U.S. Catholic Church in mission overseas

® Winter 2021 maryknollmagazine.org

Saints for Our Time FROM THE EDITOR FEATURED STORIES DEPARTMENTS

n the centerspread of this issue of Maryknoll we quote Pope Francis’ latest encyclical, Fratelli Tutti: On Fraternity and Social Friendship, which Despite Restrictions of 2 From the Editor Iwas released shortly before we wrapped up this edition and sent it to the COVID-19, a New Priest Is 10 printer. The encyclical is an important document that focuses on the central Ordained at Maryknoll Photo Meditation by David R. Aquije 4 theme of this pontiff’s papacy: We are all brothers and sisters of the human family living on our common home, our beleaguered planet Earth. Displaced by War 8 Missioner Tales The joint leadership of the Maryknoll family, which includes priests, in South Sudan 18 brothers, sisters and lay people, issued a statement of resounding support by Michael Bassano, M.M. 16 Spirituality and agreement with the pope’s message, calling it a historic document on ‘Our People Have Already peace and dialogue that offers a vision for global healing from deep social 40 In Memoriam and economic divisions in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We embrace Canonized Them’ by Rhina Guidos 24 the pope’s call,” the statement says, “for all people of good will to commit to 48 Orbis Books the sense of belonging to a single human family and the dream of working together for justice and peace—a call that includes embracing diversity, A Listener and Healer 56 World Watch encounter, and dialogue, and rejecting war, nuclear weapons, and the death by Rick Dixon, MKLM 30 penalty.” 58 Partners in Mission This magazine issue is already filled with articles that clearly reflect the Finding Christmas very interconnected commonality that Pope Francis preaches, but please by Martin Shea, M.M. Readers' Responses allow me to direct you to our maryknollmagazine.org website for articles on 34 61 the encyclical, with links to the Maryknoll statement. If you want to read the Beating the Odds with an full encyclical, I recommend you go to www.orbisbooks.com to look for the Immigration Case FRONT COVER: planned Orbis edition in book form of Fratelli Tutti. by Heidi Cerneka, MKLM 42 Four women martyrs are, from top Lynn F. Monahan left, Ita Ford and Maura Clarke, and Jean Donovan and Dorothy Kazel. Editor-in-Chief Two Days and One Suitcase by Margaret Gaughan COVER CREDITS: 50 Front: Designed by D. Mastrogiulio Back: Octavio Duran/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 Raymond J. Finch, 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 missioners in areas overseas. Maryknoll is supported David R. Aquije, Editor, Misioneros by offerings and bequests. Maria-Pia Negro Chin, Associate Editor Giovana Soria, Staff Writer Maryknoll (ISSN 0025-4142) © 2021, Catholic Mary Ellen Manz, M.M., Maryknoll Sister Liaison Foreign Mission Society of America, Inc. All rights Joseph R. Veneroso, M.M., Contributing Editor reserved. Maryknoll is available in audio without 10 24 42 Diane Mastrogiulio, Art Director charge from Xavier Society for the Blind: (212) 473- Kimberly Asencio, Senior Graphic Designer 7800. The title Maryknoll ® is registered with the Michael Calvente, Graphic Designer United States Patent and Trademark Office. Facebook.com/MaryknollSociety Twitter.com/MaryknollFrsBrs Instagram.com/MaryknollSociety 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 Maryknoll name and charism of commitment to the mission of Jesus Christ, sharing God’s love with people worldwide. Raymond J. Finch, M.M., Publisher MisionerosMaryknoll.org/RevistaMisioneros 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 Magazine of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers 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.

2 WINTER 2021 MARYKNOLL • VOLUME 115 • NUMBER 1 MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 3 Photo meditation on St. Joseph Joseph, the Carpenter By Joseph R. Veneroso, M.M.

What can Joseph, the Just, do When the very same Law To which he’d dedicated his life Demands he betray and expose The young woman who was to be His beloved wife?

What can Joseph, the Silent, say When his critics complain Her shame and infidelity Deserve nothing less than death? Image by Pexels from Pixabay Image by Pexels

4 WINTER 2021 MARYKNOLL • VOLUME 115 • NUMBER 1 MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 5 How can Joseph, the Dreamer, respond When an angel first comforts Then disturbs his sleep With heavenly warnings To rise and flee to foreign lands?

When should Joseph, the Carpenter, teach His young son how to use his skill And strength, his hands and feet To work with wood, to feel its heft, To cut along the grain and bear Its weight on his young shoulder?

Behold! Joseph, most chaste, discovers A far more intimate and enduring love Than he ever dared dream, hope or imagine And he of whom Scripture records no words Provides guidance, strength and comfort To magnify the eternal Word. Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay 6 WINTER 2021 MARYKNOLL • VOLUME 115 • NUMBER 1 MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 7 Missioner Tales hat is soil? About two years ago, I began asking this ques- W tion to people from all walks first met Jose when he partici- rom 1997 to 2003, I worked of life, but almost nobody could answer. pated in my first “Theater of the on the polio eradication cam- Some would compare soil to dirt, but IOppressed” group in a parish on Fpaign in Toposaland in what this had a negative connotation that the periphery of João Pessoa, Brazil. is now South Sudan. We trained farmers were somehow dirty and igno- Jose (not his real name) was proba- local health care workers to take rant. Finally, I asked the Karen indige-

bly 20 years old and very active in polio vaccines up to the Kauto pla- nous people I work with at the Research Reuters/Sudan CNS/Mohamed Nureldin, the parish. He had to stop coming teau, above our mission at Good and Training Center for Religio-Cultural to our group when the young wom- Shepherd parish in Nanyangacor. Community in Chiang Mai, Thailand. an he was dating became pregnant. One day, I sent off two strapping They said things like “It is our mother” Now his priority was to maintain his young men—a Maryknoll lay mis- or “The soil gives us life.” In fact, every new family. I lost contact with Jose sioner and a priest from the St. Pat- description they gave about soil was rela- after my family and I transferred to rick’s Missionary Society—with 1,000 tional. They understood our connection São Paulo in 2010. polio vaccine doses boxed in coolers. with the earth. Last year, we were assigned back They were to place three drops of Lawrence Radice, M.M. to João Pessoa and I decided to vis- the vaccine in every child’s mouth it Jose. I found out that after I saw and make a check on a tally sheet. uring the rainy season from May him last, he had separated from his Of course, there is always wastage to October in Malakal, South Su- wife, left the Church and moved when the dropper misses its mark Ddan, the roads are wet with sticky in with some friends. One day he or the kid spits it out, and the drops mud (or “cotton mud,” as the local peo- was so drunk that he suffered an have to be repeated. We aimed for ple call it). accident. At the hospital, he re- 80 percent distribution, expecting One day as I was visiting people in the flected on the direction of his life. 20 percent wastage according to U.N. camp for the Protection of Civilians, He moved to his parents’ home, World Health Organization (WHO) my feet got stuck in the mud. As I tried stopped drinking and got a job. protocols. The young men came to move forward with my boots on, one Jose is now married to another back a couple of days later with their leg became stuck and the boot came off. woman and has two kids, but he did tally sheets carefully marked to re- I tried to balance myself on one leg while not lose contact with his child from cord the distribution of 1,100 doses! attempting to get the other leg back into the first marriage. Jose is studying I was never sure exactly what the boot. to be an accountant and is back happened in the far reaches of To- Finally, three young people came to into theater. He organizes the Holy posaland, but somehow, those two my rescue. Two held my arms as the oth- Week Passion Drama at the parish. young men did what needed to be er put the boot back on my leg. At that His journey reminded me of the done. On Aug. 26, 2020, the WHO moment, I realized how much we need prodigal son. I am happy he found declared polio eradicated from the one another in journeying through the his way back. continent of Africa. difficult, muddy roads of life. Flavio Rocha, MKLM Susan Nagele, MKLM Michael Bassano, M.M.

8 WINTER 2021 MARYKNOLL MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 9 Despite restrictions of COVID-19, a new priest is ordained at Maryknoll Gregory McPhee, a newly ordained Maryknoll priest, is assigned to serve in mission in Bolivia

By David R. Aquije, Photos by Octavio Duran, OFM

he coronavirus pandemic could postpone but not stop the vocational call to the priesthood for the newest member of the Maryknoll Fathers and Broth- ers, Father Gregory McPhee, who was ordained Sat- urday, August 22. Father McPhee’s ordination, originally scheduled for June 6, was postponed because of restrictions due to COVID-19. It was celebrated in August with social dis- tancing precautions, with New York Auxiliary Bishop Edmund J. Whalen administering the sacrament of holy orders at Maryknoll’s Our Lady Queen of Apostles Chapel in Ossining, N.Y. It was a different ordination, the first ordination at Maryknoll that had to take social distance precautions because of the pandemic. Family, friends and other guests were not able to be physically present; there was no choir; only Maryknoll priests and brothers, wearing masks, were seated in the pews, respecting social distance requirements. There were no hugs or handshakes during the sign of peace, only bows; and the Maryknoll staple of an ordination concelebrated by some 50 priests was reduced to the minimum. Yet, as Maryknoll Superior General Father Raymond Finch explained, the ordination of Greg McPhee was different in many ways except for the joy and grati-

10 WINTER 2021 MARYKNOLL MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 11 McPhee is prostrate during his ordination Mass, as other Maryknoll Society members Bishop Edmund J. Whalen anoints Gregory McPhee’s hands with oil, preparing the young respond to the Litany of the Saints, while maintaining social distancing. man for his ministry to bless and consecrate as e Maryknoll missionary priest.

tude of having Greg “as a gift to Fathers Finch and Russell Feldmei- the Church here in New York, in the McPhee “to be the salt and light, Maryknoll and mission.” er, seminary rector, concelebrated Church around the world … one who goes out there and gives “It has definitely been a difficult the ordination liturgy and Father “And as I was driving here today, the flavor of God’s presence in the year for all of us, but one bright spot Michael Walsh served as master of I said, ‘You know, these guys have world.” is Greg’s ordination,” said Father ceremonies. lived like that every day since (Fa- Understanding the significance Finch. “Though we maintained the “It’s a different world … we don’t thers Walsh and Price) came up with of an ordination that, in a way, was protocols of social distancing, the joy know what’s coming tomorrow,” this idea,’ so thank you. Because you closed to the public, Bishop Whalen of this celebration for Greg and the said Bishop Whalen, who, on behalf got it right, we’ll get it right, as long looked into the camera that was Maryknoll Society was palpable. God of Archbishop of New York Cardinal as we remember it’s God who’s the live-streaming the event through so- bless Greg and help him to continue Timothy Dolan, thanked Maryknoll one who’s got it right.” cial media and said: to live his vocation to mission priest- for the gift the Society is for the Congratulating Greg McPhee as “Those of you who are at home, hood in Maryknoll despite all the archdiocese. a newly ordained Maryknoll priest, family, friends, neighbors, co-work- challenges and difficulties. The pan- “All of you (Maryknoll mission- Bishop Whalen said to him: “All that ers, those of you who make it possi- demic has impacted everything that ers) have gone into situations where it is in your life brought you to this ble for Maryknoll to continue, those we do. But God is still at the heart of you didn’t know what was ahead of moment … there was something who are supporters by your prayers our reality, calling us all to the full- you, but you made it work,” Bishop early on in your life that made you and your assistance, thank you for ness of life. That is what mission and Whalen said. “And right now, we think: I want to make a difference.” being with us, thank you for the op- the Church are about.” have no idea what’s ahead of us in Bishop Whalen challenged Father portunity to share, in a different way,

12 WINTER 2021 MARYKNOLL MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 13 From left to right: Maryknoll Superior General Raymond Finch, newly ordained Maryknoll New York Auxiliary Bishop Edmund J. Whalen lays hands on Gregory McPhee, Father Gregory McPhee, Bishop Edmund J. Whalen and Maryknoll Father Russell conferring the gift of the Holy Spirit on the deacon who is about to be ordained a Feldmeier, after McPhee’s ordination, Aug. 22, 2020, at Maryknoll, N.Y. Maryknoll missionary priest, assigned to serve in Bolivia.

what Maryknoll is about: Go out and from home in North Carolina, said blessing to have a priest in the fam- families and faith to deepen in Christ. teach all nations. that the family was deeply disap- ily,” he said. Blessings on your communities to “Everybody out there, all over the pointed that they could not attend “This ordination is a reminder persevere through these challenging world, that is seen in this chapel rep- his ordination in person, but glad that the pandemic cannot control times to a hope-filled future.” resenting the flags of all the nations they could see it online. the vocation seed in a person,” said Later in the day, Father McPhee where Maryknoll serves, we are “The family is very happy and Maryknoll’s vocation director, Fa- received his missionary crucifix at the together, together not because of so proud of Greg. He has found ther Rodrigo Ulloa. “Greg McPhee Maryknoll Sending Ceremony that the Internet, but together because his calling,” she said. “When I was represents a lot to us, especially in presents candidates to the world as of the Gospel, together because of a child, I remember my mother these times. Although his family is Maryknoll missioners. He celebrated the faith, together because of the (Greg’s grandmother) donating to not here today, each person present his first Mass at Maryknoll’s Our Lady sacraments that Greg as a priest will Maryknoll, even though she had in the chapel is a relative of Greg.” Queen of Apostles Chapel on Sun- bring to people all over the world.” very little extra money. She would After the ordination, Greg day, August 23. The ordination’s live stream drew be so thrilled and amazed that Greg McPhee, who was previously a crimi- Father McPhee has been assigned more than 2,200 views around the has joined Maryknoll.” nal defense lawyer in Syracuse, N.Y., to serve in Bolivia. However, it is not world. Greg’s brother, Brian McPhee, said: “I feel good, reborn, a little bit clear when he will travel to Latin Greg’s mother, Carol McPhee, watched the ordination at his home nervous, but uplifted. I ask for your America, due to travel restrictions of who watched her son’s ordination in California. “It is a privilege and a prayers, as I pray for your health, the COVID-19 pandemic.

14 WINTER 2021 MARYKNOLL MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 15 Spirit of Mission

Christ, the fullness of time By Joseph R. Veneroso, M.M.

ne of the first things missioners But, as we inched along, I began to experience when we go over- worry. What does “a little while” mean Oseas is that people have a dif- to a people who literally invented the ferent understanding of time than we concept of eternity? do. Back in the day before modern- The mystery and miracle of Christ- ization, “Korean time” meant anything mas is God didn’t just take on our hu- from 15 minutes to an hour after an man nature but entered fully into time, appointment. In Latin America maña- transforming our chronos (routine, na can mean tomorrow or never. On chronological time) into God’s kai- the other hand, Germans are frustrat- ros (the fullness of time). The eternal ed when Americans arrive even five became finite, the almighty became minutes late. small and vulnerable. The Creator of This 17th century painting by Dutch artist Gerard van Honthorst depicts the adoration of the Christ Child, who came “in the fullness of time.” (CNS photo/Uffizi Gallery/Florence/Italy) Once, in 1986, I was traveling in the universe deigned to be born in Egypt with a Maryknoll photogra- a small galaxy, in a minuscule solar pher. We hopped a cab in Cairo for system, on an insignificant planet, in in place, whether they realized it or celebrate the birth of Christ, since an appointment in suburban Heliop- a remote corner of the empire, to an not. In other words, the Messiah fi- the exact date is not mentioned in the oppressed people, in nally came, not when the world was Gospels, the Church chose what was a little village. ready, not when it was holy or perfect, then the darkest day of the year (the The Messiah finally came, not when Centuries before, but rather when the time was right. winter solstice in the Northern Hemi- the prophet Micah Jesus announced the chronos of the sphere) to emphasize that Christ, our the world was ready, not when it foretold Bethlehem kingdom had come: at the right time, true Light, came when humankind was by no means in the right place, through the right needed him most. was holy or perfect, but rather when least among the events, in the right person. Catholicism encourages us to ask tribes of Judah, for So wonderful and amazing were what God is calling us to do with this the time was right. from it would come the birth, life, teachings, death and precious, irreplaceable gift of time. one to shepherd Is- resurrection of Jesus that Western St. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:2, rael—the promised civilization divides history between “Behold, now is an acceptable time; olis. Stuck in a perpetual traffic jam and long-awaited Messiah! B.C. (before Christ) and A.D. (Anno behold, now is the day of salvation.” where camels and donkeys vie with St. Paul writes to both Galatians Domini — Year of the Lord), conse- Christ continues to transform our cars, buses and trucks, we asked the and Ephesians that Christ came “in crating humanity, history and time in chronos into kairos. Christ calls us driver, “How long will this take?” the fullness of time.” The prophesies, the process. each year to begin anew. Our faith re- “Just a little while,” he replied. the expectations, the people were all When early Christians wanted to sponds: “It’s about time.”

16 WINTER 2021 MARYKNOLL MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 17 DISPLACED BY WAR Maryknoll priest describes life for internally displaced persons IN SOUTH SUDAN in a U.N. camp in Africa By Michael Bassano, M.M.

eople ask me, “What is it like to be an internally displaced Pperson?” I answer from my experience as the chaplain in a U.N. camp for in- ternally displaced persons (IDPs) in South Sudan. Our camp, about six kilometers (3.7 miles) outside the northeast town of Malakal, is one of the most congested camps in the country. Approximately 30,000 peo- ple are cramped next to each other in plastic tarps or tin-sheet houses. Each family receives a two-month supply of sorghum, cooking oil, soap and cereal mix for the children, which is provided by the World Food Programme and is just enough for them to live on. These people have been here since they were forced to flee their homes during the country’s civil war that began in 2013, when Pres- ident Salva Kiir, of the Dinka ethnic group, accused Vice President Riek Machar, of the Nuer ethnic group, of attempting a coup d’état. The conflict ignited old feuds be- tween the country’s multiple ethnic groups. It escalated into a war that claimed some 400,000 lives and dis- placed millions of others, within and beyond South Sudan’s borders. When I first arrived in this camp in November 2014, we had no place to worship and had to ask the Unit- ed Nations for help. We were given the use of a small tent for Sunday

Before COVID-19, Father Bassano visits U.N. camp outside Malakal. (Courtesy of Michael Bassano/South Sudan) 18 WINTER 2021 MARYKNOLL • VOLUME 115 • NUMBER 1 MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 19 worship. We then moved to a struc- ture of plastic sheeting and wood- en poles and eventually to a bigger church made of zinc tin sheeting. Our Catholic community was com- posed of three ethnic groups: Din- ka and Nuer as well as the Shilluk. Our goal as the people of God with all three groups represented was to show to all in the camp that we could live peacefully together as one family of God. Achieving that goal has been a struggle. People still remember the fateful days in February 2016 when government soldiers broke through the fence in our camp and armed the Dinka people living here. To- gether the military and the Dinka began shooting at the Shilluk and Nuer people. They burned all of the Nuer homes and one-third of Shilluk homes. The Dinka were then escort- ed to Malakal to occupy the homes Outside their houses, mothers and children in U.N. camp for displaced persons greet of the Shilluk. Such painful memo- their chaplain, Maryknoll Father Michael Bassano. (Courtesy of Michael Bassano/South Sudan) ries will take a long time to heal. With God’s help, we in the camp of worship in March, we decided at ed governor. Interethnic fighting the camp, we will also be killed like have become a vibrant community the suggestion of our Bishop Ste- continues, resulting in the rape of my uncle.” of faith. My primary role has been phen Nyodho to record and broad- women, abduction of children and Chanchuok John, the leader of not only presiding at the Eucharist cast our liturgical service over our cattle raiding. our youth group, is tired of living on Sundays but animating and en- public radio station, Nile Radio. We A young woman of our church in this camp and longs to go home couraging all the activities of a typ- became a church of the radio waves! named Rebecca Lochano lost her and continue his career as a teach- ical parish, such as: Legion of Mary, Living in an IDP camp for so long uncle recently. He was the attor- er. “But how can we leave this place youth group, adult and children’s has certainly taken its toll on the ney general of Malakal. A member when there is still no peace in the choirs, religious education classes people. They want to return to of the Shilluk ethnic group, he was country and we fear for our lives if for those preparing for the sacra- their homes. The United Nations killed by a gunman of the Dinka we leave here?” he asks. “I am of ments, and Bible study. is encouraging them to do so, but group. Rebecca, who is Shilluk, can- the Shilluk tribe and all our lands Many U.N. organizations and they are afraid to leave because of not understand why such killing here in Upper Nile have been taken community leaders in the camp sporadic fighting throughout the continues against her ethnic group, over by another ethnic group. Our have asked to use our church for country that persists although a now the camp’s largest group. land has been grabbed and taken workshops on human rights and peace agreement was signed in Sep- “This is why we cannot leave the away from us.” peacebuilding. Our church has come tember 2018. Around our area of camp,” she told me. “No matter The journey to peace, reconcilia- to be recognized as a place of wel- Upper Nile State, one of 10 states in where we go, our homes are occu- tion and justice is still a long road come for all. South Sudan, there is political insta- pied by another group and we fear ahead. So, our internally displaced When COVID-19 closed all houses bility because we have no appoint- for our own safety, that if we leave people remain in the camp with the

20 WINTER 2021 MARYKNOLL MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 21 Where It’s Most Needed Your prayers and gifts Leave a Lasting Legacy make our mission work possible. Together, we A will ensures that Gifts of Annuities your loved ones are respond to our brothers Give now and create a and sisters most in need, provided for in the future. source of income for the Including Maryknoll helping the world’s most remainder of your life or vulnerable children Fathers and Brothers in the life of a loved one. your will secures your and families, as well as Deferred gift annuities supporting our projects in commitment to helping provide future income. the poor and sharing the U.S. MaryknollSociety.org/Annuities MaryknollSociety.org/MostNeeded God’s love around the world. Charitable IRA Gifts Gifts of Securities MaryknollSociety.org/Legacy Those 70½ and older can Make a difference in the You can complete your gift by transfer up to $100,000 lives of the poor with a gift of securities. Receive a following the website links per year while supporting above or by contacting our fixed income by donating our mission work and Gift Planning Representatives enjoy significant tax appreciated securities at 1-888-627-9566 or email At a U.N. project on COVID-19 awareness, a youth shows her drawing of the need for savings. Consider making to fund a charitable gift [email protected] handwashing to prevent the spread of the virus. (Courtesy of Michael Bassano/South Sudan) Maryknoll Fathers and annuity. Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers MaryknollSociety.org/Securities Brothers the beneficiary PO Box 302, Maryknoll, NY 10545 hope of one day returning home. Recently, one of the youths of our of a retirement plan for a MaryknollSociety.org Meanwhile, COVID-19 is spreading church, Hadia Duoth, called me and future gift. in the camp. As of the middle of Oc- said: “Father, how is the coronavirus MaryknollSociety.org/IRAGifts tober, we had 46 confirmed cases in with you?” the camp, out of the total of 112 in I told her thankfully it was staying Upper Nile State. With people living away from me! I asked her if she and so close together here, the head of her family were OK and keeping the the U.N. camp said she is “concerned health guidelines. “We are fine and the camp will become the epicenter not sick,” she said. of the virus in Upper Nile State.” We finished our conversation Overall there were almost 2,800 hoping that one day we will see cases throughout the country. each other again, celebrating in our I am restricted from going into the church with our faith community. camp because of my age (71), but there are still things to do. I go around Maryknoll Father Michael Bassano every day encouraging our U.N. staff is from Binghamton, N.Y. He served and keep in touch with members of previously as a missioner in Chile, our church through phone calls. Thailand and Tanzania.

(Courtesy of Father Joseph Thaler, M.M./Nepal) 22 WINTER 2021 MARYKNOLL MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 23 ‘Our people have already canonized them’

By Rhina Guidos

Forty years after killings, Salvadoran city claims Maryknoll sisters as its own Sisters Ita Ford (l.) and Maura Clarke, together before their murders. (Nancy Donovan/El Salvador)

n a bright and clear after- Jean Donovan were raped and mur- noon, Bishop Oswaldo Es- dered by Salvadoran military just Ocobar Aguilar walks into a as the country’s civil war and the cemetery in Chalatenango, El Sal- bloodshed that engulfed poor Cath- vador, and gently dusts off a white olic communities like Chalatenango nameplate on top of a sky-blue was igniting. block of tombs. He tells his secretary Today, four decades after their standing nearby that they need to deaths, the women are remem- make sure the tombs are decorated bered not because of how they died with flowers for Dec. 2. but as examples of Christian lives That’s the day in 1980 when two well lived, with the words “martyrs” of the three U.S. Maryknoll sisters and “saints” used by those keeping buried in the cemetery were killed their memory alive. near the country’s capital of San Their images appear in murals of Salvador, along with two other U.S. Salvadoran martyrs, such as the one Catholic women. While their killings in Zaragoza, in the department of shocked people throughout El Sal- La Libertad, where Sister Kazel and vador and the United States, the loss Donovan lived. of the Maryknollers was felt person- In the 1980s, remembers Father ally in this Diocese of Chalatenango, Manuel Acosta, the community of in northern El Salvador, where the Chalatenango began a quiet re- women lived and served. membrance, with a Mass and pro- Maryknoll Sisters Maura Clarke cession on the anniversary of the and Ita Ford, Ursuline Sister Dorothy women’s deaths, with particular in- Lay Missioner Jean Donovan (l.) and Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel were members of Kazel and Cleveland Lay Missionary terest in the two Maryknoll sisters the Cleveland Diocese mission team in El Salvador. (Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland Archives)

24 WINTER 2021 MARYKNOLL MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 25 who lived and worked there, tying After receiving a letter from their deaths to the collective sacri- then-Archbishop Oscar Romero of fice of local Catholic martyrs. San Salvador requesting more mis- “That’s how Bishop Eduardo Alas sioners, the Maryknoll Sisters con- Alfaro wanted it,” said Father Acos- gregation increased its presence in ta, recalling the mandate from the the country just as the conflict was first bishop of Chalatenango, who beginning. Sisters Clarke and Ford insisted on honoring the sisters. “He were sent to lead Bible study groups wanted it to be the day of the assas- among the hungry, exploited masses sination of the Maryknollers and he in Chalatenango. Although Dono- said, ‘This is the way we’ll preserve van and Sister Kazel lived in another their memory.’ ” part of the country, they often trav- That was not an easy undertaking eled to Chalatenango to meet with during El Salvador’s civil war. Chalat- Sisters Clarke and Ford and organize enango—poor and rural and whose transportation of food and medi- residents were often suspected of cine and sometimes wounded chil- siding with leftist rebels—was often dren to safety. the target of bombings and massa- Sister Carla Piette, the third Mary- cres during the 1980-1992 war. More knoll sister buried in the Chalat- than 50 massacres are believed to enango cemetery, served the same have taken place there. community. She drowned earlier Maryknoll Sister Maura Clarke, who was martyred in El Salvador, served the people of Nicaragua during Anastasio Somoza’s dictatorship. (Maryknoll Sisters Communications Dept.)

that year, on Aug. 23, 1980, after of helicopters, trucks and soldiers. the car she was driving was swept “Chalatenango is just absolutely away in a flash flood. While Sisters civil war at the moment,” she ob- Ford and Clarke were buried with served. A few weeks before she Sister Piette in El Salvador in keep- died, she spoke of wanting to leave ing with Maryknoll practice, the El Salvador, but felt unable to do so bodies of Sister Kazel and Donovan because of the children, “the poor were returned to the United States. bruised victims of this insanity.” “They were loved. They were “They came to embody the Salva- good sisters,” recalled Father Mar- doran reality; they came here to be cos Tulio León, pastor of Immaculate poor, to be persecuted; they came to Conception parish in Nueva Concep- endure what all the poor endured at ción, who attended Sister Piette’s that time, which was persecution,” funeral. “They worked with the Father Acosta said of the women. poor with complete surrender.” “They left their culture, they left In diary entries and letters, read their comfort, and they came here in the 1982 documentary Roses in to live the daily life of the poor.” December, Donovan, who trained Even in death, the women were as a lay missionary via a Maryknoll victims of the same repression com- program, chronicled the violence of mitted against the country’s poor, the region just months before her said Bishop Escobar. Officials from Maryknoll Sisters Carla Piette, tallest, and Ita Ford, in light-colored sweater, worked in death, and spoke of bodies found the U.S. government, which was Chile before going to El Salvador, where both died. (Maryknoll Sisters Communications Dept.) along the road, and of the presence supporting the Salvadoran govern-

26 WINTER 2021 MARYKNOLL MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 27 ment at that time, even suggested Archbishop Romero, who is now of- that the women could have been ficially a saint. CONCERN FOR CREATION at fault, calling them “activists” “Maura, Ita, Dorothy and Jean and later suggesting they had run a need no ‘official’ recognition of roadblock and that that led to their sainthood for they are already rec- deaths—not taking into account ognized as saints by the people of El their rapes. Their bodies were found Salvador and by all of us who hold shot execution style in the back of their memory sacred,” echoed Sister the head and stacked one on top of Antoinette Gutzler, president of the another in a shallow grave. Maryknoll Sisters. “They could have lived in better “On Dec. 2, we Maryknoll Sisters conditions in their native country once again recall and embrace the than here, but, not only did they memory of our sister martyrs who show solidarity with the poor, they were deeply imbued with the Gos- suffered the same fate as the poor, pel of Jesus and love for the poor,” the thousands of murdered cate- Sister Gutzler said. “From the com- chists, delegates of the Word, at the munion of saints, they challenge us hands of a bloody repression,” Bish- with words from the prophet Micah, op Escobar said in a CNS interview. that we ‘act justly, love tenderly and “In fact, we celebrate on Dec. 2 walk humbly with God.’ ” the thousands of martyrs of Chalat- While the COVID-19 pandemic enango in honor of them,” he said, brought the 40th anniversary com- “and chose that date in honor of memoration of St. Romero’s martyr- them and accept them as martyrs of dom to a halt in March, Church offi- Chalatenango, along with the thou- cials in Chalatenango said they will N.Sprague/Peru sands who died here.” continue with plans to mark the 40th Bishop Escobar said that while he anniversary of the women’s martyr- Please help Maryknoll Sisters like Sister Patricia Ryan (center) cannot officially canonize anyone, dom, including the annual Martyrs continue to encourage indigenous people to voice their right he believes the women are saints. of Chalatenango Mass, a blessing “They are because they were mar- of the Maryknoll sisters’ tombs and, to a clean environment. tyrs, because they lived out the perhaps, a bilingual program via live ✁ Gospel of Jesus Christ to the most stream on Facebook as part of a dig-  $10  $25  $50  $100  Other $ ______extreme of consequences,” he said. ital pilgrimage for those who can’t However, opening a cause of can- make it in person. Name: ______onization, he said, would be a com- “For us, it’s important that those Address: ______plicated matter because the women in the U.S. understand that they belonged to different religious or- were martyred for the Gospel,” City: ______State: ______Zip: ______ders, were from different dioceses, Bishop Escobar said, calling the I will pay by: q Check q AMEX q MasterCard q Visa q Discover and from a different country. women “true saints” and compar- Credit Card #: ______Exp. Date: ___ /___ (mm/yy) “Our people have already canon- ing them to the first saints, the ized them,” said Father Acosta. “I early Christian martyrs. Name on Card: ______Signature: ______don’t doubt that they’re saints, that q I am not a sponsor but wish to become one. I’ll send $____ each month. they’re martyrs. To me they are the Rhina Guidos, a native of Chalat- EN01 martyred women of 1980,” shar- enango Diocese, El Salvador, is a Maryknoll Sisters To learn about becoming a Maryknoll Sister, ing the same year of martyrdom as reporter for Catholic News Service. Making God's love visible © contact [email protected] Box 312, Maryknoll, NY 10545-0312

28 WINTER 2021 MARYKNOLL You can also donate on our website: www.maryknollsisters.org • 1-866-662-9900 cal soccer game that afternoon, to constantly, put you against a wall, A Listener Healer speak with players and other youth search and harass you, strip you of and after the game. “Fear, anxiety, lone- your shirt (checking for tattoos), By Rick Dixon, MKLM liness are what so many of our youth and detain you in public, half naked. continue to live today,” he said and Under these circumstances, it’s added this advice, “It doesn’t take no coincidence kids make a beeline In El Salvador, a handyman repairs human spirits much: A simple comment like nice for Agustin’s house when they see goal, good pass, or how’s your knee trouble. And on any Saturday, you ne of the beautiful privi- he was fighting in the bloodiest bat- after that shot you took last week? see Agustin on the soccer field or O leges of mission is learning tle of the war, the rebel offensive Kids light up with such comments.” patio of his home sharing with kids, from the people of our host on San Salvador in November 1989. In our community of La Esperanza listening to their stories, feeling country and seeing life from their He knows the demons of anxiety, so many children end up half aban- every word, letting the strength of perspective. Agustin de la Rosa Reyes fear and loneliness. “It’s where so doned and orphaned when one shared experience work its healing. is one who has brought richness to much sickness takes root,” he says. or both parents emigrate. Young my life here in El Salvador, where I One Saturday morning during our people cannot cross from one side Maryknoll Lay Missioner Rick serve as a Maryknoll lay missioner. base community meeting, which of town to the other in peace for Dixon, from Orange, Calif., facil- He is a husband, father of three, he coordinates, he shared his story fear of gangs. And throughout El itates base communities, adult lit- and earns his living as a handyman. of war trauma, not as an isolated Salvador, especially in poor commu- eracy, youth development and job He knows how to adjust the chain piece of personal history but as a nities, you’d think it’s a crime to be skills in the La Esperanza commu- on his son’s bicycle and change the narrative belonging to something young. Police and soldiers stop you nity of Cojutepeque, El Salvador. throttle tube on my cheap Chinese much bigger. He shared it as moti- motorcycle. But by vocation he’s a lis- vation for us to join him at the lo- Agustin de la Rosa Reyes mentors kids in La Esperanza. (Rick Dixon/El Salvador) tener and healer. He has taught me a lot about mentoring and listening. He learned these skills in hard times. As a teenager during El Salvador’s civil war, he hid from anything that wore green and moved with boots: the Army, the National Guard, the Marines. They all needed manpower for their war machine, which Agus- tin wanted nothing to do with. As soldiers swept through the com- munity forcibly recruiting kids, Agustin, thin, light and clever, had found a favorite place to hide: on roofs of corrugated metal. He managed to escape until he decided to visit his sister in the capi- tal, where the National Guard swept him up in a raid at the central market while he was buying fruit, unthink- able to arrive at his sister’s house empty-handed. Three months later

30 WINTER 2021 MARYKNOLL MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 31 “We need to develop the awareness that nowadays we are either all saved together or no one is saved. Poverty, decadence and Sean Sprague/Thailand suffering in one part of the earth are a silent breeding ground for problems that will end up affecting the entire planet.”

— POPE FRANCIS Fratelli Tutti: On Fraternity and Social Friendship

Caption goes here..eandam quis undit em que provit quatio te receribus.

32 WINTER 2021 MARYKNOLL • VOLUME 115 • NUMBER 1 MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 33 FINDING Christmas lost and found

Christmas It’s Christmas again We live too close to mystery Poems and photos by Martin Shea, M.M. Even the words have lost the mystery of Christmas again Christmas again, ever old and yet arty Shea has been a Maryknoll brother for 70 but where shall we look? newer than ever years. He is 90 years old and, although officially re- where is the stable? already among us tired as a missioner, he is looking forward to going the young mother with the child? the child of violence and war Mback to Guatemala, the beloved country where he served for al- the woman searching for a place most 50 years. He just wants to be there with the people. where shall we look He arrived in Guatemala in 1966, six years into the 36-year civil in a world where He is out of place? beyond poverty and desperation war that killed more than 200,000 people. He witnessed massa- a place to give life cres in the jungles of El Petén, walked with thousands of people Shall we look in the same old places? in the Bethlehems of our world who fled their villages into exile in Campeche, Mexico, lived with Shall we look at all? the people at the refugee camps, and helped many of them re- Or … shall we look Christmas turn to their homeland after the war ended. He accompanied among those who do not belong time of mystery those who were relocated to the town of Santa Rita in El Petén. those born on the margin of our time of gift giving Being in Guatemala through the horrors of the civil war and world and the gift is already given seeing the people crossing the Usumacinta River into Mexico to in the stables of stick and tarpaper the promises fulfilled save their families was a turning point in his life, he says. He dis- in cardboard shelter of our cities amid the stars and stables covered a deeper, personal meaning of mission: “I found that my among the refuse and refugees? of our world vocation is to save the kids,” Brother Marty says. With a simple camera, he documented their faces and wrote reflections and poetry to describe their life in the midst of suffer- There It’s Christmas ing at a refugee camp. In the process he found Christmas. He again finds a place and the God of newness The following poems and pictures are a prayer for refugees, among those for whom calls us to awaken. immigrants and the poor in Guatemala and around the world. there is no room

34 WINTER 2021 MARYKNOLL MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 35 Preferential Option for the Poor

Bethlehem wasn’t a mistake It was divine design in time in place in silence in darkness in poverty The birth for which the world awaits Takes place in a stable God makes the preferential option for us in our poverty darkness not knowing God is born to us our poverty is transformed Creator mingles with the created It is certainly a wonder … mystery but no mistake. Just a little smile

I was remembering a Christmas in a refugee camp no gifts but then in came Irma with her smile … just her smile So, I still remember that Christmas and the gifts of Irma’s smile.

36 WINTER 2021 MARYKNOLL MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 37 Jesus said, "Follow me..." — Matthew 4:19 COMPASSION ADVENTURE MERCY Interested in a life of adventure while serving God's call? The Secret of Christmas

Have we missed the message of Christmas? These kids aren’t refugees They are mystery They are the living love of God God-with-us God-in-us God playing outside our stables.

They are the secret of Christmas That brought down God from heaven On a cold night like last night They are a noisy parable Contact: Fr. Rodrigo Ulloa Calling us to look at the stable once again Vocation Director If we can touch God in them Then God can touch us again [email protected] in the wonder (914) 941-7590 x2416 and mystery and magic of our very own Christmas. Maryknoll Father Rodrigo Ulloa in China. (Nile Sprague) MaryknollVocations.org 38 WINTER 2021 M ARYKNOLL MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 39 In Memoriam Please pray for our Maryknoll missioners who died during the past year.

Father John F. Ahearn Sister Cheryl Allam Father Robert F. Astorino Brother Victor E. Marshall Brother Luke R. Baldwin Sister Veronica Mary Martin Sister Lorraine Beinkafner Father Gerard T. McCrane Sister Joan Berninger Father J. Donald Mc Ginnis Sister Camille Marie Black Sister Rose Christopher McKeegan Father J. Ernest Brunelle Father Daniel F. McLaughlin Sister Frances Calcaterra Bishop William J. McNaughton Sister Anne Callahan Father Manuel J. Mejía Father John J. Casey Sister Jean Mary Michalec Sister Joan Crevcoure Brother Donald R. Miriani Father Donald J. Doherty Father Gerald J. Nagle Father Thomas F. Donnelly Sister Patricia Noble Sister Bernadette Cordis Duggan Sister Andrée Normandin Sister Mary Lee Englerth Father Brendan M. O’Connell Sister Virginia Farrell Father Richard T. Ouellette Father Adam B. Gudalefsky Sister Joan Peltier Sister Rose Guercio Sister Constance Pospisil Sister Madeleine Giusto Sister Mary Powers Sister Patricia Hafey Father Richard J. Quinn Father Frederick J. Hegarty Sister Marian Dolores Schumacher Father Francis B. Higdon Father Donald F. Sybertz Father John P. Hudert Father John J. Vinsko Sister Agnes Mary Joy Father John-Daly J. Walsh Father Martin P. Keegan Sister Alice Wengrzynek Sister Helen Kenny Father Arthur H. Wille Father Joseph W. Kowalczyk Father Peter A. Wu Father Ernest C. Lukaschek Sister Marie Christelle Zabalerio 40 WINTER 2021 MARYKNOLL • VOLUME 115 • NUMBER 1 MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 41 Image by S. Hermann & F. Richter from Pixabay Hermann & F. Image by S. A lay missioner’s legal advocacy—with the prayers and support of BEATING THE ODDS WITH many—changes a life

ou have met your burden stepfather and has never returned AN IMMIGRATION CASE “ of proof and I’m going to to her native Mexico. She spent her Ygrant your application for life living under the radar, never cancellation of removal.” With able to get a “legitimate” job be- By Heidi Cerneka, MKLM those words from an immigration judge recently, Elizabeth’s life changed forever. “I can get a job! I can get a paycheck,” Elizabeth ex- claimed. “I can have an ID and not look over my shoulder all the time.” Elizabeth was brought to the United States at the age of 3 by her mother and

Heidi Cerneka (l.) offers legal aid to migrants on the U.S. border. (Meinrad Scherer-Emunds/U.S.)

42 WINTER 2021 MARYKNOLL • VOLUME 115 • NUMBER 1 MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 43 mestic violence—but he did. This caused her to pop up on the immi- gration radar, and she got placed in removal (deportation) proceedings. This started our 16-month journey together. I am a pro bono attorney for migrants and took her case. So many factors got in the way of Elizabeth’s chances of winning this case—misdemeanors in her record as well as some unhealthy survivor skills she had developed during the trauma and abuse she suffered as a child and adult. But Elizabeth was her own best advocate—speaking up for herself in court, and writing out in detail her story, to be includ- ed in her application to the judge. (I edited it down to 16 pages, sin- gle-spaced, because I thought the judge might stop reading!) Someone asked me why Elizabeth Back home, Elizabeth (third from right) rejoices with her family and Cerneka (print dress). never got legal status in the 29 years (Coralis Salvador/U.S.) cause she had no proof of identifica- she has been in the United States. Of tion and no Social Security number. course, she wanted to, but adjusting Her story is not so different from status is expensive; it’s complicat- those of many people who came to ed and requires a lot of documents the United States as young children and proof. For instance, you need and never benefited from legal sta- clear proof that you have lived here, tus. Elizabeth is now 32. She was in which is hard to get when you can’t a committed relationship for seven sign a lease. She didn’t have the years with the man she married and money, and she was busy supporting thought would be her partner for- a husband and children by herself. ever. But in the end, he was abusive, In order to win her case, to have violent and contributed nothing to the judge cancel her removal from support the family. She finally broke the United States, we had to prove free of that relationship to live safe- that: She has maintained presence ly with her children. in the United States; she suffered In May 2019 Elizabeth was de- battery and extreme cruelty at the tained after an argument with a hands of her U.S.-citizen husband; former boyfriend led to a physical she has good moral character; she is fight. The fight triggered her own not inadmissible (that is, not subject trauma. When the police were to certain factors that would not al- called, she did not press charges— low her to be admitted to the Unit- Elizabeth is flanked by her attorney Heidi Cerneka (left) and paralegal Connie Lara. not uncommon for survivors of do- ed States, such as drug trafficking) (Courtesy of Heidi Cerneka/U.S.)

44 WINTER 2021 MARYKNOLL MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 45 Victorious Elizabeth proudly displays her Green Card, which signifies she is legally authorized to live and work in the United States permanently. (Coralis Salvador/U.S.)

and that moving to Mexico would to hold Elizabeth, the judge and me cause extreme hardship to her and in prayer the day of the hearing. her children if they were deported. That day, we walked into court It was a tall order. armed with her truth and carried by I believed in Elizabeth and her so many people. right to cancel her removal and stay Elizabeth was candid and genu- here with her whole family (she was ine each time she stood before the the oldest child and her younger sib- judge. He found her credible and, lings are all U.S. citizens, as are her despite criminal charges that could own children). have sunk her, he found her to be a Our odds were really bad. But I person of good moral character. never gave up believing that she While the odds were against us, had the right to put her case out Elizabeth kept saying to me, “I have there and the right to stay. I just a good feeling. If it is true that faith knew it was not very likely that the the size of a mustard seed can move judge would see it that way. mountains, well, my faith is much Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy bigger than that.” Center, where I work in El Paso, Tex- Three days after winning, Eliz- as, is an amazing community-based, abeth went home for good. I got nonprofit organization. By the time a text when she arrived that said, Elizabeth and I went to her final “Thank you for everything. Finally, hearing, we had counted probably home with the family. God bless you 20 partners who had helped with and see you soon.” Our joy was com- her case—psychologists, attorneys, plete when her Green Card came a social workers, paralegals and in- few months later. terns, volunteers, her doctors who sent letters of support, a recovery This reflection was originally pub- partner and more. lished by the Maryknoll Lay Mission- I also called on a group of people ers on August 21.

46 WINTER 2021 MARYKNOLL MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 47 words that enlighten,” and lead us to pope’s treatment of the text. Like all Orbis Books Spotlight conversion. the characters in the Gospel, we are As Father Ronald Witherup, the su- challenged to distinguish between Preview by Paul McMahon perior general of the Sulpician order the false understandings and the true and Scripture scholar, notes in his identity of Jesus that is only revealed foreword, Pope Francis “makes no at the foot of the cross. claims to be a biblical scholar, but it is Like the Roman centurion, are we evident that his reflections are always able to declare, “Truly, this man was rooted in the biblical text.” the Son of God”? While all four Gospels tell the same Readers have the option of reflect- basic story, Scripture scholars usually ing on the entire Gospel from begin- regard the Gospel of Mark, the short- ning to end or selecting fragments of est and earliest one, as presenting the a passage for prayer. most human Jesus. As we meditate on these reflec- However, it is probably because tions of Pope Francis on the Gospel we can identify so naturally with this of Mark, may we come to know Je- very human Jesus and the other char- sus more intimately and not only be acters in this Gospel that I find it the challenged by the question, “Who do most challenging as a disciple, espe- you say that I am?” that Jesus asks cially when Jesus asks of Peter in the of each of us, but also be open to the middle (or heart) of the Gospel, “But conversion that living our discipleship who do you say that I am?” demands in today’s world. The issue of Jesus’ identity—a central theme in the overall struc- Paul McMahon is acquisitions editor ture of Mark—is also clear in the for Maryknoll’s Orbis Books.

his second volume in the series is prayer, there is the Holy Spirit, yes, of reflections on the Gospels but it is also a good practice to pick ✁ Tfrom Pope Francis is a perfect up the Gospel every day. … It is the guide through the liturgical year of only way to know Jesus—to know M0121 the Gospel of Mark. Taken from the what he did, what he said.” Please send: copies of #390-8 Gospel of Mark @ $22.00 each pope’s homilies, speeches and ad- As a Jesuit, the pope is grounded in Standard Shipping: FREE dresses, each reflection draws upon the practice of the Spiritual Exercises *CA, CT, DC, FL, IL, KY, LA, MN, NY, OH, TX, WA, WI Sales tax*: the miracles, parables and teachings of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of Jesus that are presented in this of the order, and knows the strength q Check enclosed q MC q VISA q AMEX q DISC TOTAL: Gospel. that comes from contemplating the As he did in the earlier spiritual and life of Christ daily. Pope Francis is Name pastoral reading of the Gospel of Mat- aware that no matter how many times Address E-mail thew, Pope Francis brings the stories we return to the same Gospel story, City State Zip Phone of Jesus alive and provides insights new inspiration and insights for our that call us to a richer discipleship own life and vocation emerge. Card Number CVV of contemplation and action. For ex- Take the stories of the miracles, Exp: Signature: ample, the pope says that “to know for example, which the pope sees Orbis Books • POB 302 • Maryknoll, NY 10545-0302 Jesus, one must first be able to rec- as “signs” that “encourage our faith, 1-800-258-5838 • M-F, 8-4 ET • Online: www.orbisbooks.com ognize him. And to know Jesus, there signs that are always accompanied by use code M0121 for FREE standard shipping!

48 WINTER 2021 MARYKNOLL MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 49 People had two days to prepare to take one suitcase into camps. (Photos courtesy of Helen Parra) TWO DADAYSYS AND ONE SUITCASE

By Margaret Gaughan

California woman tells how her family shared life with Japanese-Americans in internment camps

t 87 years old, Helen Han- enough to say, ‘Two days and one nan Parra is on a mission: to suitcase? What on earth are they Atell everyone she can about talking about?’ And they might pick the unjust imprisonment of Japa- up the book.” nese-Americans during World War Such readers will meet young Hel- II, “so something like this will never en Hannan as she, her sister Mari, happen again.” 16, and brother Larry, 14, are learn- Parra was 12 years old in 1945 ing why they will be leaving their when her father, a lawyer, took his “cushy” life in a Chicago suburb to family with him and went to work in live among people who had only two of the 10 relocation centers the two days to prepare to leave their U.S. government had set up to seg- life behind. The evacuees were per- regate Japanese-Americans shortly mitted to take only whatever be- after Japan’s bombing of Pearl Har- longings they could squeeze into bor on Dec. 7, 1941. one tiny suitcase before being herd- “I realized this was horrible and ed into so-called relocation camps. actually started writing a book “My dad told us about Executive about it under my bed,” says Par- Order 9066, which President Frank- ra, referring to the mass incarcera- lin D. Roosevelt signed on Feb. 19, tion of people she came to know. 1942. FDR was under pressure from Though she lost her notes years ago, those afraid that people of Japanese the octogenarian from Sacramen- ancestry could turn against us. That to, Calif., never lost her memories. order resulted in our country impris- She shares them from her child- oning 120,000 people, two-thirds of hood perspective in Two Days and them U.S. citizens,” says Parra. One Suitcase, the book she recently When the war in Europe was wrote with author Anne Neuberger over, she explains, her father, who (see sidebar, page 55). had been in the Army training Explaining the title, she says, “I troops for Europe, felt that in- was aiming the book toward young stead of going back to his law firm, teenagers, who might be curious he had to go and help the Japa-

50 WINTER 2021 MARYKNOLL MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 51 Mari Hannan is flanked by two of her friends, Aki (left) and Toshi, whom she met when Tule Lake Segregation Center, the last of the relocation centers to close, in 1946, was her friends and their families were interned in Tule Lake Segregation Center in California. surrounded by barbed wire fencing and guarded from towers by soldiers with guns.

nese-Americans prepare for reset- en and bathroom, the Japanese The Hannans were not alone in understand they were good people tlement as the camps were being internees live in barracks where their compassion. In both camps and good people have been perse- closed. “My mother agreed,” says crowded quarters contain no kitch- they met Maryknoll priests who had cuted throughout history.” Parra. “So off we went, first to en or bathroom. Internees must come into these prisons to be with Father Hunt, she says, was more Grenada War Relocation Center in eat in a mess hall and use common the people. about the corporal works of mercy. Colorado, better known as Camp bathrooms that afford no privacy. Parra’s face lights up when she “He would go into town and shop Amache, and then to Tule Lake Precocious Helen says: “The whole talks about Father John Swift, who for the people, who were not al- Segregation Center in California.” world was at war, but why should served in Amache, and Father Jo- lowed to leave the camp. Imagine Readers of Two Days and One one group of Americans be put in seph Hunt in Tule Lake. the poor man having to buy so many Suitcase follow the Hannans into jail?” As an adult she expresses the Father Swift had served in a things for so many people! But that the camps. As they enter Camp same disbelief: “These people had parish in Los Angeles with pre- is what he did until my sister Mari Amache, young Helen’s first im- done nothing wrong, but suddenly dominantly Japanese-American took over the shopping.” pression is of the barbed wire fence they were the enemy because they parishioners. “He simply picked up Father Hunt, says Parra, had served surrounding the area. “It made me looked like the enemy.” the parish and moved it into the as a missioner in Korea and Japan think of a fierce animal with bared She and her siblings, following the camp,” Parra says. Besides offer- and had come to Tule Lake shortly teeth,” she says. At the guard example of their parents, were deter- ing Mass and the sacraments, she after returning to the United States house, where her dad has to show mined to do all they could to make says, he offered the spiritual works in 1942. She recalls him bundling as his identification, Helen is scared by life a little more bearable for the in- of mercy. “These people were so many interned children as possible a guard with “a very long gun.” ternees: inviting their new Japanese scarred because they thought they into his car and taking them on out- She soon discovers that while her friends to their quarters to make were bad since the government ings. She was with them once when family is housed in a three-bedroom French fries and taking the younger had locked them up,” she says. “He the car broke down. “It was a cold apartment with a living room, kitch- children to the pool in town. fed them spiritually, helping them winter night,” she recalls. ”While

52 WINTER 2021 MARYKNOLL MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 53 A BOOK IS BORN

By Anne Neuberger

writer’s research can lead A down interesting paths. I never expected to meet the delightful, insightful Helen Hannan Parra! Nor did I anticipate learning the depth of the suffering and courage of Japanese- Americans during their imprisonment by their own country during World War II. Through my work with Maryknoll, I learned of Maryknoll missioners Cover hints at the content of this book The Hannans: (r. to l.) Mari, Larry, their mom and Helen pose with a friend before the working in those incarceration camps about a family’s experience in Japanese internment camps during World War II. family left Tule Lake Segregation Center when their dad finished his work there in 1946. and read about the Hannan family, who worked with the missioners. we were waiting for help, Father living internee $20,000 in repara- Soon I was looking forward to emails ached for Tomi’s quiet humiliation. Hunt got out of the car and sat on tion. But Parra finds that inade- from Helen, now in her 80s. Her letters Later, Tomi came to Helen, sobbing. the bumper reading his breviary. I quate. “You can never repair an showed me the tremendous personal Her brother in the U.S. Army was remember thinking: ‘He’s doing all injustice,” she says. “Most of the anguish of the Japanese-Americans. severely injured. For weeks, his these practical things, but first and Japanese-Americans had nothing to I also “met” the perceptive child, family waited for news. Helen could foremost he is God’s priest.’ ” go back to. You can’t give a doctor Helen. And I encountered the only listen to Tomi’s pain, and railed “The people adored both priests,” back his practice or a lawyer back his charming, humorous adult Helen! As against the prejudice that kept this she says, ”because they chose to be clients or farmers back their lands.” I researched facts, Helen searched her family from going to their son, who here. They loved the people.” She repeats what her father said: memories. Her historical knowledge was fighting for the United States. Helen and her family grew to love “The higher the position you are in, was impressive, but it was her own Helen’s outrage is still there after 70 the people too. “We were from the the greater obligation you have to accounts that would make the story. years, as is her wisdom, making her Midwest and never knew any Japa- do the right thing.” She shared anecdotes of people, descriptions more poignant. nese-Americans. They lived mostly She is hopeful that as long as this experiences and emotions, which I I hope readers of this book, both on the West Coast,” she says. ”We story is told to a new generation of incorporated into the book. children and adults, will see that were impressed by their dignity and Americans, they are less likely to re- She spoke, for instance, of her friend young Helen observed how we patience. They were in a horrible sit- peat it when they are the leaders. Tomiko, also age 12. Helen could go humans deeply influence each other. uation but they felt, ‘This is the only As for herself, Parra says, “See- to Tomi’s quarters. But If they went That has touched her life ever since. life we’ve got right now. And we’d ing this wrong as a 12-year-old has to Helen’s, they first had to go to a better live it as well as we can.’ ” made me go around with my anten- guard tower, where an armed soldier Anne Neuberger is a children’s In 1988 the U.S. government ad- na up, searching out injustices. I will supervised Helen signing permission book author who has contributed mitted the wrong it had done to keep yelling my head off as long as for Tomi to visit her. to Maryknoll’s mission education Japanese-Americans and paid each I can.” Helen chafed at this inequity and materials.

For a copy of Two Days and One Suitcase, visit 54 WINTER 2021 MARYKNOLL https://tinyurl.com/Two-days-and-one-suitcase MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 55 World Watch

Pope Launches Vatican COVID-19 Commission By Kathleen Kollman Birch

hen COVID-19 was declared investment, and equitable distribution a pandemic in March, Pope of any future COVID-19 vaccines. WFrancis quickly responded According to Cardinal Peter Turkson, by launching a task force in the Vat- prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for ican to examine the emerging pasto- Promoting Integral Human Develop- ral and social challenges. The Vatican ment and president of the COVID-19 COVID-19 Commission is tasked with Commission, there needs to be a glo- Overlooking St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis leads the Angelus and prays for all those analyzing and reflecting on our new balization of solidarity. “There can be who are suffering, including victims of violence and COVID-19. (CNS/Vatican Media) socioeconomic and cultural situation no healing without peace,” said Cardi- and proposing approaches to bring nal Turkson, announcing the commis- director-general of the World Health the love of God, placing the peripheries about a just and sustainable recovery sion’s call for countries to spend more Organization, said he “couldn’t agree at the center and those who are least from the pandemic. on health care and less on weapons. more” with Pope Francis’ remarks. in first place ... Starting from this love Our goal must be “finding a cure The pope’s call for a global cease- In a series of talks delivered at his anchored in hope and founded in faith, for this small but terrible virus,” Pope fire in April contributed to the U.N. Se- regular Wednesday general audience, a healthier world will be possible.” Francis says, and also curing “a larger curity Council’s passing a resolution Pope Francis has given what he called virus, that of social injustice, inequali- for a ceasefire in July, after months of a “catechesis” on “healing the world” Kathleen Kollman Birch is communi- ty of opportunity, marginalization and negotiations. The pope’s call for debt after the pandemic. He says we can cations manager at the Maryknoll Of- lack of protection for the weakest.” relief reached the ears of leaders of the begin this mission by “starting from fice for Global Concerns. The Vatican COVID-19 Commission G20 nations, including French Presi- focuses on four social issue areas: dent Emmanuel Macron, with whom FAITH IN ACTION: security, economics, ecology and he spoke about the issue in April. The • Visit the Vatican COVID-19 Commission website to learn about the social health. The working groups within the global campaign for debt relief has challenges facing the world in recovering from the pandemic in light of Catholic commission gather information from gained momentum, resulting so far in social teaching. http://bit.ly/VatCommCOVID global experts on these issues and the world’s major economies allowing • Pope Francis expands on the themes of his “healing the world” catechesis in interpret it in light of Catholic social a debt moratorium for some countries his new encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, which was released on October 4. Explore and teaching, putting their findings into and the International Monetary Fund share our six-page study guide of the encyclical: http://bit.ly/FTstudyguide- helpful two-page briefs. providing debt cancellation for 25 of MOGC Based on the work of the commis- the world’s poorest countries. • Ask Congress to provide emergency international aid for countries struggling sion, Pope Francis has urged global In August, Pope Francis spoke to recover from the pandemic: http://bit.ly/MOGCaidCOVID cooperation on several key issues, in- about the need for a forthcoming cluding a global ceasefire, easing of COVID-19 vaccine to be equitably The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, based in Washington, D.C., is a re- sanctions and debt relief for impover- distributed, with the most vulnera- source for Maryknoll on matters of peace, social justice and integrity of creation, ished countries during the pandemic, ble around the world prioritized first. and brings Maryknoll’s mission experience into U.S. policy discussions. Phone the need for sustainable economic Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, (202) 832-1780, visit www.maryknollogc.org or email [email protected].

56 WINTER 2021 MARYKNOLL MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 57 Partners in Mission

Growing up with Maryknoll By Joseph Geringer

f what you learn as a child shapes Maryknoll Fathers whom I saw almost your maturity, the Balio family from daily.” IPantukan, South Philippines, is Diosita particularly remembers one of the wisest families. Diosita, the Maryknoll Fathers William Morrissey oldest Balio sibling, explains why. and John Coholan, who, she says, “Growing up, I don’t recall a day I pretty much laid the parish founda- didn’t tell myself, ‘I’m a lucky girl!’ ” tion. “It was amazing to watch them exclaims Diosita. Her eyes glow as work with the local population, grass- she continues, “My parents worked roots at its best,” she says. “Results for the Maryknollers, performing a manifested. Magic stirred the air.” myriad of jobs at San Jose Mission, Diosita’s lips relax into a smile. Diosita Balio Geringer visits Maryknoll friends Fathers Thomas O’Brien (left) and right here ...” She points to a map “My sisters, Lucila and Marlyn, and the late James Noonan at Maryknoll, N.Y. (Courtesy of Diosita Geringer/U.S.) in the atlas on her lap. Her finger- my brothers, Diosdado and Joel, we nail glides over topography marked, all cherished the missionaries,” she solation brought divine mercy.” guiding the parish youth and simply “Province of Davao.” She pauses continues. “We were awed at their Working alongside Fathers Mor- getting involved in the lives of parish over the town labeled Kingking. commitment. Bubbling with human rissey and Coholan, says Diosita, members, including their home life, “The priests at the convento served joy, they sprang into the needs of the was a get-it-done, spiritual team of where the Catholic spirit is planted some 20,000 people so they were al- community, into our daily lives and missionaries and lay people who and nurtured. ways very busy, but …” she empha- into our souls.” managed the parish and its various “So why do I feel so lucky?” Diosita sizes, “never too busy to meet the She recalls the clergy appeared in activities. Among the cadre of Mary- asks rhetorically. “Because my family catechistic demands of everybody in the area around 1960 and got right knoll priests who served her parish, worked one-on-one, every day, with the parish. It was a big job, yet they to work renovating the old San Jose Diosita mentions Fathers Herman these fine gentlemen, we Balios had always found time for every woman, Church. “My mom Rosita (the priests Cisek, Herbert Elliott, John Grady, something the rest of the parish didn’t man and child. If you needed religious called her Zita) cooked for them; my William LaRousse, James Noonan, have: a rare front-row seat watching guidance, if something troubled you, dad Dioscordo, well, he was a jack of Thomas O’Brien, John Scott and the inspiration that animated them. It if you just needed someone to talk all trades: administrator, electrician, John D. Walsh. Their duties included was miraculous, such energy, such to, they opened their ears to your en- driver. I guess we were a full-time piloting a religious education pro- resolve! treaties, offering solid advice.” Maryknoll household!” Diosita says. gram, creating and sustaining parish “They are the reason I chose to study Diosita, now my wife and living in When Diosita’s mother died quite organizations such as the Legion of theology, a subject I taught at St. Paul Chicago, treasures her memories. “I young, of heart trouble, the Maryknoll Mary, tutoring lay ministers and build- University in Surigao for 32 years.” not only had two wonderful parents,” priests “carried my dad and us kids ing a strong Christian community. she says, “but also the best several over some tough months,” Diosita re- That, says Diosita, encompassed Joseph Geringer is a retired publica- friends anyone could wish for, the calls. “The priests’ prayers and con- everything from counseling families, tions manager.

58 WINTER 2021 MARYKNOLL MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 59 WELCOME TO OUR FIRST Readers’ Responses

QUARTERLY ISSUE OF KEENLY DISAPPOINTED perience in 1992 Philadelphia was very I am contacting you regarding the moving and illustrates how humani- MARYKNOLL article by Gregory Darr in the Sep- ty wins out at the most unexpected tember/October 2020 Maryknoll mag- times. I lived in Minneapolis 20 years azine. A line on the first page states, ago and loved it. I was saddened at “On the site of the murder of George how the actions of some police and ri- We remain committed to bringing you stories of God’s mission Floyd, a Minneapolis man renews his oters and looters this summer showed through Maryknoll, even though less frequently in print. resolve to combat racism.” To my the worst of a very fine city. I lived six knowledge, there has been no trial blocks from where George Floyd was of the officer and conviction of “mur- killed and had wonderful neighbors on We invite you to visit us on the web at maryknollmagazine.org to der.” I found the officer’s actions rep- whom I could depend in any emergen- rehensible and a murder conviction cy. After this horrible incident, I would read our digital edition as well as our expanded online coverage of is possible, but it is irresponsible of have been on the street, too. But de- Catholic news worldwide. Maryknoll to be judge and jury and struction and stealing did not honor declare a murder was committed. It is Mr. Floyd. I’m afraid outside opportun- ironic that an article about racism and ists took advantage of a social distur- social justice eclipses the justice sys- bance to enrich themselves. tem by declaring “On the site of the Sister Patricia Tekippe, FSPA murder …” I’m keenly disappointed. La Crosse, Wisconsin Jim Harris Maylene, Alabama MISCONCEPTION I read with sadness the article “Hon- Editor’s Note: Thank you for your let- oring George Floyd” in your Septem- ter. Your point is well taken. The word ber/October 2020 issue. While his “murder” does carry a legal mean- death was tragic, I marveled at the ing. In fairness to Mr. Darr, he did not photos of signs that called the spot use the word murder in his text. We where he died “sacred space.” Has editors are at fault. We were not in- there been an article in your publi- tending to presume any possible trial cation honoring the many men and or verdict in the matter. We have re- women of law enforcement who are ceived emails and letters criticizing killed each year or who have been the article and in support of it. It was ambushed and murdered because never intended to be a news article or of the violence that has ensued after to condemn police or condone vio- George Floyd’s death? My husband lence in any form. Rather it was a re- spent almost 30 years protecting peo- flection by Mr. Darr on his experience ple as a law enforcement officer in a of racism, the persistence of it and large city, so we know firsthand that the urgent need to change it. the vast majority of those who put on SUBSCRIBE TODAY for Maryknoll magazine, a uniform every day are good, decent, VERY MOVING hardworking people. Every human life online and in print at maryknollmagazine.org The recollection in the latest is precious and should be safeguard- or call 1-888-627-9566. Maryknoll magazine of Greg Darr’s ex- ed whether that life is innocent in the 60 WINTER 2021 MARYKNOLL MARYKNOLLMAGAZINE.ORG 61 womb of its mother or that of a ca- raments and the creation of the world reer criminal. Your article perpetuates is not a sacrament. Check the Cate- the misconception that the police are chism and you will see what the seven the enemy and furthers division in our sacraments are. Naming creation as a communities. The black population is sacrament plays into the idea that the not targeted by police in this country, earth has primacy over people. Catho- and a few police men and women who lic teaching is that man is the pinnacle commit wrongful acts do not represent of God’s creation. The world is here for Octavio Duran/U.S. even a small fraction of the whole. his careful stewardship and use. A New Year Stephanie Francois Mrs. John P. Burke El Dorado Hills, California Manheim, Pennsylvania and a

INCLUSIVENESS FOR ALL INTERCONNECTION I really enjoyed the September/Oc- The photo reflection on creation ti- New Priest! tober 2020 issue of Maryknoll maga- tled “The First Sacrament,” written zine and the fine articles, especially beautifully by Father Joseph R. Ven- “Honoring George Floyd,” “Walking eroso in the September/October is- With Jesus Today” and “Sharing God’s sue, captured my spiritual hunger and Love in India.” Those mentioned in the led me to relate to the recent words articles defend the weak and confront of Pope Francis: “Today we hear the injustice. I am impressed by the mes- voice of creation admonishing us to sage of tolerance and inclusiveness return to our rightful place in the nat- for all people. This is in sharp contrast ural created order—to remember that to the judgmental and narrow-minded we are part of this interconnected web spirit that seems so prevalent in to- of life, not its masters.” day’s world. What distinguishes the I humbly look at myself in this in- persons in these articles is a deep in- terconnection as a steward with a re- Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers welcome the New Year with newly ordained ternal spiritual life based on the teach- sponsibility to take care of God’s cre- Maryknoll Father Gregory McPhee, who will serve in Latin America. Please join us ation. This COVID-19 pandemic is a ings of Jesus Christ combined with with your prayers and support so that all may know Christ through the ministries of service to others. They realize Christ wake-up call for me and our society to our missioners throughout the world. came to give comfort to the disturbed live a simple lifestyle and get rid of our and to disturb the comfortable with wants and greed. Nowadays, there ✁ the truth. is so much materialism and consum- Yes, as I prayerfully support all of the young men currently in Paul Davalli erism. We must allow earth, our only Cumberland, Maryland home, to rest, breathe and restore discernment as Maryknoll missioners, I proclaim the Gospel by her natural beauty. Father Veneroso’s supporting the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers. BLATANT FALSEHOOD lovely lines resonate with Psalm 24: Your September/October 2020 edi- “To the Lord belongs the earth and all Please accept my gift of:  $10  $15  $25  Other $ ______tion claims that creation is the first that fills it.” Name: ______sacrament. This is a blatant falsehood Lourdes Reynes as Jesus instituted exactly seven sac- Brooklyn, New York Address: ______City: ______State: ____ Zip: ______ Check enclosed  AMEX  MC  Visa  Disc Card #: ______Exp.: __ / __ The editors invite Maryknoll readers to send us their views. Write to: Readers’ Responses Name on Card: ______Signature: ______P.O. Box 302, Maryknoll, N.Y. 10545-0302 Please mark code 2138471001 on your check. Our e-mail address is: [email protected] Make your gift payable to: Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers P.O. Box 302, Maryknoll, NY 10545-0302 62 WINTER 2021 MARYKNOLL Give online at MaryknollSociety.org or call toll-free 1.888.627.9566 M–F, 8–4 ET MARYKNOLL FATHERS AND BROTHERS Nonprofit Org. FatherMichaelDuggan.(Seeordinationstory,his firstpriestlyblessingtoMaryknoll page10.) McPheegives FatherGregory While followingCOVID-19protocols,newlyordainedMaryknoll P.O. Box 302 U.S. POSTAGE PAID Maryknoll, New York 10545-0302 Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

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