USCCB - (MRS) - North Central and South West Action Plan Summaries

MRS > Migration Policy and Public Affair Office > North Central and South West Action Plan Summaries

Brownsville

The Office of Immigration and Migrant Services (OIMS) will continue to provide free legal counseling services and help to expand those services to the deaneries and parishes, with a target “200% increase in number of clients able to apply for legal status with the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service.”
The Office of Catholic Social Services will provide direct assistance and referral services for non-legal needs.
The Office of Immigration and Migrant Services will recruit and train bilingual volunteers at the deanery and parish levels to provide a holistic “continuum of services focused on total assimilation in the life of the faith community and society.” OIMS will develop a special formation program for pastors to educate and equip them to inform others about migrant needs and “the duties, rights, responsibilities and liabilities of United States citizens with regard to assisting the migrant and undocumented segments of the population.”

Davenport

The diocese will work to “identify, recruit, train and develop diverse members of parishes and deaneries to become more actively involved in all areas of ministry.” This will include an effort to “develop ministries of hospitality in local parishes” and “encourage bilingual, trilingual and cultural Masses or events.”
The diocese is preparing a 15 minute diocesan video on Unity in Diversity and launching a “JustFaith” initiative to “raise consciousness among the average person in the pew about the needs of the immigrant population and about the strengths they present us as church and community.” The objective is to provide immersion experiences to raise awareness of - and increase solidarity with -migrants.
The diocesan Immigration Program will promote the human rights of immigrants through support of legislative action, outreach to consulates (especially to help Mexican migrants obtain matriculas identification), and continued services to about 800 clients per year.
The diocesan Office of Faith Formation will collaborate with other pastoral service providers to develop “new models of sacramental preparation and faith formation” that “meets the needs of immigrant families.”

El Paso

The diocese will implement a comprehensive, long-term program of education, formation, and evangelization, through coordination with Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services, Inc. (DMRS).
DMRS will work to orient all diocesan clergy to USCCB publications Welcoming the Stranger Among Us and Strangers No Longer and encourage them to share their personal experiences as migrants and as pastors of migrants.
DMRS and an inter-diocesan committee will target seven parishes (with two schools), one from each of the seven vicariates, to train facilitators in the establishment of Parish Welcoming Ministries, first in their own parishes, then in neighboring parishes. Training will include a minimum of four sessions “focusing on aspects of relationship building, conversion, communion and solidarity.”
The Tepeyac Institute (a diocesan organization dedicated to the formation of leaders for pastoral ministry) will incorporate training and continuing education “leading to the commissioning of parish welcoming teams comprised of lay ministers, religious and clergy.”

Fort Worth

A Multi-Cultural Task Force will be formed to evaluate ongoing diocesan activities in support of diverse populations. Under the leadership of the Task Force, the diocese will organize training sessions for diocesan leaders, including pastors, other ministers, educators, and social service providers to be more aware of cultural diversity in the spirit of Welcoming the Stranger Among Us.
The Task Force will distribute fliers in appropriate languages and work to provide interpreters as needed for the provision of “immigration and civil rights (Title VI) information to the Limited English Proficient (LEP) populations.” They will also provide training to help parishes establish ESL programs.
Lastly, the diocese will work to increase parishioner awareness of USCCB migrant and refugee services through such means as publishing articles in the North Texas Catholic and increasing support of National Migration Week.
In cooperation with the task force, the diocesan refugee office will make increased efforts to engage parishes in sponsoring refugee families.

Jefferson City

The diocese will form a Diocesan Hispanic Ministry Committee in response to “112% growth in…Hispanic population” over the past ten years.
A permanent Director of Hispanic Ministry will be sought to coordinate implementation of diocesan objectives.
Efforts will be made to develop “Spanish communication media that reach and serve…Hispanic people.” Concretely, the diocese will develop and publish 10,000 Hispanic Resource Directories to be distributed “at social service agencies, job sites, Spanish owned businesses…and parishes.”
The new Hispanic Office will design programs to encourage and develop Hispanic leadership at the parish level. The new ministry will give special attention to providing Spanish-speaking services in educational and parish settings, especially by “providing Spanish language training to deacons to enhance their ministry outreach.”

St. Cloud

The Office of Multicultural Ministry will “develop a training model for ‘Welcoming the Stranger’ to be used in parishes and with other groups” and hire a part-time project director to implement the model with “diocesan staff, Catholic Charities staff, clergy, religious educators, parish staff…and any interested volunteers.”
The Multicultural Ministry and Hispanic Ministry Offices will provide technical assistance to parishes experiencing heavy migrant activity to help them form core “welcoming” committees which include staff, volunteers and ethnic leaders. They will provide assistance to parishes in recruiting personnel for multicultural parish ministry and in finding funding to support the objectives of the program.
Under the leadership of these two diocesan agencies, the diocese will also target Hispanics, Native Americans, Vietnamese and migrant farm workers for outreach and assistance to participate in leadership and ministries. They will work to increase the availability of bilingual materials and training opportunities, especially resources for Spanish-speaking people, including more frequent Spanish liturgies.

San Antonio

The diocese will organize a “Welcoming the Stranger Action Committee” to coordinate outreach to diverse communities and “people on the move” in an effort to develop and strengthen “networks and relationships” of support.
Research will be conducted to “identify, map geographically, and construct a sociogram” of various marginalized or otherwise unrecognized “strangers.” This information will be made available to the diocese and parishes.
The bishop together with senior diocesan staff will insure that awareness of the Welcoming the Stranger Among Us initiative will be integrated into existing social justice education, adult faith formation, and liturgical ministry training.
All Office of Social Concerns personnel will be scheduled to attend a Multicultural Workshop facilitated by the renowned Rev. Eric Law.

Wichita

A Welcoming the Stranger task force has been formed to coordinate efforts to support multicultural ministry in the Wichita Church.
Under the leadership of the Task Force and the Diocesan Youth/ Young Adult Ministry Director, the diocese will take a youth-centered approach to increased multicultural awareness through planning and participation in a multicultural youth Mass and celebration. It is hoped that deliberate efforts to recruit diverse youth to participate in the planning of the diocesan celebration will give the diocese a ready-pool of diverse young volunteers that they can utilize in the development of longer-range plans to better welcome and incorporate ethnic communities in diocesan and parish life. The diocese also hopes to provide this pool of diverse young recruits with formation opportunities that will enable them to serve as leaders within their own ethnic communities.
The Task Force will work to increase educational opportunities for parishes, including promoting the Encuentro 2000 process.
The diocese, through the task force will work to coordinate and streamline services provided by ethnic ministries and “other ministries serving the ‘stranger’,” with a goal of providing “a liaison/resource function to all diocesan departments.”