Gulf Pine Catholic

22 Gulf Pine Catholic • February 2, 2024 “We are working with legal counsel to manage the government’s new interpretation of the rules relating to the immigration waiting line,” explained Bishop Joensen. “It has created uncertainty for those in the process already and a true challenge to filling the ongo- ing needs of our diocese. A solution from the adminis- tration or Congress would be welcome news.” “It’s already had an impact here in our archdiocese,” said FatherMichael Tix, vicar general of theArchdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. “For example, we had one priest -- same issue, with the green card -- who would otherwise have had to go home for a year. He’s a religious order priest -- and the religious order just assigned him to a parish in Canada,” Father Tix shared. “So it’s not just ‘go away for a year’ -- he’s not coming back.” In Oct. 2019, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that “more than 50 of the 203 full-time priests active in the St. Paul and Minneapolis Archdiocese” came from other countries. “The international priests serving in our parishes -- without them, we just don’t have the numbers to cover everything,” reflected Father Tix. “You try as best you can -- and God bless the priests that are asked to jump in and go the extra mile; because they’re doing it,” he said. “But you can only stretch people so far.” In the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio, 50 of 145 cur- rently active priests -- approximately 35% -- are for- eign-born, according to Anne Streitenberger, the dio- cese’s human resources director. Streitenberger is blunt about the procedural change: “We will lose opportunities for good priests in our dio- cese.” While student visas for those studying at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus can some- times provide a work-around, the options are not with- out expense. And as a refugee hub, Columbus has a distinctive need for religious workers. “Religion is very important to the refugees here -- I’ve seen it,” Streitenberger noted. “Religion seems to be the most important thing that gathers them all together. And if their leader can’t get in here before them, they may have a hard time adjusting.” On the day Susan Montalvo-Gesser, a lawyer and director of Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Owensboro, Kentucky, spoke with OSV News , she had just spent almost five hours trying to help a priest resolve his expiring emergency visa. When she first heard of the five-year green card application processing backlog, Montalvo-Gesser admits, “I immediately kind of panicked.” In 2022, Bishop William F. Medley told the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer that 30 out of 78 of his diocese’s parishes have foreign-born priests. Montalvo-Gesser estimates the diocese may lose up to six priests, as well as sisters. “We’ve already had to tell one of our religious sis- ters that we’re going to lose her -- and she’s done great work,” said Montalvo-Gesser, noting there are no other options given her expiring visa and processing delays. “We can’t make up that gap and she’ll have to leave for a year.” Pastoral recruiting and planning continuity becomes almost an impossibility, Montalvo-Gesser shared. “For our bishop to go to another diocese in a coun- try and say, ‘Hey, come to Kentucky where we can train you and you can get used to this population and serve us -- but you may have to go back in five years,” said Montalvo-Gesser, “it creates insecurity, and it’s very difficult. I just hope and pray that they fix it.” Kimberley Heatherington writes for OSV News from Virginia. Priest Green Card Changes From page 21 Poland Knights Ukraine Frontline From page 8 “It’s just a difficult reality, when you see the pic- tures, the conditions,” he said. “They live in apartment buildings with no windows in the middle of winter.” Through their ministry, the Knights seek to reassure those they serve that the Lord has not abandoned them, he said. “Many of these people are asking, ‘Where’s God in this; where’s God?’” said Czyszek. “And the work that we are doing is to really show to people that amid the suffering, God is present. So every care package that we deliver or generator or clothing … we just want to show people that God has not forgotten them, and they are not alone. And we just want to be instruments of God’s mercy.” Along with meeting immediate needs for basic pro- visions, that mission has expanded to include what Czyszek calls “a new phase,” where Knights “try to address the long-term challenges and difficulties” faced by a population wounded at heart by a decade of war. “His Beatitude (Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church) has said that more than 80% of Ukrainians will need some kind of psycho- logical and spiritual assistance, and (assistance in) deal- ing with trauma,” said Czyszek. “And we have already started doing a huge number of things (in this regard). We are doing work with widows and orphans, because I think these women and children, and the families of the fallen soldiers are already paying the highest price for the war.” Among the initiatives in this area are events such as “pilgrimages and dinners,” which offer “a time when they can experience solidarity,” he said. “We have stories of women who have said in meet- ings organized by our local councils that when they receive support, they want to live again,” Czyszek said. “This horrible experience of losing a husband or a father or a son -- you can think that your life is over. But with the work that we try to do in different areas, they regain hope for the future.” Czyszek also stressed that “it’s very important that this work ... is done in a way that provides a holistic approach and a proper Christian anthropology,” adding that the Knights sponsor “a number of psychological workshops for veterans and their spouses” that reflect such an approach. He said that such a faith-based response embraces “not only Catholics, (but) ... anybody in need,” and includes “spiritual support (for) the deep spiritual wounds that people will carry within themselves for years” after the hostilities cease. Czyszek urged supporters of the Knights to live out Pope Francis’ call to global solidarity by “being aware” and not “forgetting about the people of Ukraine.” He also highlighted that the Knights’ work is “pos- sible only because of the generosity of so many people. “And the last thing that we ask people is pray,” said Czyszek. “Prayer has this power to transform the hearts and minds of those that we can’t convince with the strength of our argument. Prayer is the response that we can offer, wherever we are. This is a spiritual gift that we can offer to people who suffer in Ukraine.” Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @ GinaJesseReina. Heavenly Father, bless Your Church with an abundance of holy and zealous priests, deacons, brothers and sisters. Give those You have called to the married state and those You have chosen to live as single persons in the world the special graces that their lives require. Form us all in the likeness of Your Son so that in Him, with Him and through Him we may love You more deeply and serve you more faithfully, always and everywhere. With Mary, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Prayer for Vocations