Father Juan Molina offers Spanish, English workshops

SALT LAKE CITY — As advocacy coordinator for Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the official relief and development agency of the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Trinitarian Father Juan Molina will bring to the Diocese of Salt Lake City’s 45th Annual Pastoral Congress thoughts on immigration and the Catholic Church’s policies, the responsibility of an advocate, and the role of justice in today’s immigration debate.

A featured speaker at the Congress, titled "Encountering the Living Christ," Fr. Molina told the Intermountain Catholic Aug. 24 in a telephone interview that in this, his first visit to the Diocese of Salt Lake City, he plans to present three workshops; two in Spanish and one in English.

"I have been collaborating with (Diocesan Government Liaison) Dee Rowland on some projects, so I want to speak in English about the important role of advocacy in the work of the church," said Fr. Molina. In my Spanish workshops I will present an update on immigration policy and the work of the Church in bringing justice to the current immigration debate."

Fr. Molina said a great deal of the Church’s teaching on the immigration issue is drawn directly from "Gaudium et Spes: The Constitution on the Church in the Modern World," promulgated by Pope Paul VI in December 1965.

"‘Gaudium et Spes’ is a major document that explains the work of the Church and the work of the people through all of their joys and sorrows," Fr. Molina said. "It emphasizes that we all have a place at the table of the Lord and we all should have a place at the table of society."

Fr. Molina said he’s also drawn heavily for all three presentations from "Justice for Immigrants: A Journey of Hope," the Catholic campaign for comprehensive immigration reform.

The "Justice for Immigrants" campaign provides tools and information for diocesan and community-based organizing, education, and advocacy programs, Fr. Molina said. "It illustrates for us how we should work on behalf of the immigrant population, on the front lines, when they need immediate assistance in the case of immigration raids, and later, when they have to deal with divided families and deportation. The Church continuously works on how we take care of our people."

The Campaign emphasizes the Church’s concern that the needs of the immigrant population not overwhelm the resources available, he said.

"It has been the experience of the Church that in dealing with immigrants we still struggle with issues of language and bigotry in society," said Fr. Molina. "Even after the second attempt to draft a government policy of comprehensive immigration reform, the Church still needs to continue its outreach to immigrants and to all of society on their behalf.

"Every diocese is still dealing with the myths of immigration," he said. "People still have gut reactions that prompt them to respond negatively to people who are different from them, who speak a new and strange language. ‘Justice for Immigrants’ encourages all of us to realize those gut reactions are based on limited experiences. But we have to realize that shifts in the ways of the heart are gradual."

Fr. Molina uses the experiences of his own order in this country as an example. The Order of the Most Holy Trinity first began working with Italian immigrants, about whom many Americans had negative feelings similar to the ones people express about Hispanic immigrants today.

"The Italian Immigrants we worked with lived in ghettos, but they began to integrate, learn the language, and eventually moved on. Now, they’re members of the middle and upper classes in this country, and now we are helping Hispanic and Latino immigrants do the same."

Fr. Molina said he would like to put an end to myths of immigration – that immigrants only live in ghettos and they don’t pay into the tax system. "Both of these myths are patently wrong, and we’re seeing their progress in our parishes. The Church is the first place they go for help, and today, many of the first-comers of the Hispanic and Latino immigrants have already moved on."

It takes a little bit of time to become familiar with the unfamiliar, he said, "but in time, Hispanic and Latino immigrants will be just like Italian immigrants. We’ll think they’ve always been here. But in the meantime, they need to be welcomed with dignity and respected for the gifts they bring to us. They will soon become a part of the history of the American people."

Fr. Molina said immigration is a difficult and frightening experience. "I look at the way in which slaves were treated, and I see similar treatment taking place in the poultry plants of Gainsville, Ga. There is something in our collective conscience that makes us fear the new, the unknown, ‘the other.’ But people are people, and it has been the emphasis of the U.S. Catholic bishops that people are not commodities that can be tossed aside when we don’t need them any more."

Fr. Molina said he is looking forward to his visit to Utah, to interacting with the Diocese of Salt Lake City’s Hispanic and Latino population, as well as its Anglo population.

"We are all here together, and there is so much we can do for each other," he said. "It’s crucial that we treat each other with the dignity and the respect we deserve as people of God, made in his image and likeness."

"Encountering the Living Christ: the Diocese of Salt Lake City’s 45th Annual Pastoral Congress will take place Sept. 29 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Skaggs Catholic Center, 300 East 18000 South, in Draper.