Alba Ramiro, who coordinates the Young Adult Hispanic Migrant Ministry in the Diocese of Orange, received what she called a “heart-wrenching” call in May. It was from a woman in the City of Orange who could not locate her husband. She had not heard from him in nearly a week.
“She was nursing a 1-month-old and has an 8-year-old daughter,” Ms. Ramiro told America. During the days that followed the call, Ms. Ramiro was able to locate the man in Covina, Calif., after calling the Mexican consulate on the woman’s behalf. But he was deported in less than a week.
Ms. Ramiro’s efforts, which stem from her work with the National Institute of Pastoral Migratoria, are timely and needed. They are also part of a bigger plan. Immigrant accompaniment is one of the priorities the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops set for Hispanic ministry. The others include youth and young adult formation, intercultural competence/pastoral planning formation, the 500th anniversary of Our Lady of Guadalupe’s apparitions in 2031 and Catholic social teaching/advocacy. The priorities grew out of the multi-year V Encuentro consultative process, which the U.S. bishops initiated in 2017.
The priorities are “really the voice of the people that was filtered through various processes, vetted multiple times through the parish, the diocese, the regional and then the national levels,” according to Bishop Oscar Cantú of the Diocese of San Jose, who is the chair of the U.S. bishops’ subcommittee on Hispanic affairs.
Migrant Accompaniment
Accompaniment is a priority because the immigration system is “exhausting, discouraging,” Bishop Cantú said. “We do the best we can and somehow believe the Holy Spirit is here.” It may not be consoling, he said, but there have been “much worse moments in the history of the church.”
After President Donald Trump won the 2024 election promising to carry out a campaign of mass deportation in his second term, Ms. Ramiro’s team began offering “know your rights” sessions in 20 parishes over two months. These sessions taught people what to do if stopped by Immigration and Customs Enforcement or if they witnessed someone being detained. She estimated that they reached around 1,250 people.
Ms. Ramiro then organized free legal clinics to assist immigrant families with emergency guardianship plans. Those who attended received help filling out practical, albeit heartbreaking paperwork that spells out who takes custody of their children if one or both parents are detained or deported. Immigration and family attorneys, along with a notary public, helped families with the forms, which also designated power of attorney over their property and someone to pick up their children from school.
“At the end of the day, the church is the most trusted place,” Ms. Ramiro said of the diocese’s responsibility to organize sessions. “People feel safe, and they feel that it’s legitimate information.”
Efforts like Ms. Ramiro’s can hit on more than one priority. The clinics, which have helped an estimated 1,200 individuals from 400 families, rely on the support of young adult volunteers. This has created leadership opportunities for young adults at the parish. She also organized a Día de los Muertos altar honoring those who died in immigration detention centers, as well as a Stations of the Cross hike for young adults reflecting on the plight of immigrants.
Next Gen Leaders
“There’s a huge opportunity for more protagonism of our young people in the church,” according to Annie Nieto Bailey, the president of La Red, the National Catholic Network de Pastoral Juvenil Hispana, and parish family liaison for the Archdiocese of Seattle. She described young people as having a hunger to serve and to grow in their own formation.
“It’s not only that young people need to be taught, but young people can also teach us,” she said. It can be a challenge because, culturally, young Hispanics can be reluctant to come forward, Ms. Nieto Bailey said. Also, experienced leaders are sometimes reluctant to give younger Catholics space to experiment, use modern music or offer workshops in Spanglish, a mix of Spanish and English
“The young person is the best evangelizer of other young people,” she said, referencing “Listen, Teach, Send,” a pastoral framework for youth and young adult ministry from the U.S.C.C.B. But young people need to be given room to lead, from serving as a master of ceremonies to heading up praise and worship.
Being aware of generational and cultural differences can help the church reach young Latinos, Ms. Nieto Bailey said. Unfortunately, some well-intentioned programs miss the mark with some members of the Latino community.
“I talked to my Hispanic leaders, and they said that [Theology on Tap] doesn’t work for us, because we have a lot of immigrants coming with a lot of trauma and also substance abuse,” Ms. Nieto Bailey said. “So putting them in a room where you’re giving people a bunch of beer, it’s not going to be the best thing for their human, emotional, spiritual health.”
Finding the right cultural approach can encourage young Latinos to come forward, she said, “as people who can transform us and transform the church.” It starts with listening, Ms. Nieto Bailey said, but it includes being conscious of the different cultures present in a given diocese—from traditional Hispanic cities like Miami to emerging ones in Oklahoma. Hispanic ministry looks different in border states, she said, and one size does not fit all.
Intercultural competence can include something as simple as being present at multicultural Masses, according to Ignacio Rodriguez, the president of the National Catholic Association of Diocesan Directors of Hispanic Ministry and manager of Hispanic ministry in the Diocese of Phoenix. But it cannot stop there, he said, stressing that intercultural competence includes recognizing the myriad cultures within the Latino community itself.
“How do we understand both those who have recently immigrated to the United States and now make the United States their home with all the culture that they bring with them as well as the others who’ve been here in the United States and maybe even can trace their lineage back four or five generations?” he said, adding that some parts of the country, like Arizona and New Mexico, being Hispanic has “just been part of the landscape.”
“There may be that cultural aspect of being Catholic,” he said, “but then how do we move them from that cultural connection to really engaging and practicing the faith?”
Generational differences often include differences in preferred language, Mr. Rodriguez said, noting that not every Hispanic speaks Spanish. Being sensitive to those differences is critical if the church is going to connect with families, he said. Church leaders have a model to follow in Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Guadalupe’s Message
“We need to be paying attention to what our mother is going to tell us in 2031,” he said, referring to the 500th anniversary of the apparition. “I’m no visionary, and I’m no prophet, but I think we need to be attentive.”
In 1531, the Blessed Mother appeared to the indigenous Juan Diego. She commissioned the future saint to ask the local bishop to build a church in her honor on Tepeyac, a hill in modern-day Mexico City. To convince a doubting bishop, Our Lady of Guadalupe sent roses, which were out of season, as well as her image imprinted on Juan Diego’s tilma (cloak). The image used Aztec symbols to communicate her divine message not only to the bishop but to the community.
In celebration of the anniversary, each diocese in the United States will receive a replica of the tilma personalized with its name, along with a certificate of authenticity signed by Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes, the archbishop of Mexico City and the custodian of the original tilma, according to Alejandro Aguilera-Titus, the assistant director of Hispanic Affairs at the U.S.C.C.B. Bishops of the United States will receive their tilma replica, woven from a very rough fiber similar to that of Juan Diego’s garment, at their November meeting in Baltimore.
The image will then be enthroned at diocesan cathedrals or another sanctuary chosen by the local ordinary. It will become what Mr. Aguilera-Titus called a “missionary tilma,” traveling parish to parish during 2027 and 2028. The initiative reflects a similar project developed and carried out two years ago by the Mexican bishops’ conference, called Una Tilma, Un Corazón.
The Blessed Mother’s appearance in modern-day Mexico came at a time of great division between the Spanish conquistadors and the native population, according to Myrna Phelps, the coordinator of Hispanic ministry in the Diocese of Orange. “And we can see the same now,” she said, “a lot of division.”
Ms. Phelps, herself an immigrant from Mexico, said immigrants bring many gifts to the United States. She believes Our Lady of Guadalupe can bring about reconciliation as she did 500 years ago.
“She always comes and brings us together and never abandons us,” said Ms. Phelps, who is devoted to Our Lady of Guadalupe. “She can bring about miracles. I know she brings all prayers to her son. The Lord always hears those who cry out to him. We cry out for unity, for understanding and for communion. And I know Our Lady is walking with us.”
United, she said, America will be a stronger nation by welcoming all cultures and the gifts that every human being brings to this country, “including their beautiful faith.”
“There’s a lot to plumb here for all of us,” Bishop Cantú said of Our Lady of Guadalupe. “This is not just a devotion for Hispanics.”
The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe honors and reflects the beliefs of the indigenous community that received it. The four-petaled flower on the Blessed Mother’s stomach, he said, would have been a sign that the woman in the image was pregnant with a child who was “the center of the universe.” That message reached a suffering community, including Juan Diego.
“He experienced oppression, and his brother and sister indigenous were experiencing diminution of their dignity,” Bishop Cantú said. The Blessed Mother could have appeared to the bishop, which may have been more efficient. But she had something else in mind: lifting up Juan Diego.
“Mary didn’t begin with catechizing; she didn’t begin with castigating him as maybe the friars probably did,” he said. “She spoke to him with tenderness and raised him up not only physically up the hill but raising his dignity to where God had created him, and subsequently, all his fellow indigenous. So, in a sense, it was about human dignity.”
That the message of Guadalupe came to the bishop through an indigenous Catholic in itself communicated something, Bishop Cantú said. Yes, she recognized the authority of ecclesial leadership—the bishop needed to be included in the construction of the new church. But the bishop also needed to be converted.
“We are human, and we are flawed,” Bishop Cantú said. “We, too, need to be evangelized even by the lowly.”
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts