Jesus at the Border - Maryknoll Magazine
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U.S. Catholic Church in mission overseas
®
®
Winter
Winter 2022
2022 maryknollmagazine.org
Jesus at title
Place the Border
here
FROM THE EDITOR FEATURED STORIES DE PA RTM E N TS
O 10 2
ur cover story this issue is about Maryknoll’s work on the U.S./Mexico Maryknoll Society’s From the Editor
border, where the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, the Maryknoll Sisters New General Council
and the Maryknoll Lay Missioners all respond to the crisis of displaced By Maria-Pia Negro Chin
people clamoring for asylum. Immigration is a hot-button issue, but as Pope
4 Photo Meditation
Maryknoll Sisters’
Francis reminds us, all migrants “have faces, names and individual stories.” At
the border, Maryknoll, as always, serves those on the margins.
New Leadership Team
By Mary Ellen Manz, M.M.
20 8 Missioner Tales
At this time of year, the Gospel of Matthew reminds us that the baby Jesus,
too, was a refugee. His parents fled with him to safety in a foreign land out of
18 Spirit of Mission
26
Passion for People
the reach of a maniacal ruler who sought to kill him. (Matthew 2:13-23) at the Border
“Jesus at the border,” our cover line, recalls another passage from By Deirdre Cornell 48 Orbis Books
Matthew, where Jesus identifies with the hungry, the thirsty, the strangers
56
34
with little but the clothes they are wearing. (Matthew 25:35-40) Giving Birth to Jesus Today World Watch
Do we see Jesus in the migrants? Are we responding to “the least of these By Frank Breen, M.M.
brothers and sisters,” as he said? Are we responding as Jesus would? 58 Partners in Mission
Teaching with Love
36
This issue also features the newly elected leaderships of the Maryknoll
Fathers and Brothers and the Maryknoll Sisters, both of which represent in the Andes 61 Readers’ Responses
the changing face of mission. The two leadership teams bring together By Giovana Soria
missioners from different generations and from different origins, with one
Setting Japanese American
42
priest and three sisters having been born overseas. All bring mission
experience in far-flung regions of the world and a commitment to the
Captives Free FRONT COVER:
By Anne Neuberger An asylum-seeking mother from
Maryknoll charism of accompanying and helping those most in need.
Guatemala kisses her 3-month-old
Lynn F. Monahan Happy to Be Here with You
50
baby after crossing into Texas.
Editor-in-Chief By Deirdre Cornell
COVER CREDITS:
Front: CNS/Go Nakamura, Reuters
Back: Tracy McNulty/U.S.
“To those who love God, all things
® work together for good ...”
U.S. Catholic Church in mission overseas Romans 8:28
Editorial Staff: Maryknoll, the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of
Lance P. Nadeau, M.M., Publisher America, Inc., was established in 1911 by the U.S.
Lynn F. Monahan, Editor-in-Chief bishops to recruit, train, send and support American
Margaret Gaughan, Editor Emerita missioners in areas overseas. Maryknoll is supported
Maria-Pia Negro Chin, Associate Editor by offerings and bequests.
Deirdre Cornell, Associate Editor
Giovana Soria, Staff Writer
Mary Ellen Manz, M.M., Maryknoll Sister Liaison
Joseph R. Veneroso, M.M., Contributing Writer
Maryknoll (ISSN 0025-4142) © 2022,
Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America, Inc.
All rights reserved. The title Maryknoll ® is
26 36 50
Diane Mastrogiulio, Art Director
registered with the United States Patent and
Michael Calvente, Graphic Designer
Trademark Office. Facebook.com/MaryknollSociety Twitter.com/MaryknollFrsBrs Instagram.com/MaryknollSociety
Marco Gallo, Graphic Designer
Regina Gelfer, Graphic Designer
Visit MARYKNOLL online
The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, the Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic and the Maryknoll Lay Missioners share the
Direct all correspondence to: MaryknollMagazine.org
RevistaMisioneros.org Maryknoll name and charism of commitment to the mission of Jesus Christ, sharing God’s love with people worldwide.
Lance P. Nadeau, M.M., Publisher
Magazine of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers While these three Catholic organizations often work together in mission, each is responsible for recruiting and supporting
P.O. Box 302, Maryknoll, NY 10545-0302
914.941.7590 its own missioners. The Maryknoll Affiliates is a movement grouped into local chapters both in the United States and abroad
of lay people who seek to reflect the Maryknoll charism within the context of their own lives, careers and communities.
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Photo meditation on Advent
Behold, I make all
things NEW
By Joseph R. Veneroso, M.M.
When night seemed longest and darkness
Spread over the land covering
The peoples with the shadow of death
While mourning draped its sad lament
Across hearts, minds and dreams
Of a better day all but abandoned
Then, O then, see! A distant morning star
Set the Earth ablaze with an unwavering
Hope, and the hope’s name was Mary.
How can this be since but newly betrothed
In all innocent purity she asks Gabriel
For an answer to a maddening mystery:
Why me? Why now? Why here?
Of old, prophets and sacred seers peered into
Unsplash / Pixabay Images
An indifferent universe with open hands or
Clenched fists demanding Creation
Justify its highly improbable existence.
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Behold! The handmaid of the Lord
And with this fiat fresh from virgin lips sprung
Like a verdant sprout from Jesse’s stump
Luke’s lineage and Matthew’s genealogy
From Adam or Abraham to Joseph
Husband of Mary, from whom Jesus
Messiah and Savior complete with
Umbilical cord connected to all humanity
Was born.
O good Christian! Light each candle
With care and prayer as you wait
In holy expectation, knowing full well
Yet pretending otherwise that this time
This place, this Christmas, this Child
Will fulfill the age-old promise thus
Conquering death by living,
Sin by dying, hate by forgiving,
In human weakness divine strength
Photos from Pixabay Images
To take on and transform a weary world and
Behold at length and at last in love
Make all things new.
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Missioner Tales mostly came out in little pieces, as
the guy at the milling machine said,
“inakatika,” literally “it breaks.”
Learning sign language is also in-
T
here were no Christmas trees them, their son, an infant propped on tensive. I’ve run into members of the
in northern Peru where I a bedding of quilts, covered with a deaf community in town or at the
served as a Sister of Charity light blanket. There were a real cow, market and people have been sur-
in mission. But there were nacimien- a real donkey and a placid dog un- prised to see us communicating.
tos, Christmas crèches, that adorned disturbed by our sudden entrance. Recently I visited the school in
the humblest of homes. Elaborate These were the sights, sounds and Mwanza where I first taught when I
Nativity scenes were constructed smells of the first Christmas, repli- was in the Peace Corps. The school
with the heavy brown paper of ce- cated in Peruvian style. Contest over. now has 120 students with disabil-
ment bags spray-painted green, The clear winners knelt silently be- ities, including 90 deaf students.
crunched and folded to resemble fore us. A number of teachers know how
the Andes Mountain peaks that rose Mary Beth Moore, S.C. to sign, but no math and physics
to the east. The mountain was the teachers do. I used to teach these
R
base. Perched upon it was the new- ecently I spoke at a parish subjects, so I was asked to tutor the
born Jesus with Mary and Joseph in on Staten Island. The pastor, classes. Even if my signing is “bro-
pride of place. Up and down the pa- Father Hernan Paredes, was ken,” hopefully, like our rice harvest,
per mountain were dozens of small born in Ecuador. He told me the in- it can still be useful.
figures of farmers, shepherds, kings, spiration for him to join religious life Stephen Veryser, MKLM
sheep, cows, geese, chickens and a came from Maryknoll magazine. His
S
dog or two. family lived near the offices of the ister Judy Noone and I worked
One Christmas, I was invited by a Catholic bishops and that is where with the women of Chinanton,
nearby parish to join the judges pan- he found it. Now how did it get there? a Mayan town in Guatemala.
el to choose the best nacimiento. We I recalled sisters sending boxes The diocese promoted a dairy goat
threaded in and out of the crowded of Catholic literature to the “mis- co-op. Everything was related to the
streets of the barrio, knocking on the sions.” When I traveled around goats. Health, literacy and civics were
doors of contestants. Every house India, I met priests who had heard all taught based on goat wisdom.
had done a magnificent job. I de- of Maryknoll, which really surprised After relocating, I returned for a vis-
spaired of picking a winner. me. Then I learned those boxes of it and found that climate change had
Our last stop was a mile or two out magazines had found their way to affected Chinanton. Not a goat to be
of the barrio at a farm just off the road. their seminaries! seen. But the women are still orga-
The entryway was so small we had to John P. Martin, M.M. nized in a co-op, now doing handi-
stoop to enter. Bending through that work. They make fans, caps, pillows
I
door, I thought for a moment that I started learning Tanzanian sign and bottle covers. French volunteers
had gone back in time and space. language around the time we have come to help. I asked the wom-
Before me was a young Peruvian planted rice last year here in this en if they have gone to New York with
woman, black braids on her shoul- African country. Rice is one of the their products. One answered, “No,
ders; a young man dressed in ordi- more intensive crops to grow. We got but I have been to Paris.”
nary workday clothes; and between a few sacks in the end, but our rice Mary Duffy, M.M.
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Sean Sprague/Guatemala
It’s All About Relationships
By Maria-Pia Negro Chin
H
Missioner who spent most of his priestly life in Kenya elp. That simple, hopeful plea to a
called to lead Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers loving God is one of Maryknoll Father
Lance Nadeau’s favorite prayers.
He says that prayer a lot since being called
recently to serve as superior general of the
Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers. He prays that
the newly elected Maryknoll General Council
will continue to lead the Society to carry God’s
mission around the world.
Along with Father Nadeau, the new General
Council consists of Fathers James M. Lynch, Lam
M. Hua and Timothy O. Kilkelly.
“Mission is really about faithfulness to God,
who seeks to save us. And by save, I mean make
us like Jesus,” says Father Nadeau.
The unassuming, 74-year-old missioner from
Philadelphia says he has worked alongside the
people. This, he says, is the Maryknoll way: to
smell like the sheep — as Pope Francis has said.
Those who know Father Nadeau say his prag-
matic and compassionate style, as well as his
missionary experience in Africa, will enable him
to lead the Maryknoll Society to discern, identi-
fy, adapt and respond to those in the margins.
“Father Lance knows how to respond to
people’s needs. And he does this with all his
heart,” says John Siyumbu, a Maryknoll semi-
narian from Kenya. “I believe we are in a time
in which we need more church ministries that
heal wounds through God’s presence. With Fa-
ther Lance at the helm, Maryknoll Fathers and
Brothers can live out this kind of mission.”
When discerning the priorities and direc-
tion of the Maryknoll Society in the summer of
2021, delegates at the 14th General Chapter
Members of Maryknoll Society’s new General Council, from left: Father Lam M. Hua, secretary
focused on people’s needs in the 22 countries
general; Father James M. Lynch, vicar general; Father Lance P. Nadeau, superior general; and where the mission society serves. The chapter’s
Father Timothy O. Kilkelly, assistant general. (Diane Mastrogiulio/U.S.) purpose is to establish future goals and select
10 FAL L 2 0 2 1 M A R Y K N O L L • V O L UM E 1 1 5 • NUM B E R 4 MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 11
medic in the U.S. Navy and pursued
graduate religious studies at Temple
University. He even studied under
renowned theologian Edward Schil-
lebeeckx on a Fulbright Scholarship.
Nadeau’s life changed when he
learned about the murders of Mary-
knoll Sisters Maura Clarke and Ita
Ford, Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel,
and laywoman Jean Donovan, who
were martyred together by Salvador-
an soldiers on Dec. 2, 1980.
“It stirred up all of my Maryknoll
Father Nadeau with Maryknoll Seminarian John
Father Lance Nadeau, center, is surrounded by the Mahiri family and friends after the memories. … Those women tried to Siyumbu, then a student at Kenyatta University.
confirmation of his namesake Lance Chacha Mahiri, third from left. (Victor Mutobera/Kenya) do something to change this terrible (Courtesy of John Siyumbu/Kenya)
world we’re in,” he recalls. “And I
new leadership every six years. ing and our understanding of the found myself saying, ‘What am I go- istering to people living with HIV
One major concern was care of Church,” says Father Nadeau. “We ing to do with my life?’ ” through the Eastern Deanery AIDS
creation and how climate change saw mission as the work of special- In 1983, Nadeau, who was then 36 Relief Program, which Maryknoll Fa-
affects the Maryknollers’ aposto- ists who went from the North to years old, entered the Maryknoll So- ther Edward Phillips started.
lates and the people they minister the needy South.” Now, he adds, ciety. He did his overseas training in In 2001, he became pastor of Christ
to. “The words of the chapter doc- “mission is from everywhere to ev- Tanzania and Egypt. After his ordina- the Teacher Catholic Chaplaincy Cen-
uments are ‘Hearing the cry of the erywhere,” echoing a phrase often tion in June 1990, Father Nadeau was ter at Kenyatta University, which
earth and hearing the cry of the repeated by Maryknollers. assigned to the Middle East Unit and reached 80,000 students over multi-
poor,’ because global warming and Another directive of the chapter also worked briefly in Bangladesh. ple campuses in Kenya. On Sundays,
the plight of the poor are intercon- was promoting a culture of mission His time in the Middle East gave thousands of students packed the
nected,” Father Nadeau says. in the United States. This centers on him a sense of the complexity of in- church, he recalls. Hundreds did mis-
The chapter also reaffirmed the people’s understanding of their life terreligious dialogue and how reli- sion outreach in marginalized and
practice of accepting candidates purpose and “of God as a God who gious identities form people. “You’re nomadic areas of northern Kenya.
from across the globe drawing from is involved in the world, a God who dealing with a person who has a his- During his 18 years at the universi-
local churches in which Maryknoll makes a preferential option for the tory, is part of a society, and those ty, he says, about 85 young men en-
missioners serve. The Maryknoll poor,” says Father Nadeau. things — history, culture, society — tered the seminary. These included
Society was founded to train men “If you think the world should affect relationships,” he says. 20 men who joined the Jesuits and
from the United States as priests and be different, if you think the world At a time when religion can be several men who applied to Mary-
brothers for overseas mission, he ex- should be more humane, then I think exploited for all sorts of hatred and knoll after the Society opened the
plains. Although members from oth- you’re interested in mission,” he says. violence, he believes being open to door for international vocations.
er countries had been accepted, most Father Nadeau’s own interest in other lights of Christ present in the re- Maryknoll Seminarian Victor Mu-
missioners were American. The last mission was sparked when he was in ligious experience of others can build tobera is one of them. Describing
two chapters advocated accepting sixth grade and heard of Maryknoll up reconciliation among people. Father Nadeau as “a down-to-earth
applications from non-U.S. citizens Father Joseph Sweeney, who worked In 1996, Father Nadeau studied person, a man of integrity with a pro-
who have a long-term, strong con- with Hansen’s disease patients in Chi- missiology, specializing in incultur- found respect for others,” Mutobera
nection with Maryknollers in places na and Korea. He says he put those ation, at the Pontifical Gregorian says the missioner had a tremendous
like Hong Kong, Tanzania and Kenya. thoughts aside for over 20 years. University in Rome. After requesting impact on his life.
“That’s an enormous change for He graduated from Fairfield Univer- an assignment to the Africa region “I was moved into the spirit of mis-
our Society, our self-understand- sity, spent four years working as a in 1999, he worked in Kenya, min- sion from what I saw and experienced
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Father Lance do for my people,” says Most recently, he facilitated financial civil war. Accompanying the people Peru and again in El Salvador and
Mutobera. “I realized that mission help to families in Kenya affected by through those difficult days, he says, served as regional superior of the
is sharing the joy of the Gospel with the COVID-19 pandemic. and seeing in them the face of Christ Latin America region while living
others. It is being present to people’s Father Nadeau is ready to apply drew him more deeply to a lifetime in Guatemala. Most recently he was
situations, living with the people, what he has learned from the people of overseas mission. the Maryknoll Society’s procurator
sharing in their pains and joys.” he has accompanied. “Africa taught He recalls visiting a dying Salvador- general, serving as liaison with the
Father Nadeau also served as re- me many things. One of the most im- an woman to bring her Holy Commu- Congregation for the Evangeliza-
gional superior of the Africa region portant is how to have humane rela- nion and the Sacrament of the Sick. tion of Peoples and with other reli-
for six years, mentored seminarians tionships. That’s the great African “She told me how grateful she was gious communities in Rome.
at the Maryknoll Formation House value: humanness, ubuntu, being a for all she had, which was very lit- Reflecting on what his priestly ex-
in Nairobi and oversaw multiple person,” he says. He hopes this focus tle,” Father Lynch says. “As I left her, perience has taught him, the new
projects, including helping farmers on relationships will be central to I thought, ‘I brought the sacraments vicar general says, “You learn from
in drought-stricken parts of Kenya. Maryknoll in the years to come. of the Church to her, but she became the people you serve rather than di-
a sacrament to me.’ “ recting them. You listen to them and
After returning to Cleveland in grow with them.”
1992, Father Lynch asked his bishop He plans to help the Maryknoll
Sent to Serve for permission to incardinate into Fathers and Brothers continue en-
the Maryknoll Fathers and Broth- couraging people to recognize their
I f there’s a keyword that runs
through the narrative of Mary-
knoll Father James Lynch’s priestly
ers. He took his final oath to be-
come a Maryknoller in 1998.
As a Maryknoll priest Father
baptismal call to be missionary disci-
ples wherever they are. “There’s no
mission field too far away,” he says.
life, it is service. Lynch has worked in Chile and — Margaret Gaughan
Whether working in the inner
city of his native Cleveland, Ohio, in
the barrios of El Salvador and Peru
or, most recently, in the Maryknoll
Open to the Spirit
house in Rome, the tall, affable
priest has had one goal. “My idea
of ministry is to be a servant,” he
As a Maryknoll priest in El Salvador,
Father James Lynch greeted parishioners
after Sunday Mass in 2004.
A t 36, Father Lam Hua is Mary-
knoll’s youngest priest. That’s
why he was surprised when the del-
says. He brings that perspective to (Bernice Kita/El Salvador) egates of the 14th General Chap-
his new role as vicar general of the ter elected him to be a member of
Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers. Francis has put his vision of a mission the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers
The 74-year-old missioner is no church in the forefront, an affirma- General Council. But he remem-
stranger to this job. In 2012 he was tion of what Maryknoll’s priority has bered what he says to young people
asked to complete Father José Arám- always been: to proclaim the Gospel considering a missionary vocation: Father Lam Hua (left) talks to Victoria Maltini in
buru’s remaining three years as vicar to all nations. Just be open to the Holy Spirit. Mabatini, Tanzania. Visiting local people was a
general when Father Arámburu died Ordained as a Cleveland diocesan Father Hua will follow that advice key part of Father Hua’s ministry as pastor.
of cancer. “It’s only been seven years priest in 1974, Father Lynch remem- as he takes on new responsibilities to (Nile Sprague/Tanzania)
since I was last in this position,” Fa- bers sensing a call to serve the poor serve the Society. He will also draw on
ther Lynch says, “but the world has beyond his own borders when he his youthful energy and on his ability kind of relationship experience will
changed and so the Society faces was working in inner-city parishes in to listen to people’s needs, a skill that help me in this job,” he says.
new challenges.” Among them, he his diocese. He applied to be a mem- was nurtured in him, he says, as pas- Born in the coastal province of Da
mentions COVID-19, climate change ber of the Cleveland Mission Team tor of a sprawling parish in Mabatini, Nang, Vietnam, Father Hua says he
and refugees. serving in El Salvador and arrived Tanzania. “It’s allowed me to really learned to love God from his faith-
But, he adds, in that time, Pope there in 1984, during the country’s be close to people, and I think that filled parents, who were rice farm-
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ers. He was 7 years old when his After graduating from college in The book represents two as- Maryknoll School of Theology.
family migrated to Tacoma, Wash- 2007, he did just that. pects of the missioner’s life: min- Ordained in 1990, Father Kilkel-
ington, where he and his younger Hua studied at the Catholic Theo- istry of the Word and Maryknoll’s ly was assigned to the Hong Kong
brother started public school. Lam logical Union in Chicago and spent long-standing commitment to Chi- Region. After studying Cantonese,
was an altar server in his parish of St. two years training in Tanzania be- nese Catholics. Currently the coor- he served at parishes in the New
Rita and joined the Boy Scouts, which fore being ordained a Maryknoll dinator of the China Educators and Territories and as a chaplain at a
he says helped hone his leadership priest in 2014. He returned to Tanza- Formators Project, Father Kilkelly has correctional facility and univer-
and interpersonal skills. nia and became pastor of Transfig- been appointed to the Maryknoll So- sity. The missioner also pursued
When he was a teen volunteer- uration Church in Mabatini, where ciety’s General Council. graduate studies at the Pontifical
ing in his parish, his pastor, a Jesuit he ministered to over 500 families, He admires the way Chinese peo- Gregorian University in Rome. Lat-
priest, gave him a copy of Maryknoll divided into 29 small Christian com- ple value family, tradition and rela- er, he was assigned to Maryknoll’s
magazine. Young Hua was drawn to munities, and supported the parish’s tionships. “There’s a clear desire to Initial Formation Team in Chicago,
pictures of Father Vincent Cole trav- holistic health ministry. be faithful to those relationships eventually becoming rector for
eling upriver on a raft to celebrate “We say, ‘Christ is living in Maba- … as you walk with the Chinese the Society’s seminarians.
Mass in remote Irian Jaya (West Pap- tini,’ “ Father Hua says. “Our parish- Church,” he says. He returned to Asia in 2009 for
ua), Indonesia. “I want to do that as ioners constantly transfigure Christ The missioner comes from a Mandarin studies, and he taught
a priest,” he recalls thinking. by caring for one another, sharing Minnesotan Catholic family where English at Wuyi University in Jiang-
Hua attended Saint Xavier Uni- each other’s joys and difficulties, Sunday Mass and regular confes- men, China. In 2013, he was ap-
versity in Chicago while keeping in and celebrating the sacraments. We sion were part of life. When he pointed coordinator of the China
touch with Maryknoll’s vocation di- are one family in the Lord.” was a student at the College of Educators and Formators Project,
rector. During those college years, Father Hua says his connection St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, headquartered in New York. That
he took a trip to Cambodia and with the younger members of the his relationship with God through project offers support and forma-
visited Maryknoll missioners there. Society will enable him to share prayer awoke a “desire to live not tion to Chinese priests and sisters
Notably, he accompanied the late their concerns and their hopes for just for oneself, but for others and earning advanced degrees at U.S.
Father James Noonan to see pa- Maryknoll, the Church and mission. for Christ.” Catholic universities. Father Kilkel-
tients with AIDS. “How he cared for The chapter “renewed and reaf- Young Kilkelly did volunteer ly sees the project as an important
them, touching them, making sure firmed our commitment to being service in Appalachia and taught part of Maryknoll’s long commit-
that they knew they’re not alone in in mission, to Maryknoll serving as English to Hmong refugees from ment to the Church in China, Mary-
all of this ... it really inspired me,” God’s instrument,” he says. “God Laos. As his prayer life deep- knoll’s first mission.
he says. “That moment solidified my will open doors and work wonders.” ened, so did his call to mission. One of Father Kilkelly’s favorite
wanting to join Maryknoll.” — Maria-Pia Negro Chin “I thought of Maryknoll because Scripture stories is the multiplica-
my parents used to get the maga- tion of the loaves and fishes. He
zine,” he says. sees this passage as a reminder to
After college, he participated in bring forth our simple gifts to serve
God Will Do the Rest a Maryknoll summer discernment the needs of the people. That gives
experience in Hong Kong. The him strength in his new role. “I see
M aryknoll Father Timothy
O’Brien Kilkelly picks up a
book in his office at Maryknoll, New
Maryknollers there, he says, were
“regular guys who have this deep
commitment to God and Church.”
myself as a man of humble gifts
who takes seriously the challenge
to be part of a team,” he says. “I
York. It’s a Chinese book of the Gos- He entered Maryknoll in 1982, did his bring a desire to do the best I can.
pels and the characters on the cover overseas training in Peru and received And God will make that enough.”
say fu yin or “voice of blessing.” his master of divinity degree from the — Maria-Pia Negro Chin
“That’s a translation of what the
Gospel is: a voice that brings bless- Father Timothy Kilkelly (left) and Father John Li Bin stand before a display advertising the
ing,” Father Kilkelly, 62, says. China Educators and Formators Project during an event at Maryknoll, New York.
(Courtesy of Timothy Kilkelly/U.S.)
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Spirit of Mission
The New Face of Maryknoll
By Joseph R. Veneroso, M.M.
T
he first crisis facing the early for three years, having been cate-
Church didn’t come from ex- chized for centuries by foreign mis-
ternal opposition. It was an sioners from Europe. Now the United
internal crisis of identity. Did Gentiles States itself was ready to send mis-
need to first become Jewish before sioners to “fields afar” to proclaim the
they could become Christian? One Gospel to those who had never heard
group, known as the Judaizers, in- its message. Maryknoll founders Fa-
sisted Christian men first had to be thers James A. Walsh and Thomas F.
Maryknoll Father Russell Feldmeier, the Society’s rector of initial formation, welcomes
circumcised and obey all 613 com- Price recognized the need to establish
new candidates to the Maryknoll residence in Chicago. (Rodrigo Ulloa/U.S.)
mandments, especially dietary re- a society of priests and brothers who
strictions, before being baptized. St. would be trained to do just that on be- lievers who needed encouragement vocations from our mission areas.
Paul would have none of it. half of the U.S. bishops. to put their faith into practice, often in “That’s an enormous change for our
Paul maintained that if salvation For most of our 111 years, then, the the face of oppression and injustices Society, our self-understanding and
were possible simply by obeying majority of our members were U.S. surrounding them. our understanding of the Church,”
rules, then Christ’s death was in vain. citizens and descendants of white In recent decades, vocations to says Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers’
Lucky for us, Paul’s argument carried European immigrants. What’s more, Maryknoll shifted with the immigrant new Superior General, Father Lance
the day. Almost overnight Christianity the goal of our overseas mission work populations. Along with descendants Nadeau. He reiterates that sharing the
went from being a small sect within was to help establish the Church of those who came from Europe, new Gospel no longer means only going
Judaism to becoming a world religion where it was weak or nonexistent. immigrants and refugees to the Unit- from the North to the needy South.
with universal appeal. How could we take vocations from ed States began coming from Latin God willing, in June of 2022, the
In recent decades Maryknoll has countries that had few, if any, native America and Asia. At the same time, ordination of John Siyumbu will be
faced a similar, albeit less drastic, clergy or religious? many U.S. bishops began recruiting our first official ordination of a voca-
dilemma. We wrestled with the ques- Over the years the focus of mission priests and seminarians from abroad, tion from our overseas mission, in this
tion: Do men who desire to join Mary- expanded. When Maryknollers were including Africa, where religious voca- case, Kenya. The Maryknoll Society
knoll first have to become U.S. citi- expelled from China, our first mission, tions are growing exponentially. is now blessed with 18 candidates,
zens, or at least be legal residents of following the communist takeover, The world, the Church and the Unit- many from our overseas missions
the United States? the “old China hands,” as those ear- ed States have changed a lot since who are not U.S. citizens. These men
To understand the dilemma, it is ly missioners were called, had to look 1911. We now realize that mission is are attracted to the Maryknoll spirit
important to understand the historical for new mission fields. While some from everywhere to everywhere, as and wish to join our mission efforts.
background. When the Maryknoll So- went to Taiwan, others opted to go to we challenge others and ourselves to With their acceptance as members,
ciety was founded in 1911, the Church Latin American countries and the Phil- reflect the Gospel in our lives. Maryknoll will reflect the Church and
in the United States had only been off ippines, which were already Catholic. And so our 14th General Chapter world we go to serve. Our founders
the list of mission-receiving churches There they shared their faith with be- reaffirmed a new policy of accepting would surely be proud.
18 WIN T ER 2 0 2 2 M A R Y K N O L L MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 19Responding to the ized. … We will work to bring di-
vided people together to the table,
and wholeness to a damaged and
at various sites, including a shelter
for homeless women. These experi-
ences helped her discern a calling to
Signs of the Times tired world.”
Sister Hougnon’s own life reveals
a trajectory toward leadership for
peace and healing. “Everything I
help the poor and a desire to serve
again overseas, in mission.
Entering the Maryknoll Sisters
in 1996, Sister Hougnon found her
By Mary Ellen Manz, M.M. have experienced in my life has been home in a multicultural congrega-
preparing me for this day,” she says. tion of women from around the
Maryknoll Sisters elect new Congregational Leadership Team “My time in East Timor and Kenya world. She wrote later how import-
has shaped my heart for mission; ant it was to her ministry to live in
F
rom their places of mission ria Leonor Montiel and Elizabeth C. my experience in community has an intentionally diverse community.
across the world, 82 Maryknoll Zwareva to guide them for the next shaped my heart for Maryknoll.” Her first assignment took her in
Sister delegates came together six years as they seek the answer. Born in Loup City, Nebraska, in 1999 to war-torn East Timor, where
recently at their 18th General Assem- (The team takes office in January.) 1962, Sister Hougnon is one of 11 she served as principal of the Cath-
bly to ask this question: “Where is Newly elected president Sister children. She graduated from the olic high school in Aileu. There Sis-
the Holy Spirit leading us?” Hougnon says, “I see my role as a U.S. Military Academy at West Point ter Hougnon established a peace
The sisters chose as their new supporter and motivator of our sis- in 1984 and served in Germany. Re- program to teach communication,
leadership team Sisters Teresa Rose ters as we heal the Earth … as we turning to the United States, she dialogue and negotiation skills.
Hougnon, Genie C. Natividad, Ma- accompany the poor and marginal- left the military and volunteered She professed her final vows in East
Timor in 2005.
In 2006, Sister Hougnon became
part of a Maryknoll Sisters team
based in Nairobi, Kenya. The focus
of their ministry was to build peace
among Kenya’s 46 ethnic groups.
“Our work … is to create space for
people of diverse backgrounds to
talk with each other, to understand
one another and to seek solutions
together, rather than to act against
one another,” she says.
The theme of healing relation-
ships has also run through the min-
istry of Vice President Sister Nativ-
idad. “I’ve learned that mission is
about building relationships with
God and each other,” she says.
Born in Diadi, Nueva Vizcaya, Phil-
ippines in 1975, Natividad felt called
to serve the poorest of the poor at
a young age. She learned of Mary-
knoll through a missionary priest in
Maryknoll Sisters new leadership team (left to right): Sisters Maria Leonor Montiel,
Genie Natividad, Teresa Hougnon, Elizabeth Claris Zwareva. (Courtesy of Maryknoll Sisters)
her parish who received Maryknoll
magazine.
20 WIN T ER 2 0 2 2 M A R Y K N O L L MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 21Maryknoll Sisters (l. to r.) Giang Nguyen, Sia Temu and Teresa Hougnon, pictured here Maryknoll Sister Genie Natividad (left), with Farida Joseph Msipi holding son Houseni
in 2011, served as a team promoting conflict resolution in Nairobi. (Sean Sprague/Kenya) and Maryciana Paulo, ran an HIV/AIDS group in Mwanza. (Nile Sprague/Tanzania)
Natividad served with the Augus- ness to the Holy Spirit as well as “a at the local Catholic seminary, served walk along the way,” she says. “I be-
tinian Sisters of Our Lady of Conso- sense of joy and love for what we on the boards of non-profit organi- lieve that our team is being guided
lation and as a lay missioner before are about.” She brings an extensive zations and became involved in the by God’s Holy Spirit.”
joining Maryknoll in 2007. She says background in community building social work department of the Royal Sister Zwareva was born in Chin-
she felt called to the Maryknoll sis- to her new leadership position. Born University of Phnom Penh. hoyi, Mashonaland, Rhodesia (now
ters because of their charism “to in 1970 in the Philippines, she grew Reflecting on her active, multi-fac- Zimbabwe) in 1952. Originally a
reach out to people on the edge, up in Looc, Romblon. She earned a eted mission life, Sister Montiel says, member of the Congregation of
wherever we find them, all over the bachelor’s degree in communica- “We do what we can and we leave the Missionary Sisters of the Pre-
world.” tions in 1991 and joined the Mary- the rest to God.” cious Blood, she came to the United
Assigned to Tanzania, Sister Na- knoll Sisters in 1994. Sister Zwareva reflects the same States for professional training.
tividad worked with adults living Assigned to Cambodia in 1997, trust. “I feel God’s guiding hand as I While studying to become a reg-
with HIV/AIDS. She also worked at Sister Montiel notes, “My mission
a center for abused and orphaned experience with Maryknoll has al-
children, where she offered trauma ways been collaborative, being
healing. part of a team of Maryknoll sisters,
Sister Natividad, who professed priests, brothers, lay missioners and
final vows in 2016, has served as a affiliates, as well as missioners and
coordinator of community life for volunteers from other nations.”
the elderly sisters at the Maryknoll Among other ministries, she helped
Sisters Center in New York. Most re- found the Maryknoll Cambodia An-
cently, she volunteered at the U.S. long Kngan Community Develop-
southern border, assisting migrants ment Project for poor urban dwell-
and refugees. ers, including people with HIV/AIDS.
She hopes the congregation will Sister Montiel earned a master’s
“evolve graciously with the urgings degree in social work in 2008. She re-
of the Holy Spirit … as a community turned to Cambodia to direct Seed-
that gives witness to our world.” ling of Hope, Maryknoll Cambodia Sister Montiel (blue blouse) visits Long Mary, Man Koup and their children on the Bassac
Sister Montiel echoes this open- HIV/AIDS Response. She also taught River, where Seedling of Hope purchased the family a boat. (Sean Sprague/Cambodia)
22 WIN T ER 2 0 2 2 M A R Y K N O L L MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 23istered nurse, Sister Zwareva met Returning to the United States, “You give them something to eat.” – Matt. 14:16
Maryknoll Sister Maura Clarke at a she added studies in biology to her
seminar. Sister Clarke, who was lat- nursing degree and a master’s de-
er martyred in El Salvador, made gree in bioethics.
a lasting impression on her. After In 2011, she began working with
she returned to Zimbabwe with her the Maryknoll Office for Global Con-
nursing degree, Sister Zwareva says cerns, bringing her mission experi-
that her heart was restless to serve ence and background in bioethics to
in mission at the grassroots level. She global issues.
joined the Maryknoll Sisters in 1984. She was asked in 2013 to serve at
Learning that Bolivia had one of the United Nations as the Maryknoll
the highest rates of poverty and Sisters’ representative. In 2021, she
mortality in Latin America, Sister earned another degree, in Christian
Zwareva asked to be assigned there. spirituality.
She served in Bolivia for almost 26 Sister Zwareva notes, “Although
years, offering nutritional support members of our congregation come
Courtesy of Susan Wanzagi/East Timor
and basic health care training for from 23 nations, we have learned
poor mothers and families, while to be sisters in community. … Jesus
also serving in pastoral accompani- gathered his disciples from all walks
ment. Sister Zwareva, who professed of life. … What richness!”
her final vows in 1995, also served “My hope is that during the next
in the secretariat of the Institute of six years we will grow further into
Bioethics at the Catholic University the task of making God’s love visible
of Bolivia. in a world that greatly needs it.”
Sister Susan Wanzagi (blue dress) assists women in East Timor in growing
crops to feed their families. Please support the Maryknoll Sisters in their
$10
efforts to feed the hungry throughout the world.
$25 $50 $100 Other $__________
✁
Name:_____________________________________________________________________
Address:___________________________________________________________________
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I will pay by: Check AMEX MasterCard Visa Discover
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EN01
Sister Zwareva (wearing glasses) served in Bolivia for almost 26 years, providing To learn about becoming a Maryknoll Sister,
pastoral care, health education and nutritional support to families. (Kevin Thomas/Bolivia) contact vocation@mksisters.org
Box 312, Maryknoll, NY 10545-0312
24 WIN T ER 2 0 2 2 M A R Y K N O L L You can also donate on our website: www.maryknollsisters.org • 1-866-662-9900
MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 25PASSION FOR PEOPLE
Maryknoll community in El Paso
addresses humanitarian crisis
AT THE BORDER
through ministries for migrants
and border communities
Text and photos by Deirdre Cornell
C
oralis Salvador boarded a
train in Kenya, headed to
Nairobi. “After 19 years in
Africa with Maryknoll Lay Mis-
sioners, my contract was ending,”
Salvador says. “I planned to take a
vacation and spend time with my
grandchildren.” Yet, a heaviness
weighed on her heart. A human-
itarian crisis was worsening at an-
other Maryknoll mission site: the
U.S./Mexico border.
“That week, a father and daugh-
ter drowned in the Rio Grande
River,” Salvador says. “The current
swept them away, with the little
girl tucked inside her dad’s shirt. I
reflected on the plight of these mi-
grants. I prayed the whole train ride.
Finally, I said, ‘OK, Lord, you are tell-
ing me to go to El Paso.’ I said, ‘Yes,’
and the heaviness lifted.”
In El Paso, Salvador joined other
members of the Maryknoll family
called to the border by their faith.
Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers,
Maryknoll Sisters and Maryknoll
Lay Missioners respond to the des-
perate need of migrants and border
communities. In the words of Pope
Francis in his apostolic exhortation
The Joy of the Gospel, “Mission is at
once a passion for Jesus and a pas-
sion for his people.”
“El Paso just kept coming to my
head — and to my heart,” says
Maryknoll Sister Lelia Mattingly,
Maryknoll Lay Missioner Coralis Salvador (l.) and parishioner Antonia Morales hold hands
with Jesus, joined by Jesuit Father Rafael Garcia, pastor of Sacred Heart Church.
26 WIN T ER 2 0 2 2 M A R Y K N O L L • V O L UM E 1 1 6 • NUM B E R 1 MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 27who entered Maryknoll in 1960 and
worked in Bolivia. “I was first ex-
posed to the precarity of the lives
of migrants in Shelbyville, Kentucky,
getting to know migrant workers
who came to harvest tobacco.” She
worked for four years on the bor-
der in Arizona before beginning to
serve at Annunciation House in El
Paso in January 2016.
Annunciation House is a network
of shelters that provide hospitality
for individuals and families released
from Immigration and Customs En-
forcement detention centers. Buses
drop off asylum seekers daily. “In
2019, at one point we were getting
over a thousand migrants a day,”
Sister Mattingly recalls.
Maryknoll Sister Janet Miller and
Maryknoll Lay Missioner Deborah
Northern volunteer at Annunciation
House’s newest shelter, Casa del Re-
fugiado (Refugee House). A former
warehouse, the facility can accom-
modate 500 people. Guests stay
from one to three days while their
sponsors are contacted and travel
is arranged. Annunciation House
also hosts long-term guests in small-
er settings, such as the one where At the cooperative store in El Paso, Gloria Yanez (pink blouse) shows Sister Margaret
Sierra handcrafts made by women of the Santa Catalina Center in Ciudad Juarez.
Salvador currently serves. She now
finds herself accompanying fami-
lies similar to the one whose plight with travel to the family’s sponsor.” thing else — family, home, job, free- their desperation. “Nobody wants
drew her to the border. Lay Missioner Heidi Cerneka’s dom, and more — sometimes all she to swim a river, or climb a wall, or
“We have a family of four staying work often takes her to the deten- has left is her faith and her God and cross a desert at risk of dying of de-
with us,” Salvador says. The father tion centers where refugees are she holds tenaciously to that.” hydration,” she says.
of the family drowned crossing the held (before deportation or release Cerneka came back to the United Northern agrees. In addition to
Rio Grande River. “Customs and Bor- to shelters). Cerneka, who joined States to study law, earning her de- volunteering at the migrant shelter,
der Patrol threw them a rope, and Maryknoll Lay Missioners in 1996, gree in 2017. She works as a staff she serves on staff at the Encuentro
saved the mother and children. But worked for many years in Brazil ac- attorney at Las Americas Immigrant Project, a faith-based organization
he was swept away,” she explains companying women in prison. “Pris- Advocacy Center, providing legal that promotes understanding of
sadly. “The children are 15, 14 and on is the place where I most feel the counsel for refugees. Hearing the border issues. “During eight years
2 years old. Funeral arrangements presence of God,” she reflected. stories of asylum seekers forced to of serving in El Salvador, I have seen
are being made, and we are helping “When you strip a person of every- flee their homes, Cerneka witnesses firsthand the violence and extreme
28 WIN T ER 2 0 2 2 M A R Y K N O L L MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 29Lay Missioner Coralis Salvador and Chef James Martinez prepare meals for day laborers, Maryknoll Father Kenneth Moody (striped shirt) converses with parishioners America and
homeless people and migrants at La Tilma, a program of Sacred Heart parish in El Paso. David Sambrano outside Saint Patrick’s Church in the border town of Canutillo, Texas.
poverty that would impel people ries where workers earn as little as clothes, food. Yes, they need all the Rio Grande River, in a neighbor-
to take such a drastic step as to flee $55 to $60 a week. Empowering and that. But they also have a need for hood with abandoned houses and
their own country and make a dif- educating women and children, the play, for prayer, and for beauty, for decrepit trailers on dry, sandy lots.
ficult journey to find a better, safer center helps ensure that their fami- a little joy in their lives.” While others might be dissatisfied
life,” she says. lies don’t have to leave their homes Maryknoll priests have served at in such a desolate setting, Father
While these Maryknollers wel- in search of a better life. parishes in the Ciudad Juarez and El Moody is delighted: “It gives me the
come refugees to the United States, Sister Sierra, who entered the Paso dioceses, ministering on both opportunity to do what I most like
Sister Margaret Sierra accompanies Maryknoll Sisters in 1977 and sides of the border. Fathers James to do: share the Good News.” He
families on both sides of the border. worked for 12 years in Latin Amer- Kofski and Kenneth Moody offer enjoys getting to know the commu-
Born and raised in New Mexico, Sis- ica, shares a special connection with pastoral care at St. Patrick’s Church nity, saying Mass and offering the
ter Sierra was already familiar with the women of Santa Catalina. “I see in Canutillo, Texas, a poor, dusty sacraments. “I try to make contact
El Paso and its counterpart city, Ci- these women and I see my mother, town of about 6,000 inhabitants. with them in their own reality.”
udad Juarez. “There is a very strong sewing,” she says. “I see my aunts Father Moody, a native of Hacken- Parishioners America and Da-
connection economically and cul- who made their living sewing at a sack, New Jersey, ordained in 1970, vid Sambrano, lifetime residents
turally to Mexico,” she says. “Over small shop in Albuquerque.” served for 24 years in Venezuela of Canutillo, have a long fami-
80% of the population in El Paso is Due to the pandemic, Sister Sier- and for 14 years in Bolivia. His call ly history at St. Patrick’s. David’s
Latino. Many families are bination- ra now stays in touch with the co- to the priesthood — and to mission great-grandfather helped build
al, and many attend school or hold op through computer or phone. — came when he was young. “My the church, and as a child, David
jobs on the other side.” But before COVID-19 prevented eighth-grade teacher brought in joined his parents to help con-
Sister Sierra supports Centro San- in-person gatherings, every Friday Maryknoll magazine,” he recounts. struct the parish activity center
ta Catalina, a non-profit organiza- morning the women came togeth- “All I knew until then was that I across the street. When asked to
tion in Ciudad Juarez established er for Mass or prayer. “In mission, I wanted to love Jesus. In those pages describe Maryknoll’s ministry at St.
by two Adrian Dominican sisters. Its learned something that stayed with I saw how we can love Jesus, doing Patrick’s, David answers, eyes filled
sewing cooperative provides an al- me,” remembers Sister Sierra, who the Works of Mercy.” with tears, “I can tell you about
ternative to the maquiladora facto- is a trained chaplain. “People need His parish stands on the banks of Maryknoll in one word: ‘love.’ ”
30 WIN T ER 2 0 2 2 M A R Y K N O L L MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 31“Let’s just go together
and see what God has in store for us.”
— Mother Mary Joseph Rogers, M.M.
Sean Sprague/Uganda
32 WIN T ER 2 0 2 2 M A R Y K N O L L MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 33I
n the Christmas readings, we hear including single mothers, meets reg-
of an unmarried woman becom- ularly. They find ways to give mutu-
ing pregnant with a son who will al moral and spiritual support, and
be a light in a land of gloom. take steps to raise their children to
The stories tell us that the child be credits to their families, commu-
was born in a world of danger, in- nities and nation.
equality, dehumanizing poverty and While these women do not have
a repressive imperial system. very much money, at least they do
I would like to focus on the wom- not live in a slum, and so they can
an: a pregnant, unmarried teenag- actually dream of a better future.
er, in one of the poorest outposts The women eagerly seek advice on
in human history. Normally, in such how to improve their situations and,
conditions the woman would die in hopefully, transform society.
childbirth and her child would prob- So, can good things come from
ably die before the age of 5, most poor, single mothers in a developing
likely in the first year after birth. For country?
some reason God chose to enter the Many organizations work to ad-
human race in this context, not un- vance the status of women in soci-
like the current reality in some plac- ety, including the United Nations,
es across the globe. through its entity known as U.N.
It is estimated that there are 650 Women; and the Catholic Church,
million women in the world today through diocesan departments of
who were married before the age women’s affairs. These organiza-
of 18 and that 15 million adolescent tions assist women through job
girls have been sexually abused. The training; advocating for universal
maternal mortality rate had been healthcare, paid maternity leave
going down since 2000, but it is and flexible hours of employment;
feared that the COVID-19 pandemic and promoting female entrepre-
has reversed that progress. neurship and greater female pres-
Can the divine be manifested ence in governmental positions.
in such a situation? A teenage girl Today we recall that a woman in
getting pregnant suffers not only a poor, obscure country gave birth
from a physical standpoint, but she 2,000 years ago to our universal
would also be the butt of disparag- Savior. So too can women living in
ing whisperings and comments. And similar conditions today contribute
often the children of single mothers to their communities in ways that
suffer stigma in relationships with are essential for making our world
By Frank Breen, M.M. other children. a true human family, living at peace
There are, however, inspiring ex- with one another.
Challenging conditions surrounding Jesus’ birth parallel the amples of the divine being mani-
fested in unexpected places, such as Maryknoll Father Frank Breen, from
challenges facing single mothers in developing countries today
in a poor neighborhood in Kenya, Boston, Massachusetts, served in
where I served as a missioner. In a Kenya for almost 30 years. Currently
Amid the challenges of poverty, a young mother in Mombasa, Kenya, reflects God’s factory town near Kenya’s capital of he works with the Maryknoll Office
love manifested in unexpected places. (Sean Sprague/Kenya) Nairobi, a group of single women, for Global Concerns.
34 WIN T ER 2 0 2 2 M A R Y K N O L L MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 35TEACHING WITH LOVE IN THE ANDES W
hen Leonardo Mamani Villa started school at 6 years of age in Taco-
paya, an indigenous town in the remote rural highlands of Cocha-
bamba in the Bolivian Andes, he struggled. Leonardo, whose first lan-
guage is Quechua, had to learn to read, write, count and express himself in
by Giovana Soria Spanish. He found a tutor and a friend in Maryknoll Lay Missioner Phuong
Minh Nguyen, who offers an after-school program for children at the parish
Maryknoll lay missioner helps students stay in the countryside of Bolivia house in Tacopaya.
Nile Sprague/Bolivia
Clockwise from left: Phuong Minh Nguyen prepares a midday snack for the children. The
missioner helps Leonardo Mamani Villa and Daniela Dasilva with their homework at the
parish house. Students in Tacopaya wear facemasks sewn by Nguyen.
Nile Sprague/Bolivia
36 WIN T ER 2 0 2 2 M A R Y K N O L L • V O L UM E 1 1 6 • NUM B E R 1 (CourtesyM of
A RPhuong
Y K N O L LMinh
M A G ANguyen/Bolivia)
ZINE.ORG 37and pure air here and we are help-
ing their education.”
Father Hector Terrazas, a for-
mer local pastor, made the parish
house available to Nguyen for the
after-school program. He also sup-
ported efforts to curtail migration
to the cities. The schools at Taco-
paya serve children from about 100
surrounding communities where
their families face problems such
as the shortage of water and insuf-
ficient food production. Most are
farmers and generally grow only
potatoes. “We are presenting an
agroecology project that includes
forestation with pine trees and
fruit plants using micro irrigation
Children attending the after-school program enjoy a nutritious snack of oatmeal and milk, to improve the production of other
prepared by Lay Missioner Nguyen at the parish house in Tacopaya. (Nile Sprague/Bolivia) foods,” Father Terrazas said.
Nguyen, 57, enjoys her minis-
Every afternoon, Nguyen wel- pronunciation and is very shy. When helped by the Catholic boarding try with the children in Tacopaya.
comes more than 20 energetic chil- Josue was in fourth grade, he didn’t school, they would have to walk “When I was a kid in Vietnam, I was
dren like Leonardo. They run up to know how to read, write or do math. more than four hours each day to born in poverty,” she says. “I know
the front door calling her name, Josue approached the missioner and school and back. In her program, how it is to have a wonderful child-
“Minh, Minh!” The children do asked for help. Nguyen has worked the missioner tries to fill the space hood living out in nature with free-
their homework on the patio and with him for three years. He is left by their parents’ absence and dom, but I also endured many hard-
read books or play games in the li- now in seventh grade at a Catholic make these children feel at home. ships in my life.”
brary room. school, where his work is considered Every day, she prepares a warm and Nguyen was 23 when she and her
“I like when Minh teaches me on a par with other students. nutritious snack, such as oatmeal family left Vietnam for the United
how to read and count,” Leonardo Tacopaya’s young pupils study with milk. States, but she and a sister were
says. After a year of attending the under a variety of circumstances. For Nguyen, it is important to separated from the family in Thai-
after-school program, Leonardo Some students, like Josue, live with keep students in the countryside. land and sent to a refugee camp in
showed progress. He has learned their families at their homes in Ta- Many young people leave for the the Philippines. (Back then, the U.S.
Spanish, and also how to read, add, copaya. Other students, like Leon- city to look for work, she explains. government required that those 21
subtract and multiply. Nguyen, who ardo, reside at Catholic boarding Sometimes children and the elder- years old or older go first to a ref-
arrived at Tacopaya in 2018, says the schools, and either attend classes ly are the only ones who remain in ugee camp to study language and
program fills in academic gaps for there or at government-run public their villages. When people move culture before entering the coun-
the children. “Many of them go to schools. Nguyen explains that her from the campo, or countryside, to try.) She and her sister were reunited
the next grade not having the ba- after-school program is open to all the city, “they lose their identity, with their parents and three young
sic education and they don’t know children in the community. trying to adapt and survive in a dif- siblings six months later.
anything about math or reading.” Leonardo’s parents are subsis- ferent environment,” she says. “In “It was like being torn away,”
Josue Silvestre Vicente, 12, is an- tence farmers living in an even more the city, they are afraid to speak Nguyen says. “I left my country, my
other boy who touched the mis- remote region of the Andes. If Leon- their mother tongue and to prac- friends and everything and then was
sioner’s heart. He has trouble with ardo and his two brothers were not tice their culture. They have fresh abruptly separated from my parents
38 WIN T ER 2 0 2 2 M A R Y K N O L L MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 39You can also read
