Through Catholic Extension's exchange program, sisters empower people, train leaders

By Maria del Pilar Guzman

(OSV News) -- Founded in 1905, the nonprofit fundraising organization Catholic Extension has worked in solidarity with people to build vibrant, transformative Catholic faithcommunities in the poorest regions of the United States. Throughout its 118-year history, one of the organization's leaders said, a unique group of people has been propelling the realization of this vision: women religious.

Recognizing the treasured value and efforts of religious sisters, one of Catholic Extension's latest initiatives involving them is the U.S.-Latin American Sisters Exchange Program. Since its inception in 2013, the program -- possible thanks to a partnership with the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation -- has brought a total of 150 sisters, representing religious congregations across Latin America, to serve in dioceses across the U.S.

"We created this program recognizing the tremendous growth and potential in the Latino population here in the United States, particularly among immigrant populations," Joe Boland, chief mission officer at Catholic Extension, told OSV News. "And so, a primary goal of the initiative was to bring women religious to this country that could minister among Latino immigrant populations."

The third and latest cohort of Latin American sisters to participate in the program, which takes place over five years, welcomed 31 sisters in the fall of 2023.

Through the program, groups of three or four sisters are hosted by one of the 10 participating Catholic Extension "mission dioceses," which include the Diocese of Alexandria, Louisiana; the Diocese of Beaumont, Texas; the Diocese of Boise, Idaho; the Diocese of Birmingham, Alabama; the Diocese of Davenport, Iowa; the Diocese of El Paso, Texas; the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida; the Diocese of San Angelo, Texas; the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia; and the Diocese of Shreveport, Louisiana.

"There was a big focus in the South this time," Boland said, adding that the program "is responding to the phenomenon that we have lived and seen in many of these dioceses: that the growth in the church is happening thanks to these Latino communities."

Father Richard Chenault, pastor at Our Lady of the Valley Church in Fort Payne, Alabama, a rural town about one hour's drive north of Birmingham, experienced this phenomenon up close. With 80% of his congregation being Hispanic, particularly Guatemalan and Mexican, the celebration of bilingual Masses is non-negotiable, he explained.

Reaching the youth of this demographic has also become a task of increasing importance. For the roughly 130 confirmations and over 100 first Communions slated for 2024, more than 95% of the youth preparing to receive the sacraments are Hispanic Americans.

"They are the future; they are the church. Truly," Father Chenault told OSV News.

Seeing the growing need to catechize and evangelize this unique population, Father Chenault had hoped for a while to welcome some sisters to the parish, which is why he thought it providential when the diocese's vicar general asked him if he had heard of the Sisters Exchange Program through Catholic Extension.

"I thought we might be a good fit," Father Chenault said.

Once the Diocese of Birmingham received the grant, the parish's staff facilitated a lot of the details.

"So, we began to meet with the (religious) community over Zoom, and, of course, try to facilitate with Catholic Extension to make sure we were covering the financial stuff and everything (the sisters) needed," Father Chenault explained.

An important step of the process occurred last April, when Dominican Sisters of Christian Doctrine Sister Iraís Santiago Santos and Sister Jeanette Mireya Gamboa visited the parish for a week "just to see, 'Is this going to be a good fit?'" Father Chenault said.

"I knew this would be a different reality from some of the other places they had been at," he said.

And a good fit they were, as the two sisters arrived at Our Lady of the Valley on Oct. 4, the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi.

While united by their shared mission of reaching people on the peripheries, each of the sisters brings with them unique experiences and cultural backgrounds. A native of Guerrero, Mexico, Sister Iraís felt the call to religious life while working on faith formation as a youth minister in a local parish. Sister Jeanette, on the other hand, was born in Texas to Mexican parents, and had an inclination for religious life ever since childhood, which only grew stronger after her baptism at age 13.

A third sister, Sister Alejandra de la Rosa Sifuentes, who is originally from Chihuahua, Mexico, also arrived at the parish and will be the superior of the three sisters there. Sister Alejandra was not available for an interview, but Catholic Extension explained that, just like the other sisters in the program, these three sisters will live in community during the next five years.

Only a few months into the program, the sisters -- whose order was founded in Mexico in 1948 -- have identified some of the needs of the population they are ministering to.

"There's a big need of evangelization, of strengthening the faith and of accompaniment, especially to immigrants, who are mostly from Guatemala," Sister Iraís told OSV News.

"Another necessity we have seen is the accompaniment that the young people need," Sister Jeanette said. "Unlike their parents, they are growing up in this society and find themselves confused. There's a distance between them and their parents, who only speak Spanish or a Guatemalan dialect, whereas they, in some cases, only speak English."

"The youth need someone who can help guide them as they are thirsty for God, thirsty to be in contact and have a relationship with God," she told OSV News.

While ministering to the Our Lady of the Valley community and other faith communities, the sisters will pursue a degree from St. Mary's University of Minnesota. This is part of the exchange program's goal to enhance the vitality of religious sisters in the Global South. Sister Iraís would like to pursue a master's degree in integrated studies, human services and pastoral care, while Sister Jeanette said she would most likely pursue a bachelor's degree in health care and human services management. The sisters said these studies will help them and the communities they are serving both now and in the future.

"This is an opportunity that would be hard to find in the places we are originally from; thus, with the help of the program, we will reach people and places we couldn't before," Sister Jeanette said.

As they prepare to start their online studies, the sisters are already empowering people and training a future generation of leaders at their Alabama parish.

"We've already fallen in love with them and are really thankful for them," Father Chenault said of the sisters.