Mission benefactors visit Huntington

HUNTINGTON — Sometimes people take their faith for granted, but the Catholic mission communities in Utah reverberate with stories of leadership, strength and belief in God.

Some of these stories were shared with representatives of Catholic Extension who visited the Catholic communities in Price and Huntington on Feb. 13.

 

Catholic Extension

Catholic Extension, which was founded in 1905 as Catholic Church Extension Society and has its headquarters in Chicago, provides funds to mission dioceses in the United States to help build faith communities.

Mission dioceses are those where the Catholic population, church income and other challenges such as geographical distance make it difficult for a diocese to be self-supporting. The Diocese of Salt Lake City, with 85,000 square miles, has been designated as a mission diocese since the earliest days.

Among those from Catholic Extension who visited Utah on Ash Wednesday were Father John J. Wall, president/chief executive officer; Joseph Boland, vice president of mission; Kathleen Gunn, director of development, Julie Montague, customer service representative; and Kathy Handelman, editor of "Extension" magazine.

During their stay, they visited with some Catholic families of San Rafael Mission in Huntington, including Rubén and Rosario, whose last name is withheld at their request. The husband and wife wake up at 3 a.m. on the weekends to travel to Salt Lake City to attend faith formation classes through the Emmaus program offered by the Diocese of Salt Lake City Office of Hispanic Ministry and funded by Catholic Extension.

Representatives of the diocese who accompanied the Catholic Extension delegation were Maria Cruz Gray, director of the Office of Hispanic Ministry; and her husband, Deacon Forrest Gray.

Miner’s story

Rubén used to work at the Crandall Canyon Mine in Emery County, which made headline news when six miners were trapped by a collapse in 2007. Ten days later, three rescue workers were killed by a subsequent collapse. The six miners were later declared dead; their bodies were never recovered. The mine closed after the disaster.

A memorial has been erected at the entrance of the mine as a tribute to the men whose lives were lost. The tragedy continues to haunt the community even to this day.

On Aug. 6, 2007, miners Kerry Allred, Don Erickson, Luis Hernandez, Carlos Payán, Brandon Phillips and Manuel Sanchez were nearing the end of their 12-hour shift when the mine collapsed just before 3 a.m.

"That day we heard our neighbors crying very early in the morning," said Rosario. "And after talking to them and hearing the news, every day after the collapse we were day and night trying to help, and praying."

Prayer was the only thing that the Catholic community could offer, because of their limited resources, Rubén said.

From that moment, Rosario and Rubén, despite their limited resources and having three children, decided to work harder for their mission. When the Office of Hispanic Ministry offered the Emmaus faith formation program two years ago, they enrolled to learn more about their faith. It is for this program that they awake at 3 a.m. one Saturday a month and travel to Salt Lake City to train as lay leaders for the Catholic Church.

"This is very important for the Hispanic people, to have these leaders, because they are like a bridge to the Diocese of Salt Lake City. It is very special and important to have people who can do such a beautiful job, and they even do it better with the right formation," said Maria Cruz Gray.

The visitors from Catholic Extension viewed the memorial for the dead miners and then went to the mine, where six graves stand at the entrance. There, Fr. Wall led the group in prayer. Afterward, the group gathered at San Rafael Mission to meet other parishioners and to celebrate Mass for Ash Wednesday.

Helping the missions

"Catholic Extension decided to come to Utah because Catholic Extension has a very strong connection with the entire Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City, but most especially with this particular area," said Boland. "We helped build the church in Price [Notre Dame de Lourdes Catholic Church, in 1920]. Catholic Extension also helped to build the church in Huntington [Mission San Rafael, in 1977]."

Catholic Extension also provides funding for Father Donald Hope, pastor of Notre Dame de Lourdes Parish in Price and administrator of Mission San Rafael and Good Shepherd Catholic Church in East Carbon City.

Fr. Hope was instrumental in meeting the needs of the miners’ families after the mine collapsed.

"And we are supporting the Emmaus program for the Hispanic leaders of the diocese," Boland said; Catholic Extension also provides funds for the Lay Ecclesial Ministry Formation Program for the English-speaking community and for the diocesan youth ministry.

Inspired by their faith

Site visits such as the one to Huntington reinforce "how critically important it is for us to be supporting strong people of faith, communities of faith that work with us in good times and in bad times," Boland said. "Today we have experienced a little bit of what occurred when the mine collapsed, and saw how the faith community really stepped up in support of one another as a people of God and as a family in faith. Hearing the stories that we did today really reinforced the idea that we need to keep our Catholic faith everywhere. Everybody has the right to experience their Catholic faith in its fullness, and that is what we are all about at Catholic Extension. We are very proud to be able to do it through the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City. We have so much to learn from people who really struggle to maintain their faith and live the faith. It’s not a given."

Montague said she was impressed with the people and stories that she heard in Huntington.

"We are stunned by the commitment to the faith of these people; how they practice their faith in the face of many obstacles. It’s inspiring and it’s humbling. I know I sometimes take my faith for granted, but the people that I met today don’t," said Montague.

"We have seen people breaking their backs for the Catholic Church and we usually don’t see that every day. People always work hard for their faith, but in this environment it’s much harder," added Gunn. "When you come here and realize that people are getting Mass [only] once or twice a month, and getting up at 3 o’clock in the morning to learn how to become a minister in their own community, it is amazing…. Every person that we have met has been amazing, without exception."

Catholic Extension in Utah

In the Diocese of Salt Lake City, Catholic Extension has donated more than $2 million to allow small mission communities to have their own space for worship, religious education and social gatherings, said Monsignor J. Terrence Fitzgerald, vicar general emeritus of the diocese. The funding has helped to replace leaking roofs and to expand facilities, as well as provide gas money and salaries for priests and deacons so they can travel to bring the Mass and Sacraments to the missions.

More than $1 million from the Extension has provided support for religious sisters so they can teach catechism and provide outreach for the poor, while laity also has received funding for their ministry of Bible study, community building and catechism, Msgr. Fitzgerald said.

In addition, millions of dollars from Catholic Extension have been given to help educate men for the priesthood; the funding also helps support the diocesan diaconate program. The Intermountain Catholic has also received support for its Spanish issue.

Catholic Extension, in the early years, provided pastoral care for Catholic students at colleges and universities such as the Newman Center at the University of Utah and the center at Weber State University. The diocese continues to receive support for campus ministry at Utah State University in Logan, Southern Utah State University, Cedar City and for programs at the College of Eastern Utah, Price and Dixie State University in Saint George, according to Msgr. Fitzgerald.

Most recently, Catholic Extension provided $53,000 for the diocesan video conferencing system, which allows more effective communication from Salt Lake to more remote areas so classes can be taught and meetings can be held without people having to travel such great distances, he said.

"Without the continuing support of Extension, our mission facilities and pastoral care of those outlying areas would not be nearly as strong as they are," Msgr. Fitzgerald said. "Our funding for campus ministry, seminary education, diaconate training and the ongoing theological education of laity would be inadequate without assistance from Extension. Catholics throughout Utah should realize how much the Catholic Church Extension Society has benefited us in the past and continues to do so at present. Extension and its benefactors deserve our gratitude and prayers."