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- Message from the Director
- Welcoming the Stranger: Unity in Diversity Pastoral Implementation Grants
- Report on Bishops’ Mission to Africa Now Available
- Cultural and Pastoral Exposure Program in Asia
- Asian and Pacific Pastoral Statement Published in Asian Languages
- Pilot Asian Pacific Institutes for Ministry in the United States in 2003
- Migrant Farmworker Advanced Pastoral Leadership Formation Course
- Maya Pastoral Project Leadership Transition
- Life-Sized Statue of Blessed Ceferino Jimenez Malla Dedicated
- Circus and Traveling Show Ministries Annual Gathering
- Circus and Traveling Shows Retirement Project Committee Identified
- Migration and Refugee Services to Resettle Somali Bantu
- Immigrant Demographic Information Available
- Migration Committee Urges Citizenship Recognition for Tohono O’Odham Nation
- Special Immigrant Non-Minister Religious Worker Visa Program to Expire September 30
- Most INS Functions Moved to Homeland Security on March 1
- Five Regional Meetings for the Sudanese ‘Lost Boys’
- First Meeting of African Catholics in Memphis Diocese
- Anti-Trafficking Coalition Meets with New Director of State Department Trafficking Office
- Resources
Message from the Director
The Lent-Easter season is upon us once again, reinforcing in us the basic rhythm of the Christian life: death and resurrection, the Paschal Mystery. We celebrate the power of the love of God to deliver His Son from the power of evil. We celebrate the Son’s fidelity to the Father and His fidelity to unconditional love for all people. We celebrate the pouring out of the Spirit of the Risen Lord on His disciples.
Each year I am more struck by the mysterious nature of the Paschal Mystery: that God would allow His Son to endure such suffering to save humanity, that God would not take away this power of evil but allow it to continue. And yet if Jesus had not passed through such suffering and humiliation, been subjected to such religious intolerance and ignorance, experienced torture and military cruelty, and ultimately an unjust death, could He have been a true savior who not only opens up to us the path to God, but is able to give us the inspiration and the power to stay on that path?
Such thoughts have been on my mind as Sister Mary Paul and I have been visiting the “Lost Boys of the Sudan.” All together we met with about 360 young men in five different locations throughout the country. The testimony given by so many of them at these different sites could be placed over the Gospel accounts of the Passion-Death-Resurrection of Jesus and reflect the same Paschal Mystery, the same triumph of the power of love over the power of evil, but in the same mysterious way.
One young man in Richmond, Virginia told a congregation that he was ten years old when he left his home with other children the same age, because his parents were dead, his older brothers were at war, and his childhood was seared with the brutalities of war. He pointed to Jesus on the cross and said, “Every morning I would pray to Jesus my Savior: ‘Save me this day. Find me a home’.” And he was saved by the power of the cross from the perils of overflowing rivers, from the jaws of lions, from polluted water, and poisonous plants. He arrived at Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, spent seven years there, and finally found a home in Richmond, Virginia. A Paschal Mystery Story. The young man experienced in his life what St. Paul experienced when he wrote: “The message of the cross is foolishness for those who are perishing but for those who are being saved it is the power of God.”
The young man will discover that this saving way of the cross will be repeated in his life over and over in very mysterious and complex ways. He lives with the burdensome question: “Why did others die and not me?” He lives with the trauma of the past, the loneliness of the present, the difficulties of building a future with such a fractured past. He wonders if he will ever be allowed to return to help rebuild his native home and church. But he also lives with people, who in the national or diocesan offices of Migration and Refugee Services or in the local parishes, continue to reach out to him, to orient him to the new life, to support him educationally, emotionally, materially and spiritually. They continue the work of Jesus the Savior finding him a home. This faith in Jesus, alive in the young Sudanese men, was manifest in a special way in the 18 Sudanese men who are enrolled in the Divine Word Seminary in Epworth, Iowa who came to the gathering in Des Moines, Iowa. Their faith in Jesus the Savior is very alive in their hearts, as well as in the hearts of many of their brothers who are taking active roles in their local parishes.
I hope that your participation in Lent and Easter, as well as the participation of the Sudanese young men, will deepen and clarify faith in the mysterious presence of Jesus the Risen Lord accompanying you in all the complexities of your lives. May your Lent and Easter experience help you “to know Christ and the power of His Resurrection.” (Phil 3:10)
From July 6 to 10, 2003, we will celebrate the National Migration Conference in Washington DC. (Details of this conference are available on the conference website: www.nmc2003.org.) On-line registrations are now being accepted. We are hoping to have at least 100 of the Sudanese Young Men present at the conference. I hope that you can join them in their advocacy efforts on behalf of peace in the Sudan and on behalf of more generous refugee processes, especially for the young Sudanese women in Kakuma camp.
Welcoming the Stranger: Unity in Diversity Pastoral Implementation Grants
Mid-Atlantic Grants
Thanks to Tier 1 funding from the pastoral implementation grants program, three offices of ethnic/multicultural or “welcoming” ministries were established in the following dioceses that previously did not have such an office:
- The Diocese of Allentown was awarded $25,000 to support the creation of a Multicultural Task Force including the hiring of a part-time person to staff the Task Force. Several projects are expected to take place this year including a comprehensive demographic survey of the parishes, production of a “Welcoming the Stranger” video, and the development of educational workshops and training seminars for clergy and pastoral workers on “Welcoming the Stranger.”
- The Diocese of Arlington will pool their $25,000 award with matching funds from the diocese to open an Office for Ethnic Ministries, including the hiring of a part-time Director of Ethnic Ministries. Responsibilities of the new staff person will include conducting sensitivity training for parish, school and ministerial staff throughout the diocese as well as developing and promoting resources to assist clergy and parish leaders with welcoming the stranger and responding to the pastoral and human needs of immigrants in their midst.
- The Diocese of Buffalo will use their $25,000 award to establish a “Ministry of Welcome” for the diocese. The new part-time coordinator of this office will function as a resource person for parishes who wish to create their own ministries of welcome or upgrade what they are currently doing, as well as coordinating the activities of diocesan offices in an ongoing educational process to “welcome the stranger.”
- The Diocese of Rochester will use their $15,000 to develop a video on the migrant ministry reality in the diocese of Rochester. This video will be used to promote awareness, conversion and solidarity with the migrants at the diocesan and parish level. It is hoped that from this increased awareness, the parishes will provide greater welcome and friendship to the migrants as well as become involved in helping to meet their basic needs.
- The Diocese of Rockville Centre will employ a $14,900 grant to develop and implement a targeted training program for pastors and parish leaders from parishes with multiple immigrant communities so as to replicate successful models and best practices for multicultural ministry.
Grant applications and diocesan action plans to implement the pastoral statement Welcoming the Stranger Among Us: Unity in Diversity were due on January 21, 2003 for the dioceses that participated in the Great Lakes Training program in September 2002. Eleven applications and action plans were received. Funding decisions will be communicated to the dioceses by March 31, 2003.
South East Grants
Grant applications for the dioceses that attended the December 2002 training program in Memphis, Tennessee and wish to apply for funding to implement their diocesan action plans are due on April 7, 2003.
Report on Bishops’ Mission to Africa Now Available
The report on the November 26-December 4, 2002, mission to East and West African refugee camps by a delegation of the USCCB Committee on Migration is now available. The delegation, which included Bishop John Kinney of the Diocese of St. Cloud, Minnesota; Bishop Robert Brucato of the Archdiocese of New York; MRS Executive Director Mark Franken; and MRS Refugee Policy Advisor Bernadette Passade Cissé - visited four refugee camps: Kakuma Camp in Kenya; Lukole “A” Camp in Ngara, Tanzania; and Kountaya and Boreah Camps in Kissidougou, Guinea. The report, Seeking Durable Solutions, presents a number of concrete recommendations to the U.S. government and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on ways to improve access to resettlement as a durable solution for tens of thousands of refugees in East and West Africa.
The report will be posted soon on the USCCB website (www.usccb.org). To obtain a copy of the report, call MRS at (202) 541-3353.
Cultural and Pastoral Exposure Program in Asia
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles (through the now defunct Office for Ethnic Ministries) and the Diocese of San Bernardino (through the Office of Asian-Pacific Ministries) organized the Cultural and Pastoral Exposure Program for Asia on January 15-February 4, 2003. The fifteen participants included Bishop Joseph Sartoris of Los Angeles, Bishop Dennis O’Neal of San Bernardino, five priests, two religious, and lay diocesan women leaders. Cecile Motus, PCMR Ethnic Ministries Coordinator, joined the program. The trip brought the group to the Philippines (Cebu and Manila) and Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh, Mekong Delta, and Hanoi). They observed Catholic faith life, lay leaders formation programs, and experienced many folk, religious and cultural celebrations, especially the Sto. Nino in Cebu and Tet in Hanoi. The program provided dialogues with bishops in Manila, the Archbishop of Ho Chi Minh archdiocese, and the bishop of Phat Diem. Meetings, field visits, and many meals were also arranged with urban and rural poor sectoral groups; with different families; with parish, diocesan and even government office Catholic prayer groups; and with the very hospitable Lovers of the Holy Cross Sisters in Phat Diem. The exposure program participants were among the 6,000 delegates from 80 countries who attended the Fourth International World Meeting for Families held in Manila, Philippines. Aside from the exposure activities, Irma Isip, formerly of the Los Angeles Archdiocese, and Sr. Theresa Phan, LCH of San Bernardino, (the organizers of the program) included several reflection sessions, and joyful celebrations of the Eucharist. At the end of the trip, all the participants considered the program a very powerful way of learning about Catholicism and Catholics from the Philippines and Vietnam. It was a highly packed schedule but it not only educated the participants, it was also an enjoyable trip to two very lovely, friendly, spirit-filled Asian countries.
Asian and Pacific Pastoral Statement Published in Asian Languages
The pastoral statement Asian and Pacific Presence: Harmony in Faith is now available in full text in Vietnamese and Mandarin Chinese. Moreover, the discussion guide, Rejoicing in the Asian and Pacific Presence, has been translated into Japanese, Indonesian and Malayalam. Copies of these new publications including the original English editions can be ordered through the USCCB Publishing Office at (Toll Free) 800-235-8722 or the USCCB website www.usccb.org.
Pilot Asian Pacific Institutes for Ministry in the United States in 2003
Three pilot Asian Pacific Institutes will be offered in Chicago, New York, and San Francisco in 2003. The Institutes implement one of the recommendations of USCCB contained in the pastoral statement Asian and Pacific Presence: Harmony in Faith – to offer a) continuing education to clergy, religious, and lay leaders in the U.S.; b) theological courses – especially in the area of liturgy – that present an Asian and Pacific perspective; and, c) language and intercultural skills training. The core curriculum includes five learning modules: Asian and Pacific Theologies, The Catholic Church in the USA, Liturgy and Inculturation, Asian and Pacific Cultures and Traditions, and Leader Skills Development. Institute faculty will include two well-respected theologians from Asia, Most Rev. Luis Tagle, the Bishop of Imus, Cavite in the Philippines and Rev. Amaladoss of India.
Dates of the Institutes are:
June 22-25 at Our Lady of the Lake University in Mundelein, Chicago; June 27-30 at Fordham University in Bronx, New York; November 6-9 at the Franciscan School of Theology in Berkeley, San Francisco.
The Institutes are a partnership between the Migration and Refugees Services Office for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Refugees and the Archdiocese of Chicago and Chicago Theological Union, with Fordham University Department of Anthropology and Sociology, and with the Archdiocese of San Francisco and the Franciscan School of Theology.
For more information please call Ms. Teresita Nuval at 312-751-8328 (Chicago); Dr. Ruth Narita Doyle at 718-817-1724 (New York); and Noemi Castillo at 415-614-5500 (San Francisco).
Migrant Farmworker Advanced Pastoral Leadership Formation Course
The Catholic Migrant Farmworker Network (CMFN) hosted an advanced pastoral leadership formation course from December 6-9, 2002, at the Mexican American Cultural Center (MACC) in San Antonio, Texas. Participants came from California, Colorado and South Carolina. Presenters included Fr. Virgilio Elizondo, Louise Marie Pinette de Siller, Mary Rivera, Maria and Antonio Perez, Sr. Charlotte Hobelman, SND, and Héctor R. Rodríguez. Alejandro Siller coordinated the agenda. Participants expressed their delight with the program, especially for the practical resources they received to use in their ministry with migrant farmworkers in their home dioceses. This was the fourth pastoral formation course offered by CMFN in 2002. The first was a first level course at MACC in February with participants from California, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan and New Jersey, and two mobile team pastoral formation courses were offered in local dioceses—one in the Diocese of Pueblo in October 2002 and one regional level course in November 2002 in the Diocese of Fresno which included representatives from the Dioceses of Stockton, Monterey, Sacramento and San Bernardino.
Maya Pastoral Project Leadership Transition
Sr. Nancy Wellmeier, SNDdeN, completed almost ten years of service as Coordinator of Migration and Refugee Services (MRS) Maya Pastoral Project in November 2002. She was recently elected to a congregational leadership position in Rome. The MRS Office for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Refugees is currently in communication with Bishop Rodolfo Francisco Bobadilla of the Diocese of Huehuetenango through the Committee on Migration and with one of its diocesan priests, Fr. David Lopez. The latter has collaborated with Sr. Nancy Wellmeier through annual pastoral visits to the Maya Catholic communities in the United States and has been nominated to succeed her as the new coordinator of this important project. Staff work is currently focused on providing Bishop Bobadilla and Fr. Lopez with official letters of invitation to assume this responsibility in the United States and facilitating this transition in collaboration with Fr. Thomas Zurcher, Vicar for Clergy in the Diocese of Phoenix where this project has been based since its beginning in 1994. Fr. Anthony McGuire has invited Fr. Lopez to travel first to Washington, D.C. when he returns to the United States so that he can meet the staff of the MRS Office for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Refugees where the Maya Pastoral Project is based at the USCCB. Bishop Bobadilla has also suggested exploring the possibility of a clergy exchange program with a diocese in the United States to provide firsthand pastoral experience with Maya Catholics in his diocese.
Life-Sized Statue of Blessed Ceferino Jimenez Malla Dedicated
Sculptor Victor Socztalo created a moving statue of Blessed Ceferino Giménez Malla clutching the rosary he refused to part with at the moment of his martyrdom in 1936 in Barbastro during the Spanish Civil War. The steel sculpture was erected in the midst of a fountain in front of St. Edward Catholic Church in North Augusta, South Carolina, thanks to Fr. Peter Clarke, the recently retired pastor of this parish in the Diocese of Charleston with a special ministry with Irish Travelers. The new pastor is Fr. Cherian Thalakulam, a Carmelite of Mary Immaculate from India. Bishop Robert J. Baker designated a chapel in St. Edward Church as a diocesan shrine in honor of Blessed Ceferino Giménez Malla on December 14, 2001.
Blessed Ceferino was a member of the Kalós people of Spain known as a peacemaker among gypsies and non-gypsies. Though he and his wife had no children of their own, they raised one of their nieces. He was a Third Order Franciscan, a member of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and had a special devotion to the Eucharist and the rosary. He used to gather the young children around him to teach them Bible stories and their prayers. Blessed Ceferino was arrested in July 1936 after he defended a priest who was being taken to prison. His last words were “Long live Christ the King!” He was buried in a common grave, and his body was never recovered. Pope John Paul II declared him Blessed on May 4, 1997.
Prayer in Honor of Blessed Ceferino Giménez Malla
O God our Father, great and good, through the light and power of your Spirit, the Kalós Ceferino, the proto-martyr of his people, was united to the sufferings of Jesus. We thank you that you have thus in your love honored all the traveling people of the world. We pray that you will raise up holy missionaries among these people and in the whole Church. Help us to follow the example of this true believer who loved you intensely and was a good Samaritan to others. You strengthened him through the Eucharist and through Mary’s intercession; in the same way lead us to be true Christians ready to walk the way of the cross in the hope of sharing in your glory for ever. Amen.
With ecclesiastical approval.
The International Committee for the Cause of Canonization
Via Commenda 5 – Milan
Copies of Blessed Ceferino Giménez Malla prayer cards may be ordered free of charge from PCMR at 202-541-3035 or at chobelman@usccb.org.
Circus and Traveling Show Ministries Annual Gathering
The XI National Gathering of the Circus and Traveling Show Ministries was held from January 8-12, 2003. For the first time, the meeting began with a day of retreat at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Retreat Center in Venice, Florida. Seventeen members of this ministry network participated in the gratitude retreat given by Fr. Gavin Griffith, OFM, on the theme, “Priorities after 9/11.” The remainder of the meeting was held at St. Martha Parish in Sarasota. It closed with the celebration of the annual Circus Mass at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, January 12. The increasing involvement of lay pastoral ministers is of note at these meetings as well as the great spirit of welcome that the circus show-folks of many religious backgrounds feel at St. Martha Parish.
Circus and Traveling Shows Retirement Project Committee Identified
The Search Committee of the Circus and Traveling Shows Retirement Project reported at the business meeting on Saturday, January 11, 2003, that it had fulfilled its responsibility of seeking circus and carnival industry input for the need for this project and identifying names of individuals who could direct the project through the planning stage and transition into the implementation phase. The purpose of the Circus and Traveling Shows Retirement Project, Inc. is to determine the retirement housing needs of traveling entertainment people, to identify methods of meeting them and to implement a plan to respond to this need should it prove significant. Invitations were sent to key organizations and groups in 2002 inviting each of them to identify a representative to serve as committee members for this project. Representatives have been named to the committee from the following organizations: Outdoor Amusement Business Association (OABA), the Showman’s League of America (SLA), Showfolks of Sarasota, the Circus and Traveling Show Ministries, MRS Office for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Refugees, and the Kelly Miller Circus. Having fulfilled its mandate, the Search Committee dissolved. A subcommittee of the Circus and Traveling Shows Retirement Project met after the business meeting at St. Martha Parish in Sarasota, Florida and participated in a conference call on February 3, 2003. Their next scheduled conference call is on April 3, 2003.
Migration and Refugee Services to Resettle Somali Bantu
The federal government plans to resettle about 12,000 Somali Bantu in the next two years in one of its most complex and ambitious resettlement efforts of recent years.
Many of them have endured terrible violence, but Americans might have a hard time understanding their history because the Bantu speak Somali and other languages that are even less commonly heard in this country.
Like most refugees, the Bantu will receive federal help paying their initial rent and utilities, but are expected to find jobs and support themselves as soon as possible. Most Bantu are preliterate and know little about life in the Western world. They have never seen light switches, microwave ovens or automated teller machines. Groups that work with refugees say the Bantu will need more help than most finding jobs, learning English and navigating a world of cell phones, strip malls and traffic lights.
The Bantu are descendants of people who were enslaved in Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania and taken to Somalia in the 1800s. They won freedom but remained mired in poverty, the victims of frequent discrimination. They lacked access to education and had no clan affiliation. That meant they were defenseless when civil war engulfed Somalia.
Some Bantus who fled to refugee camps in Kenya eventually returned to Somalia, but members of one of several Bantu groups, known as the Mushunguli, could not go back because warring militias possessed their farms. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees tried to find the Bantu homes in Mozambique. About 12,000 people signed up, but the plan fell through in 1997.
The U.S. State Department decided two years later that the Bantu qualified as a group to be resettled in the United States on humanitarian grounds. The State Department says it plans to resettle the Bantu in 49 cities throughout the United States.
Immigrant Demographic Information Available
The Migration Information Source (of the Migration Policy Institute) now has a very useful statistical information component on immigrants in the United States. One can obtain a breakdown of the immigrant population for each state by “country, region, or continent of origin” according to both the 1990 and 2000 censuses.
Go to:
http://www.migrationinformation.org/USFocus/whoswhere.cfm
In addition, one can obtain charts/graphs for the following:
- Age Distribution of the Foreign-born Population: 1870 to 2000
- Immigration to the United States: Fiscal Years 1820 to 2001
- Foreign-born Population by Region of Birth: 1960 to 2000
- Ten Source Countries with the Largest Populations in the United States: 1960 to 2000
http://www.migrationinformation.org/GlobalData/charts2.cfm
Migration Committee Urges Citizenship Recognition for Tohono O’Odham Nation
In a letter to members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Miami Auxiliary Bishop Thomas G. Wenski, Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration, urged support for legislation introduced February 12 that would provide for recognition of all enrolled members of the Tohono O’dham nation as U.S. citizens.
U.S. citizenship for members of the Tohono O’dham Nation, whose ancient lands straddle the U.S.-Mexico border, would remove “insurmountable barriers to celebrating their faith, visiting their family members and practicing their culture,” according to Bishop Wenski.
“Most members of the Tohono O’dham Nation are U.S. citizens by birth,” Bishop Wenski said. “The Tohono O’dham has an oral culture which provides them with a deep knowledge of their history as a nation, and of their individual members. However, their oral tradition does not provide the type of written verification that state and federal governments look for when determining citizenship or birth records.”
The lands of the Native American tribe known as the Tohono O’dham Nation cover 2.8 million acres in four non-contiguous areas of the Sonoran Desert. The largest community within the Nation is Sells, Arizona, which functions as their capital.
Bishop Wenski said the “Tohono O’dham Citizenship Act” would help to restore family unity, spiritual harmony, and cultural continuity. “It would allow members to travel freely throughout their lands, practice their religion, visit their sacred places, and spend time with their families on both sides of the border.”
Special Immigrant Non-Minister Religious Worker Visa Program to Expire September 30
The Special Immigrant Non-Minister Religious Worker Visa Program – which allows religious organizations in the United States to sponsor non-minister religious workers from abroad, such as nuns, brothers and lay missionaries – is due to expire on September 30, 2003. The legislative provision creating the program was included in the Immigration Act of 1990 and was co-sponsored by Representative Lamar Smith (R-21st/TX) and Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA). Since then, the program has been extended three times for three-year periods, in 1994, 1997 and 2000. MRS is working to secure a permanent extension of the program.
Most INS Functions Moved to Homeland Security on March 1
On March 1, the Department of Homeland Security assumed control over most functions previously performed by the INS, as required by the Homeland Security Act of 2002. Immigration services became the responsibility of the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services. On February 6, President Bush announced that he would nominate Eduardo Aguirre, Jr. to serve as Acting Director of the bureau. Immigration enforcement functions will be divided between the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection.
Five Regional Meetings for the Sudanese ‘Lost Boys’
The Office of Pastoral care of Migrants and Refugees has just concluded a series of regional meetings for the Sudanese Lost Boys. The purpose was to pray with and listen to the experiences and expectations of the Sudanese Lost Boys. The five regional meetings were held in different regions as follows:
| Place Held | Dates | No. of Participants | States Represented |
| Richmond, VA St. Augustine's Parish |
Aug. 31-Sept. 1, 2002 | 72 + 7 | Virginia Washington, DC Maryland |
| Buffalo, NY Holy Cross Parish |
Sept. 28-29, 2002 | 48 + 7 250 + Sudanese for Mass celebrating St. Bakhita |
New York Pennsylvania Ohio |
| San Jose, CA Santa Clara Univ. |
Jan. 19, 2003 | 52 | California Arizona Nevada |
| Salt Lake City, UT St. Patrick's Parish |
Feb. 15-16, 2003 | 50 + 10 | Colorado Washington Utah |
| Des Moines, IA St. Ambrose Cathedral & Pastoral Center |
March 1-2, 2003 | 92 | Illinois Michigan Nebraska South Dakota Iowa |
First Meeting of African Catholics in Memphis Diocese
On February 22, 2003, Sr. MaryPaul Asoegwu, DDL, met with a group of African Catholics in the Catholic Diocese of Memphis. It was a first time meeting for this group of Catholics, according to Deacon Curtiss J. Talley, Director of the Office of Multicultural Ministry. When the “Welcoming the Stranger Among Us” training program was hosted by the Catholic Diocese of Memphis on December 4-6, 2002, Deacon Talley invited Sr. MaryPaul to come back to do a presentation. The theme of the February meeting was “African Catholics, Sharing Gifts.” In her talk, Sr. MaryPaul invited all to be involved in their parish churches and share their talents and faith experiences. After her presentation, group sharing took place about their faith experiences and ministries in the Church. They also expressed that they wanted to keep meeting. At the end, it was expressed that the day was enriching and well worth having. A date for the next gathering was set.
Anti-Trafficking Coalition Meets with New Director of State Department Trafficking Office Resources
On February 13, representatives of the Coalition of Catholic Organizations Against Human Trafficking met with John Miller, director of the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. Miller was a Republican representative for Washington’s 1st congressional district from 1986 to 1992. Mr. Miller expressed his willingness to work with the coalition to identify trafficking victims in the United States.
Resources
Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope: A Pastoral Letter Concerning Migration from the Catholic Bishops of Mexico and the United States. Available in English at the USCCB web site: and in Spanish, Juntos en el Camino de la Esperanza: Ya No Somos Extranjeros, at the web site of the Mexican Episcopal Conference: http://www.cem.org.mx. The English version can be ordered on-line from the USCCB Publishing Office or by calling toll free: 1-800-235-8722. Ask for Publication No. 5-519. The cost of an individual copy is $ 4.95. The Spanish version is being published by the Mexican Episcopal Conference and will be available through the USCCB at a later date.
Encuentro and Mission: A Renewed Pastoral Framework for Hispanic Ministry: Bilingual Edition, (2002) A Statement by the U.S. Catholic Bishops. An essential resource for parish ministry offices, especially in churches where there is a Hispanic presence. This bilingual pastoral statement builds on the 1987 National Pastoral Plan for Hispanic Ministry in light of the New Evangelization, Ecclesia in America, and Encuentro 2000. Encuentro and Mission provides pastoral principles, priorities, and suggested actions to develop ministry further among Hispanics while calling them to leadership in a culturally diverse Church. Developed by the Committee on Hispanic Affairs. No. 5-496, 60 pp., $6.95 To place an order, call the USCCB Publishing Office toll-free at: 1-800-235-8722.
Called for Encounter & Mission, Publication No. 5-508; Llamados al Encuentro y la Misión, Publication No. 5-887. 25/$10.00. This brochure in either English or Spanish is based on Encuentro and Mission: A Renewed Pastoral Framework for Hispanic Ministry. It explores today’s new pastoral dimensions, and suggests actions for building the Church’s response to the Hispanic presence in light of the New Evangelization. 8-panel brochure available in packages of 25. To place an order, call the USCCB Publishing Office toll-free at: 1-800-235-8722.
Many Faces in God’s House (Video): Discover the many unknown riches present within our culturally diverse communities through this colorful and inspiring video. Use this video in parishes and dioceses to start or continue conversations on multiculturalism, to embrace diversity in your local community, and to train leaders in multicultural ministry. From the Secretariat for Hispanic Affairs. English: No. 5-510, 17 minutes. $17.95. Spanish: No. 5-890, 17 minutes, $17.95. To place an order call, the USCCB Publishing Office toll-free at: 1-800-235-8722.
Oraciones Católicas para Cada Día/Catholic Prayers for Every Day: The Paulist National Catholic Evangelization Association publishes these handy leaflets (3"x6") in either an English or Spanish version. To receive five free copies, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Catholic Prayers, Paulist National Catholic Evangelization Association, 3031 Fourth St., N.E., Washington, D.C. 20017-1102. Bulk rates are available on request. Call 202-832-5022.
Guidelines for Receiving Pastoral Ministers in the United States, revised edition. This informative resource for bishops, provincials, and diocesan staff addresses the practical and pastoral issues in receiving priests, women religious, brothers, deacons, and lay leaders from other countries to minister in dioceses and parishes in the U.S. (Pub. No. 5-530; $4.95.) To order, call USCCB Publishing Dep. toll-free at 1-800-235-8722.