

tens of thousands of people they 

encounter. 

Sister Deyanira González 

Alvarado, part of the Missionaries 

of Charity of Mary Immaculate, 

serves in the Diocese of Little 

Rock, Arkansas. Her friends have 

asked her why she has gone to the 

United States for mission work 

when it’s needed in her home 

country of Mexico. 

“Sometimes those of us from 

the outside believe everything in 

the United States is going well,” 

she said. “That people don’t need 

anything here and are well off 

spiritually, economically. We speak 

of poverty as this economic thing. 

On the contrary, when I arrived 

here, I noticed a spiritual poverty, 

a human poverty and a poverty as 

it pertains to relationships with 

God.” 

Sister Daysis Evangelista 

Uriarte Benavidez, a member of 

the Servant Sisters of the Divine 

Face, came to the Diocese of 

Kalamazoo, Michigan, from Nicaragua. 

She and her sisters work 

with Hispanic farmworkers who 

seasonally migrate to southwestern 

Michigan each year to harvest 

crops. Additionally, the sisters 

build bridges of unity at Holy 

Angels Catholic Church, where 

half the congregation is Hispanic 

and half is white. “Through recognizing 

the needs of the people, we 

can help create one community,” 

she said. 

Sister Zuly Cardenas Carreón, 

part of the Eucharistic Missionaries 

of the Infant Jesus of Our Lady 

of Fatima, came from Mexico and 

serves in California. In the Diocese 

of Sacramento, which covers 

much of rural northern California, 

several towns in Butte County 

were decimated by the 2018 

Camp Fire, the deadliest and most 

destructive wildfire in the state’s 

history. Years later, the survivors 

continue to struggle after losing 

their homes, possessions and, 

tragically for several families, their 

loved ones. Sister Zuly described 

why the presence of the sisters is 

needed in the area. 

“So often, the people feel 

From left, Sisters 

Paubla Jaritza 

García Rodríguez 

and Delia Aurora 

Ibarra Rodríguez 

promote hope 

and dignity 

among migrant 

farmworker families 

in the Diocese 

of Kalamazoo, 

Michigan. 

From left, Sisters 

Deyanira González 

Alvarado, Sandra 

Judith Estrada and 

María Minerva 

Morales Manuel, 

MCMI, serve a 

growing Hispanic 

community in the 

Diocese of Little 

Rock, Arkansas. 

Sister Daysis 

Evangelista Uriarte 

Benavidez, part of 

the Servant Sisters 

of the Divine Face 

from Nicaragua, 

leads a program for 

children in a migrant 

farmworker camp in 

southwest Michigan. 

alone,” she said. “For example, the 

people affected by the fires would 

say things like, ‘We get some basic 

help. People tell us to stop crying, 

to keep going. But it’s seeing you 

sisters, the spirituality that you 

impart on us—that’s what gives 

us hope to keep going. To be born 

again.’” 

Sister Gabriela Ramírez, a Guadalupan 

Missionary of the Holy 

Spirit, is originally from Mexico 

and has been serving in the 

United States for 27 years. She 

joined Catholic Extension’s U.S.- 

Latin American Sisters Exchange 

Program when it was expanded to 

include sisters already 

in the United States. She 

sought the opportunity 

to pursue her master’s 

degree along with the 

sisters who had recently 

arrived. Sister Gabriela 

currently works with 

Catholic Social Services 

in the Diocese of Birmingham, 

Alabama. 

Catholics in this region 

are a minority, around 

3 percent of the population. 

The immigrant 

Hispanic community, 

which is largely Catholic 

and speaks another 

language, still endures much discrimination. 

“The people don’t see them 

as children of God, that we are 

equal,” said Sister Gabriela. “It’s 

important for us to be that bridge, 

to make them visible and to promote 

their human dignity.” 

DEVELOPING HUMAN 

POTENTIAL 

The sisters work to develop the 

God-given potential within each 

person they encounter. By accompanying 

them in their struggles 

and providing tools and resources 

to improve their spiritual, psychological 

and physical health, they 

help these individuals—mothers, 

fathers, grandparents, children— 

understand their worth and the 

value they bring to their families 

and communities. 

A significant aspect of the ministry 

involves attending to the 

mental health struggles that have 

plagued so many immigrant people 

during the pandemic in communities 

where the sisters serve. 

The collective impact of their work 

is immense; the sisters have provided 

more than 34,000 “human 

development service” interactions, 

tracked through an app-based system 

developed by Catholic Extension 

in 2020. 

In rural Michigan, Sister Daysis 

and her sisters work to cultivate 

self-esteem among women and 

children. “There is a great need 

to orient them, counsel them, tell 

them their value and that we all 

have rights,” she said. 

The community was hit hard by 

COVID-19, and many families lost 

several loved ones—sometimes 

within the span of just a few days. 

The sisters started a program called 

“Accompaniment Through Grief” 

in which they go directly into people’s 

homes to talk through the 

grieving process and pray with 

those who continue to suffer from 

these great losses. 

One woman, a mother of two, 

lost her mother and sister. Her oldest 

son called the sisters one day, 

desperately asking them to help 

his mother who was unwell and

28 INSPIRE 



depressed. The sisters arrived at 

the home and consoled her, being 

present with her when she had 

no one else to turn to. “We told 

her to have faith, that she was not 

alone,” said Sister Daysis. “That we 

are here, and we are her family— 

we are here to cry with you, suffer 

with you, laugh with you.” 

In Arkansas, the sisters focus 

on tending to troubled teens and 

youth in a large parish that has 

suffered from young people taking 

their own lives. They began a ministry 

called “Listen and Accompany” 

through which they reach 

out to struggling youth and families. 

“For them, just knowing that 

they have a safe haven for this, that 

they have us, is a gift from God,” 

said Sister Deyanira. 

One woman approached the 

sisters in a state of great distress, 

unable to even eat or sleep. After 

the sisters listened to and helped 

her, she gradually found happiness 

again. She married her partner, 

became active in the Church 

and now helps promote the ministry 

to help others. She told the 

sisters that they saved her life. 

Sister Deyanira described this 

aspect of their work as the essence 

of being a missionary. “It means 

being able to discover the presence 

of God wherever you are,” 

she said of her vocation. “To be the 

image of Jesus for others; for them 

to discover that you could be that 

for them, as you’re present with 

them in their pain. And for us as 

missionaries, it’s about discovering 

the image of Jesus in each and 

every one of them.” 

Sister Zuly and her two sisters 

in Butte County are helping the 

community recover from both the 

Sisters in the U.S.- 

Latin American 

Sisters Exchange 

Program lead a 

support group for 

women to help them 

overcome the trauma 

of the pandemic and 

wildfires that ravaged 

their community 


of Sacramento, 

California. 

pandemic and the 2018 wildfire. 

They work with the Promotores 

Program, coordinated by Northern 

Valley Catholic Social Services, 

which provides health education 

and connects those in need with 

social services in the county. Due 

to language and cultural barriers, 

many Hispanic people do not have 

access to or are unaware of the 

available resources. 

The sisters assist with food 

drives and help organize transportation 

to get people vaccinated. Far 

beyond these immediate needs, 

they uplift hundreds of individuals 

who continue to suffer from the 

trauma of the wildfire and pandemic. 

These services are transformative 

for women who have not felt 

allowed to grieve while they take 

care of their families. Sister Zuly 

described one woman who lost 

her husband and was only able to 

begin healing after spending time 

with the sisters. 

“They would tell us how they 

could never find relief, they could 

never cry, because they were the 

mothers, the wives, the nurturers— 

they had to sustain their families,” 

said Sister Zuly. “But today, they 

Sister Gabriela 

Ramírez, MGSpS, is 

pursuing a master’s 

degree to develop 

her pastoral skills 

through the U.S.-Latin 

American Sisters 

Exchange Program. 

She is a trusted and 

beloved presence 

among families 


of Birmingham, 

Alabama. 

lic Social Services, she gives these 

individuals the tools they need 

to improve their situations. This 

ranges from attending to immediate 

needs such as support for 

rent, clothing and food to offering 

classes to learn English, improve 

their Spanish literacy and obtain 

citizenship. 

Although her work focuses on 

the Hispanic community, Sister 

Gabriela emphasizes the universal 

mission of the Church. “We serve 

everybody. Catholics are for everybody,” 

she said. “To be a missionary 

is to love, to love everybody 

From left, Sisters Zuly Cardenas Carreón, Antonia Sánchez Núñez and Ana Luisa Vázquez 

López, MEJIF, came from Mexico to uplift marginalized communities in northern California. 

and to feel like home wherever we 

are, because we are there to serve. 

We have been sent by God and by 

our congregation to be the face of 

God for the people and to let them 

know that God loves them.” 

A MISSIONARY VOCATION 

Catholic Extension is honored 

to continue the U.S.-Latin American 

Sisters Exchange Program 

through our partnership with the 

Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and 

through the support of our donors 

and other partner foundations. 

Furthermore, we are grateful for 

the sisters’ outstanding work and 

growth. 

One hundred percent of the sisters 

in the first cohort reported 

the following: they felt the program 

had a positive impact on 

them personally and the communities 

they served; they would recommend 

the program to other sisters; 

they felt the training benefited 

them and their ministry and 

look at us as the ones who can 

sustain them.” 

For Sister Gabriela, her roles 

at Catholic Social Services in Birmingham 

as a spiritual leader 

and humanitarian worker blend 

together naturally. She lives out 

her vocation by providing for the 

needs of those who are at the 

heart and soul of the Church—the 

poor and vulnerable. 

She is a trusted, constant presence 

in the community, understanding 

the families and their 

needs through her involvement 

in the parishes. Through Cathothey 

felt the program helped them 

build relationships with other sisters 

and a strong community of 

Latina sisters. 

Wonderfully, the program will 

soon expand to include an additional 

70 Latina sisters from a variety 

of congregations and Latin 

American countries. 

All of the sisters who currently 

minister in or have completed the 

program have bravely embarked 

on a groundbreaking pursuit that 

aligns with their missionary vocations 

to uplift the most neglected 

and marginalized among us. Their 

work to develop human potential 

goes further than enriching 

the lives of thousands of Hispanic 

people in the poorest regions of 

the country. By building up faith 

within families and parishes, the 

sisters are also creating a foundation 

of positive community 

involvement that will extend to 

future generations.

30 INSPIRE 

Seminarian Profile 


Seminarian aspires 

to serve the poor 

Randy Tejada is 25 

years old, and his 

path to the seminary 

was an 

unlikely one. But 

the challenges 

he has faced in his life have only 

strengthened his resolve to serve 

the least of God’s people. 

Born in the Dominican Republic, 

Tejada has lived in Puerto Rico 

since the age of 7 and has become 

a U.S. citizen. 

He grew up in a poor neighborhood 

of Caguas, Puerto Rico, where 

he and his two younger brothers 

were raised by their single mother. 

Many of Tejada’s childhood friends 

and classmates fell into lives of 

drugs and street violence. Some of 

them even died. 

‘A priest 

without 

his people 

is not 

a priest’ 

ate to enter the seminary for the 

Diocese of Caguas. What’s more, 

he had people depending on him 

financially with a promising career 

ahead of him. 

Over time, Tejada started warming 

up to the idea of pursuing the 

priesthood. 

When he entered the semi- 

ABOVE Catholic Extension 

supports Randy Tejada, a 

seminarian in the Diocese of 

Caguas, Puerto Rico. 

ABOVE LEFT Randy Tejada 

tours the poor neighborhood 

where he grew up with 

Father Jack Wall, president 

of Catholic Extension. 

LEFT Parishioners such as 

Beatriz (left) helped Randy 

Tejada realize his calling to 

the priesthood. 

Tejada steered clear of these 

dangers and remained close to the 

Church and his Catholic faith— 

which he attributes in large part to 

his maternal grandparents. 

His home parish, Our Lady of 

Perpetual Help, is a mission chapel 

located in a low-income neighborhood 

of Caguas. In spite of its poverty, 

Tejada has always understood 

that something very powerful happens 

in that humble chapel, which 

is why he became increasingly 

more involved in parish activities. 

While studying at the University 

of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras, where 

he would eventually earn his bachelor’s 

and master’s degrees in 

social work, Tejada was first confronted 

with the question of what 

God was calling him to be. A visiting 

priest asked, “Have you ever 

asked what God wants for you?” 

Never in his wildest dreams 

did Tejada ever think that God’s 

plan might involve abandoning 

his dream of pursuing a doctornary 

almost two years ago with the 

blessing of his mother, two people 

confessed that they knew all along 

that this was where he was headed: 

his maternal grandparents. 

“My Christian formation came 

from my grandparents,” Tejada 

said. “They never doubted my 

vocation.” 

The people of Our Lady of Perpetual 

Help also offer ongoing support 

for Tejada’s vocation. They 

interpret his entrance into the 

seminary as an affirmation of the 

entire community. 

Giselle Sánchez Colón, who 

teaches confirmation classes, 

believes that Tejada is helping 

open up more young people’s eyes 

to the vocations to which God is 

calling them. She said, “Having a 

seminarian in my community is 

like having a little guidance from 

God in our path.” 

Likewise, Lynette Sánchez sees 

Tejada’s entrance into the seminary 

as a significant moment for 

their parish. “It’s a continuation of 

our history as a community. We 

are filled with pride. We are seeing 

our community get closer to God,” 

she said. 

Tejada does not let any of this 

go to his head. Instead, he remains 

grounded in where he comes from 

and the type of priest he aspires 

to be. 

He says that the spirituality of 

diocesan priesthood means that 

“a priest without his people is not 

a priest.” He believes that the role 

of a priest is “to accompany, not 

to direct, because the Holy Spirit 

is manifested in God’s people and 

speaks through them as well.” 

Tejada deeply admires many 

people in his home parish who 

helped give rise to his vocation. 

This includes people like Mrs. Cani, 

a pillar of the community, whom 

Tejada strives to emulate. She is, he 

said, “the person with the greatest 

piety and greatest love for bringing 

the Eucharist to the sick.” 

Tejada believes the poor, vulnerable 

and voiceless will be at 

the center of his priesthood. “The 

poor are not only Christ’s preferred 

ones but also the preferred of the 

Church, and I believe the Church 

must be present to their realities,” 

he said. 

He believes that a Catholic community 

grounded in the Eucharist 

can be an incredibly powerful force 

of good in our society today. 

“The Gospel,” Tejada said, “has 

to be incarnated.” That requires 

a church that is willing to get its 

hands dirty in the messiness of 

life, addressing violence in homes 

and on streets, embracing young 

people who have lost a sense of 

hope and supporting those who 

have lost their jobs. 

Tejada noted, “When I speak of 

these realities, I speak from the 

realities of the small faith community 

from which I come.” According 

to him, one of the great sins the 

Church can commit is to turn away 

from the realities of its people or to 

become just a “social club.” 

Tejada was clearly formed by the 

faith community from which he 

comes. He will be a great blessing 

to the people he is one day called 

to serve as a priest, God willing. 

Today, as he studies at Our Lady 

of Divine Providence Seminary in 

Ponce, Puerto Rico, he is thankful 

for the additional community of 

Catholic Extension donors that 

support his education. 

“Thank you for your generosity 

and goodness,” he said. 

He added, “Jesus fed 5,000 people 

with five loaves and two fishes. 

How many more can Jesus feed 

with just one vocation?”

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PHOTO RON WU 

Conchita Pozar 

(center, with 

her daughters) 

is a leader in 

the Purépecha 

indigenous faith 

community served 

by the late Father 

Valdovinos. 

The community 

dreams of having 

a Catholic church. 

See stories, pages 

34 and 38.

IGNITE 

34 

Feature Story 


PARISHIONERS GET 

VACCINATED IN 

HONOR OF THEIR 

PASTOR WHO DIED 

OF COVID-19 

S 

ince the very 

beginning of 

the Church, 

countless Catholic 

priests and 

sisters have 

sacrificed their 

lives in service 

to God and His 

people. From those who endured 

persecution for what 

they preached to the unknown 

numbers who succumbed to 

the harsh environments in 

their missionary work, these 

individuals put their love for 

their creator and communities 

before themselves. 

Father Francisco Valdovinos, 

a member of the Missionary 

Servants of the Most Holy 

Trinity, is among these heroic 

individuals. The beloved 

pastor served at the Sanctuary 

of Our Lady of Guadalupe 

in Mecca, California, in the Diocese 

of San Bernardino. The 

parish also contains various 

missions, including the North 

Shore community, an unincorporated 

Coachella Valley town 

whose story is detailed on page 

Father Francisco Valdovinos, S.T., 

helped distribute 250,000 pounds of 

food to families in need during 

the pandemic. 

‘ 

FATHER FRANCISCO VALDOVINOS 

HIS LEGACY 

IS NOW IN 

OUR HEARTS 

’ 

38. When the COVID-19 pandemic 

began in 2020, Father 

Valdovinos was very active 

and tried to help his people, 

many of whom had lost their 

jobs and needed food and other 

basic aid. Before a vaccine 

was made available to him, he 

died from COVID-19 complications 

at the age of 58 in January 

2021. 

Although he fell victim to 

the virus, his legacy continues 

to save the lives of those he 

served. In memory of his devotion 

and sacrifice, his county 

has become among the 

most highly vaccinated in the 

country. 

Catholic Extension has been 

privileged to know Father Valdovinos. 

In late 2019 Catholic 

Extension’s Mission Committee, 

an advisory committee of 

our Board of Governors, personally 

visited Father Valdovinos 

and his large parish, which 

serves thousands of people. 

Catholic Extension has worked 

in solidarity with faith communities 

in the Coachella Valley 

for many years and is helping 

establish a new Catholic 

church in the area—one that 

was born from Father Valdovinos’ 

pastoral vision. 

Stepping up in times of 

trouble 

The pastor’s story drew national 

attention through a Los 

Angeles Times article written 

by Gustavo Arellano titled 

“This priest died of COVID-19. 

His congregants got vaccinated 

in his honor.” 

The following excerpts from 

the article showcase the tenacity 

and great love of Father 

Valdovinos. 

“The member of the Missionary 

Servants of the Most 

Holy Trinity arrived in 2018 to 

serve at the Sanctuary of Our 

Lady of Guadalupe and immediately 

endeared himself to locals. 

The balding, burly, mustachioed 

Mexican immigrant 

pressed politicians to bring 

better services for his working-class 

congregation, and 

brought in literacy and legal 

classes on his own. His homespun 

sermons packed the 

church every weekend, and 

the priest frequently visited 

the region’s agricultural fields 

with lunches for campesinos, 

many of whom hailed from his 

native Michoacán. 

“When the pandemic tore 

through the eastern Coachella 

Valley last year, Valdovinos 

transformed his picturesque 

parish into a food distribution 

center and testing site. He gave 

Father Mike Barth, S.T., left, leader of the Missionary 

Servants of the Most Holy Trinity, with the late Father 

Francisco Valdovinos, S.T., who devoted his life to 

serving communities in the Diocese of San Bernardino, 

California, before he died of COVID-19-related complications. 

Photo from 2019. 

out masks by the tens of thousands 

and offered socially distanced 

Mass, while appearing 

on Spanish-language radio to 

urge listeners to take the pandemic 

seriously and to get the 

vaccine once it was available. 

“When word emerged in 

December that COVID-19 had 

struck Valdovinos, parishioners 

held vigils outside the 

hospital where he was dying. 

More than a thousand people 

prayed during a Facebook Live 

session. A January caravan to 

honor his life snaked around 

Mecca, with cars and trucks 

bearing messages in Spanish 

such as ‘Thank You for Everything’ 

and ‘We Miss You.’ 

“‘The community cried 

when he died,’ said Conchita

36 

IGNITE 

Feature Story 


A family that is part of the communities 

inspired by the leadership of the late 

Father Francisco Valdovinos, S.T. 

Mecca, California, is home to many immigrant 

communities struggling to overcome poverty in the 

Diocese of San Bernardino, California. Father Francisco 

Valdovinos, S.T., was their champion. 

Pozar, 32, a leader in the 

Coachella Valley’s sizable 

Purépecha Indigenous community. 

‘He went above and 

beyond what most priests 

ever do. He could’ve just given 

Communion at Mass and 

that would’ve been fine. But 

he pushed everyone to do 

more. His legacy is now in our 

hearts.’” 

Giving life even after death 

The article goes on to describe 

how, though there are 

no public memorials in Mecca 

for Father Valdovinos, 

there is no need for any. Rather, 

the community’s gratitude 

for their departed pastor 

was evident wherever Arellano 

visited: 

“Hand sanitizers sat on a table 

in Our Lady of Guadalupe’s 

foyer, and near the sacristy. 

Red and blue stickers spaced 

six feet apart marked sidewalks 

and pews. Signs around 

the church campus in English 

and Spanish and affixed 

with a sticker of La Virgencita 

urged everyone to wear masks. 

In town, everyone seemed 

to be wearing them, whether 

women at an evening Zumba 

class in one of Mecca’s few 

strip malls, men hanging out 

in what passes for the town’s 

downtown, or kids playing 

baseball underneath the lights 

at the sports complex. 

“The most lasting tribute 

to Valdovinos wasn’t readily 

visible, though: Mecca’s 

COVID-19 vaccination rate. 

News accounts in the wake of 

his death quoted residents who 

vowed to roll up their sleeves 

in his honor. And they did.” 

According to the California 

Department of Public Health, 

data from the time of the article’s 

publication shows 93 percent 

of residents in the ZIP 

Code that encompasses Mecca 

and the smaller communities 

of North Shore and Desert 

Camp were fully vaccinated. 

This is a staggeringly high percentage 

compared to the surrounding 

region known as the 

Inland Empire, where only half 

of the population was fully 

vaccinated. Additionally, only 

4 percent of the entire state of 

California had achieved a 90 

percent full vaccination rate at 

that time. 

The article states: 

“‘When Father Valdovinos 

died, he awakened the consciousness 

of the people in 

our community to go out there 

and get the shot,’ said Assemblymember 

Eduardo García 

(D-Coachella), who represents 

the region and honored his 

sacrifice on the state Capitol 

floor shortly after his passing 

by adjourning a meeting in his 

name. ‘For their health, yes, but 

also out of respect for his life.’ 

“‘He was just building 

momentum,’ said María 

Machuca, a former school 

trustee and longtime community 

organizer. ‘It’s just a big 

loss—we don’t know what he 

could’ve done. So we need to 

continue what he did.’” 

A priest for the poor 

Father Valdovinos grew up 

in Mexico and joined the Missionary 

Servants of the Most 

Holy Trinity, also known as 

Trinity Missions, a congregation 

devoted to poor and marginalized 

communities. (See 

page 16 to read how our donors 

continue to support the work 

of this congregation across the 

United States.) 

The article quotes Rev. Guy 

Wilson, S.T., pastor at Sacred 

Heart Church in Camden, Mississippi, 

a community supported 

by Catholic Extension. He 

formerly served in the Coachella 

Valley. 

“He saw the good that we 

did, and decided to join us,” 

said Rev. Wilson, who was also 

part of the delegation that inspired 

Father Valdovinos to 

discern his vocation and become 

a priest. “He was determined 

even then to help.” 

The article continues: 

“Valdovinos was ordained in 

1994, and ministered in Puerto 

Rico and Costa Rica before 

finding his social justice 

groove in Tallahassee, where 

he’d drive more than 300 

miles on weekends to visit labor 

camps and prisons across 

northern Florida. He moved on 

to Our Lady of Victory Church 

in Compton in 2007, where 

Valdovinos decided to combat 

violence in the city with adult 

education classes, health fairs 

and youth counseling. 

“‘How can you stop violence 

with no job, no education, no 

food, no housing, no transportation?’ 

he told the L.A. Daily 

News in 2015. ‘This is a culture 

of violence, from generation 

to generation, in which they’re 

accustomed to live that way.’ 

“Three years later, Trinity 

Missions asked Valdovinos to 

head Our Lady of Guadalupe 

in Mecca. Wilson was pastor of 

Our Lady of Soledad Church in 

Coachella at the time, and remembered 

the initial hesitation 

Valdovinos felt. 

“‘He never wanted to leave 

any mission he worked at,’ 

Wilson said. ‘When Francisco 

saw something needed to be 

done, he put his energies to it, 

and you weren’t going to take 

him away from him. But in 

Mecca, Francisco really found 

his home.’ 

“At his first Mass in the desert, 

more than 50 of his former 

Compton congregants showed 

up to bid him a final farewell. 

Machuca was in the audience 

that day. 

“‘That was an indicator of, 

“Oh yeah, he’s going to be good 

for us,”’ she said. 

“A few days later, Valdovinos 

showed up unannounced to 

her office. ‘He said, “We’ve got 

a lot of work to do together,”’ 

Machuca said with a laugh. 

‘And we did it.’ 

Preaching with action 

The article continues: 

“Valdovinos plugged his 

own social service networks 

to Mecca’s existing ones. Those 

connections were vital as the 

pandemic finally hit. Our Lady 

of Guadalupe distributed more 

than 250,000 pounds of food 

last year, and the sight of a 

masked Valdovinos handing 

out bags of groceries to families 

or pushing around a dolly 

stacked with sacks and boxes 

made him a regular on local 

English- and Spanish-language 

television broadcasts. 

“Wilson last saw Valdovinos 

in December [ 2020 ], just 

before his friend contracted 

COVID-19. 

“‘We talked about his plans 

and the needs in Mecca, and 

I told him, “Francisco, just be 

careful,”’ Wilson said. ‘“You’re 

with people all the time.” His 

death hit us hard, because he 

was so good at what he did.’ 

“Two days after he died, 

Trinity Missions released a 

short video in his memory 

that’s as close to a personal 

manifesto as Valdovinos ever 

offered. 

“From inside Our Lady of 

Guadalupe, the priest declared: 

‘You can preach. But we need 

to show, with action.’”

38 

IGNITE 

Parish Partnerships 


‘It’s beautiful because they are 

living the mission with so little’ 

How a Chicago parish 

supports the poorest 

Catholic parishes in 

the country 

The desert of southern 

California is 

home to the Coachella 

Valley, one of 

the most productive 

agricultural areas 

of the United States. The Diocese 

of San Bernardino serves this 

area and the people who dwell 

in it, including the thousands of 

farmworkers who cultivate and 

pick the local crops such as citrus 

fruits, dates and grapes. Many 

farmworkers in this area are indigenous 

Purépecha people. They 

come from Mexico and have their 

own language and customs. Sadly, 

they are often treated as outcasts 

because of their unique culture. 

Many families live in small trailer 

homes in the valley. Although they 

work hard, they often struggle to 

make ends meet. 

Sisters Aida Sansor and María 

Teresa Pacheco, members of the 

Missionary Guadalupanas of the 

Holy Spirit, were brought on by 

the diocese four years ago to reach 

the thousands of Purépecha living 

in the region. One of the poor 

villages in which the sisters serve 

is called North Shore. It sits on the 

edge of the Coachella Valley near 

the Salton Sea. Many community 

members, especially the women, 

Palm Springs 

Coachella 

Valley 

Preserve 

Indio 

feel isolated by 

geography, language 

and discrimination, 

but their Catholic faith gives 

them strength to fight for a better 

life for themselves and their 

children. The sisters engage these 

faith-filled people by participating 

in their special feasts, devotions 

and community life. Simply put, 

the sisters seek to be in communion 

with the Purépecha people in 

both their joys and struggles. 

Together, the sisters and the 

Purépecha have advocated for improved 

infrastructure like streetlights 

and a new park for children. 

While these developments are appreciated, 

many people of North 

Shore believe that their community 

needs a church more than 

Coachella 

Mecca 

Joshua Tree 

Natl Park 

North 

Shore 

Salton Sea 

GOOGLE MAPS 

anything else. 

Many lack transportation to attend 

Mass at the nearest Catholic 

church in Mecca, California. Therefore, 

community members began 

gathering outdoors for prayer 

in a nearby grocery store parking 

lot, which can be problematic 

when temperatures reach up to 120 

degrees. 

Their dream of having a church 

grew stronger after the late Father 

Francisco Valdovinos, a religious 

priest of the Missionary Servants 

of the Most Holy Trinity and pastor 

in Mecca, started visiting their 

community and bringing them the 

Eucharist (see story on page 34 ). 

In 2019 the North Shore commu- 

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. 

Sisters María Teresa Pacheco and Felícitas 

Almanza, MGSpS, visit the the Purépecha 

people as they harvest limes in Coachella 

Valley in the Diocese of San Bernardino. 

nity and the Diocese of San Bernardino 

first shared with Catholic 

Extension their desire to have a 

church. They wanted somewhere 

their community could come together 

not only to worship but also 

to create an environment in which 

their children can grow in faith, 

values and Purépecha traditions. 

Mass-goers in North Shore, California, overflow their 

temporary worship space. They continue to work toward 

their dream of a permanent church. 

At that moment, Catholic Extension’s 

parish partner, St. Paul of 

the Cross Church in Park Ridge, Illinois, 

brought the North Shore 

community’s dream to parishioners, 

asking for support through a 

Lenten appeal. 

Thanks to the support of Adrienne 

Timm, director of social service 

ministry at the parish, and Dr. 

Erika Mickelburgh, principal of 

the parish’s school, St. Paul of the 

Cross Church has become an expert 

in turning dreams into reality. 

In prior years they collaborated 

with Catholic Extension to successfully 

help restore a 240-yearold 

church in Puerto Rico that took 

a direct hit from Hurricane Maria. 

And, the following year, St. Paul of 

the Cross helped build a new Catholic 

church in a “persistent poverty 

county”—a county that has 

had poverty rates of 20 percent or 

greater for at least 30 years—in 

central Arkansas. 

This past year, the newly assigned 

pastor of St. Paul of the 

Cross Church, Father James Wallace, 

saw firsthand the level of poverty 

that exists in Extension-supported 

communities, as well as 

the intensity of people’s faith 

amid their struggles. Father Wallace 

traveled with Catholic Exten- 

Father James Wallace is pastor of St. Paul 

of the Cross Church and School in Park 

Ridge, Illinois, which has partnered with 

Catholic Extension in helping poor faith 

communities across the country. 

sion to Puerto Rico in October 

2021 to learn about our 

hurricane and earthquake 

recovery efforts among 

1,000 damaged parishes 

on the island. “Meeting 

with the local priests and community 

leaders was very inspiring because 

of their sense of mission,” 

Father Wallace said. “They are 

willing to go out to their flock. It’s 

beautiful because they are living 

the mission with so little.” 

Financial help from parishes like 

St. Paul of the Cross can go a long 

way in these poor communities 

that have so few financial resources 

but incredible determination. 

Determination has been the 

theme of the story in the North 

Shore community as well. They 

tragically lost their pastor, Father 

Valdovinos, to COVID-19 in 2021. 

Father Valdovinos named the new 

church San Juan Diego Mission 

before his passing but never saw it 

built. 

Thanks to the efforts of the Diocese 

of San Bernardino, Sisters 

Aida and María Teresa, the late Father 

Valdovinos and St. Paul of the 

Cross, the North Shore community 

acquired an empty storefront 

this past year as a temporary gathering 

space, which they now fill to 

capacity. This is one step closer to 

their ultimate dream of having a 

church of their own—a dream that 

all parties involved continue to 

pursue. 

The North Shore community 

is grateful to Catholic Extension’s 

parish partner, St. Paul of the Cross 

Church, for supporting their dream 

to build a proper place to celebrate 

Mass and to live the mission of the 

Church to the fullest.

40 

IGNITE 

Donor Profile 


Trailblazing 

Chicago principal, 

Marguerite McMahon, 

leaves gift to educate 

future priests 

In 2020 a prominent Chicago 

educator and woman 

devoted to her family was 

welcomed into eternal life. 

However, her life’s mission 

has not ended. Although 

she has passed on, her legacy of 

helping the Church and sharing 

the gift of education with others 

will continue. 

Marguerite McMahon left a 

generous planned gift to Catholic 

Extension that will support the 

education of seminarians in perpetuity. 

These future priests come 

from and are preparing to serve 

the poorest regions of the country. 

(See the story about one of these 

seminarians on page 30.) Her final 

gift reflects the vocation she followed 

in her own life: to develop 

the next generation through quality 

education. 

McMahon was born in Chicago 

in 1924 to Irish immigrant parents. 

She grew up on the South 

Side on Princeton Avenue and was 

the youngest of three children. A 

Chicagoan all of her life, she was 

devoted to the city and her favorite 

teams: the White Sox and the 

formerly Chicago-based Cardinals 

football team. After completing 

high school, she pursued 

a career in education—one of the 

few professions open to women 

at the time. She graduated from 

Chicago Teacher’s College in 1946 

and began teaching third grade. In 

A legacy that carries on 

the work of the Church 

Marguerite McMahon speaks at an education seminar at DePaul University in 1980. 

1956 she earned a master’s degree 

in education at DePaul University 

and became assistant principal at 

James Shields Elementary School. 

Four years later, she embarked 

on a new, daunting challenge: 

principal of Davis Elementary 

School. The school was located in 

a lower-income, high-crime neighborhood. 

She often told the story 

about how, when she first got the 

job, she brought her parents to see 

her new workplace. It was covered 

in graffiti. For McMahon, the state 

of the school was unacceptable. 

Five years later, she was excited to 

bring back her parents. The building 

was completely cleaned up. 

“She took a lot of pride in making 

sure things were nice,” said Ann 

Eiden, her niece. 

McMahon’s transformation of 

Catholic 

Extension 

Legacy 

Club 

Join the Legacy Club 

Marguerite 

McMahon 

poses with 

her siblings in 

Chicago in 1934. 

Davis Elementary went far beyond 

physical appearance. She developed 

a system that allowed the 

children to advance in their education 

at their own pace. 

“It was always really important 

to her that each child do as well 

as they could at whatever level 

that might be. She wanted everybody 

to have the best chances in 

life that they possibly could,” said 

Eiden. 

Through her relationship-building 

and leadership, she helped 

the school establish a stable and 

healthy presence in the community. 

She knew all of the families 

and police officers. 

“The kids loved her. The parents 

loved her. There was a lot of 

mutual respect,” said Eiden. 

An undying commitment to 

the Church 

During this time she was also 

heavily involved in her parish, St. 

Give a gift that will last longer than any lifetime. Join our 

Legacy Club by including a bequest to Catholic Extension 

in your will or trust. Visit legacy.catholicextension.org or 

contact the Planned Giving Team at 1-800-842-7804 or 

plannedgiving@catholicextension.org. 

Thomas More. For several years 

she also served as president of 

the Aquin Guild, an association 

of Catholics teaching in public 

schools in the Archdiocese of 

Chicago. 

She volunteered at all of the 

parish’s celebrations and events. 

She maintained strong friendships 

with priests, even after they 

moved on to new assignments. 

“She saw a priest as the mainstay 

of the Church,” said Paul Joyce, 

her nephew. 

After more than three decades 

in education, McMahon retired 

as principal of Davis Elementary 

School in 1982. However, she did 

not slow down. She took up work 

as a paralegal, traveled the world, 

and enjoyed her favorite hobbies: 

bowling and golfing. As always, 

she contributed her time and generosity 

to her family, her parish 

and many Catholic organizations, 

including Catholic Extension. 

McMahon is remembered by 

her family as a woman of great 

intelligence, integrity, loyalty and 

faith. In following her own calling, 

she shaped a generation of 

students on the South Side. Similarly, 

she understood the value 

of a quality education for men on 

the path to priesthood. Her many 

years of support to Catholic Extension 

contributed to the education 

of thousands of priests serving 

in faith communities today. 

Through her parting gift, countless 

more seminarians will develop the 

extensive knowledge and skills 

necessary to carry on the work of 

the Church—now and far into the 

future.

42 

IGNITE 

Connect 


From the mail 

From an under-resourced 

high school to the Ivy 

League 

Elizabeth Esteban made national 

news when she was accepted to 

Harvard College with a full-ride 

scholarship. She is the daughter 

of immigrant farmworkers and 

part of the indigenous Purépecha 

community served by the 

Guadalupana missionary sisters 

(see page 38) in the Coachella 

Valley in the Diocese of San 

Bernardino, California. 

After the headlines and 

excitement faded, Esteban found 

herself struggling in her new, vastly 

unfamiliar environment. But one 

thing kept her grounded and secure 

in her worth: her faith. She sent the 

following letter to the sisters from 

the halls of Harvard, explaining how 

her relationship with God has been 

her source of power and motivation 

to carry forward. 

Elizabeth Esteban and Sister María Teresa Pacheco, MGSpS, in the Diocese of San 

Bernardino, California. 

Letter: 

Transitioning from an under-resourced 

high school to an Ivy League school 

was extremely challenging. I wasn’t 

as prepared as my peers, and I didn’t 

know what to expect; however, I went 

there with my head up high and ready 

to learn. I do have to admit I stumbled 

many times, and many times I felt 

inferior and vulnerable. I mean, coming 

from an underserved community that 

predominantly consists of Hispanics, all 

of whom share the same background 

… it is unimaginable to see yourself in 

an environment totally contradictory 

to the place you were raised. Yet, every 

day I still woke up, and I tried to “survive” 

every day. I started looking forward to 

the weekends instead of enjoying each 

day. There was a point where I began to 

question why I was here and why I had 

left my parents … what was the reason 

why I was here at Harvard while my 

parents were still working in the fields 

every day. 

But then I found a place where I felt 

that I had a purpose and was capable of 

pushing myself through this challenging 

time, and that was Harvard’s Catholic 

Church: St. Paul Parish. One positive 

thing that happened during my first 

semester at Harvard is that I grew 

spiritually, and I formed a closer 

relationship with God. I went to church 

two to three times a week with my 

roommate Azul, and most of the time, 

I spent it at the Catholic Center, where 

I spent most of my time doing my 

homework. If I couldn’t go to church, I 

made sure I prayed back in my dorm. 

Praying gave me peace and motivation 

to keep going and pursue my goals. 

When I found myself crying in the night 

due to stress, I prayed and trusted God. 

For the upcoming semesters, I will 

continue to do the same, and I hope to 

strengthen my relationship with God 

and find a community with people 

seeking to do the same thing. 

› Elizabeth Esteban | 

Harvard College 

Parishioner, Our Lady of 

Guadalupe Parish 

Diocese of San Bernardino, CA 

Dear Catholic Extension donors, 

I AM SINCERELY HONORED to have 

been selected as the recipient of the 

Catholic Extension Young Adult Leadership 

Initiative scholarship. Thank you for 

your generosity, which has allowed me 

to study at Boston College. Because of 

your scholarship I can graduate with a 

master’s degree in 2022. Upon my graduation 

from Boston College, I am hoping 

to continue working at the Archdiocese 

of Mobile with our Hispanic youth 

and young adults. 

› Sonya García-Vázquez | Lay 

leader and Young Adult Leadership 

Initiative scholarship recipient 

Archdiocese of Mobile, AL 


THIS YEAR the Missionary Servants 

celebrate its Centennial as a religious 

congregation. This is the 77th year serving 

in Central Mississippi. Sacred Heart 

Mission is the mother mission of all our 

commitments here. We were able to 

complete all the repairs and painting to 

the exterior of the buildings to celebrate 

the Centennial on November 13, 2021. 

We were joined by our five Churches in 


IT WAS GREAT to have the support 

from Catholic Extension as a seminarian, 

and we continue to have the support 

to the vocation of the seminarians 

in our diocese. It is definitely a blessing 

to be a part of this mission. I am very 

humbled and very honored to be able to 

receive this education from the Diocese 

of Yakima through Catholic Extension. It 

would not be possible without your help 

because we are a missionary diocese. 

And I know Bishop Tyson makes a joke 

about very expensive priests. Without 

your support, my education would not 

have been possible. I am here because 

of you and your support, and of course 

the region for a day of thanksgiving with 

Bishop Joseph Kopacz and Father Mike 

Barth, S.T. Three hundred fifty people 

assembled to celebrate the event. With 

God’s blessing and help from benefactors 

we hope to continue using our facilities 

for the evangelization in this part of 

the Lord’s vineyard. 

› Father Guy Wilson, S.T. | Pastor, 

Sacred Heart Church 

Diocese of Jackson, MS 

your prayers. But as you know, the financial 

support is necessary for our location. 

How do I feel? I feel blessed by 

God through Catholic Extension. Thank 

you so much. 

› Father César Izquierdo | 

Parochial Vicar, St. Joseph Parish 

Diocese of Yakima, WA 

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Sisters in our U.S.-Latin American Sisters Exchange Program visit the Grand Canyon 

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

NONPROFIT 

ORGANIZATION 

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U.S. POSTAGE PAID 

CATHOLIC CHURCH 

EXTENSION SOCIETY 

Sisters in our U.S.-Latin American Sisters Exchange Program visit the Grand Canyon 

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

Extension Magazine - Spring 2022

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