2014 Catholic Institutions & Immigrant Integration Conference
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The Catholic Church’s institutions and ministries – education, health, charities, labor, legal services, refugee resettlement, community-organizing, pastoral, and others – face critical opportunities and challenges in meeting the needs of today’s immigrants. In 2013 to 2014, a number of leaders from diverse institutions had been meeting to discuss the Church’s role in integrating immigrants, with the aim of increasing the Church’s collective work in this area. These leaders have documented the Church’s past and present work with immigrants, worked toward a distinctly Catholic definition of integration, and identified promising integration programs and practices in diverse institutions.
As part of its 50th anniversary celebration in 2014, the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS) invited service providers, immigrant leaders, scholars, and others for an all-day conference on the Catholic Church’s work to further the integration and well-being of immigrants and how Catholic institutions might collectively expand and improve this work. The agenda, presentations, and multimedia are now available.
The US Catholic Institutions and Immigrant Integration Project is made possible through the support of the SC Ministry Foundation and the Porticus Foundation.
Agenda
WELCOME
Donald Kerwin
Executive Director
Center for Migration Studies
SESSION I | THE THEOLOGICAL AND PASTORAL GROUNDING FOR IMMIGRANT INTEGRATION
This session presented a vision of integration from a pastoral and theological perspective. It grounded immigrant integration in Catholic teaching and in the lived experience of the Church’s pastoral ministries to diverse immigrant groups.
Moderator
Donald Kerwin
Executive Director
Center for Migration Studies
Speakers
Sr. Anna Nguyen
Assistant Director, Asian Pacific Island Affairs, Committee of Cultural Diversity in the Church
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Fr. Aniedi Okure
Executive Director
Africa Faith and Justice Network
Dr. Timothy Matovina
Professor of Theology and Executive Director of the Institute for Latino Studies
University of Notre Dame
Keynote Address
The Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio
Bishop of Brooklyn
SESSION II | MISSING, EMERGING AND RE-EMERGING MINISTRIES, PROGRAMS, AND SECTORS
This session explored ministries and sectors that offer new opportunities for the Catholic Church to honor the dignity of immigrants and attend to the whole person. It considered how ministries that have played a historic role, such as the labor ministry, can be revived and expanded; whether new “integrating” institutions have arisen within the Church; and whether longstanding institutions have been revitalized or taken a new form in response to immigrant needs.
Moderator
Fr. J. Cletus Kiley
Director of Immigration Policy
UNITE HERE
Speakers
Dr. Joseph A. McCartin
Professor of History and Director, Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor
Georgetown University
Kimball Baker
Historian and Author of Go to the Worker
Elena Segura
Director, Office for Immigrant Affairs and Immigration Education
Archdiocese of Chicago
UPDATE ON THE PROSPECTS FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM
Kevin Appleby
Director of Migration Policy and Public Affairs
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
SESSION III | CATALYZING ASSETS: IMMIGRANT EMPOWERMENT AND LEADERSHIP AS AN ESSENTIAL INGREDIENT IN INTEGRATION
This session explored empowerment and leadership models that are allowing immigrants to advance in society and assume leadership roles in the Church.
Moderator
Ralph McCloud
Director, Catholic Campaign for Human Development
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Speakers
Joseph Fleming
Executive Director
PICO New Jersey
Alexia Kelley
CEO
Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities
Annette Parsons
Chief Education Administrator and Director of the Segura Initiative
Diocese of Richmond
Fr. Thomas Greene
Secretary for Social and International Ministries
Jesuit Conference of the United States
SESSION IV | UNIQUE CHALLENGES AND APPROACHES TO SERVING THE UNAUTHORIZED
Catholic institutions are uniquely positioned to improve integration outcomes for the unauthorized. This session explored ministries and initiatives that serve and are led by this population.
Moderator
Patricia Zapor
Reporter, Catholic News Service
Speakers
Dr. Donna M. Carroll
President
Dominican University
Vanna Slaughter
Division Director, Immigration and Legal Services
Catholic Charities of Dallas
SESSION V | IMMIGRANT INTEGRATION THROUGH INTEGRATED SERVICES
To maximize the effectiveness of Catholic institutions as integrating or mediating entities will require breaking silos and addressing different needs through different programs and means. This session featured models that engage cross-cutting issues and cross-sector collaboration.
Moderator
Jeanne M. Atkinson
Executive Director
Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC)
Speakers
Luis Soto
Director of Hispanic Ministry and Executive Director of Centro San Juan Diego
The Hispanic Institute for Family and Pastoral Care
Archdiocese of Denver
Sr. RayMonda DuVall
Executive Director
Catholic Charities Diocese of San Diego
Anastasia Brown
Director of Resettlement Services, Migration and Refugee Services
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
SESSION VI | MODELS AND BEST PRACTICES TO INCREASE IMMIGRANT PARTICIPATION IN CATHOLIC INSTITUTIONS
Catholic institutions cannot integrate immigrants if they do not serve immigrants. This session explored initiatives by Catholic schools, hospitals and health care centers, parishes, and other entities to increase their reach to immigrants and their families.
Moderator
Sr. Sally Duffy
President and Executive Director
SC Ministry Foundation
Speakers
Denise Martin
Executive Director
Catholic Education Foundation, Los Angeles
Kathy Curran
Senior Director of Public Policy
Catholic Health Association
Dr. Hosffman Ospino
Assistant Professor of Hispanic Ministry and Religious Education
Boston College
Resources
- SC Ministry Foundation, “How Can We Welcome the Stranger?,” SC Ministry Foundation, March 2014.
- Donald Kerwin, “U.S. Catholic Institutions: Are They Living Up to Their History and Promise as Immigrant Integration Agencies?,” Catholic Health Association of the United States, March-April 2014, Volume 95, Number 2.
- Sr. Ann Scholz, SSND, Ph.D., “I Was a Stranger and You Welcomed Me,” Catholic Health Association of the United States, March-April 2014, Volume 95, Number 2.
- Antonio B. Cube, Jr., “Advocacy: Bishops Press for Immigration Reform,” Catholic Health Association of the United States, March-April 2014, Volume 95, Number 2.
- Gabriela Robles, MAHCM, MBA, MURP, Verónica f. Gutiérrez, MPH, and George B. Avila, MURP, “Supporting the Newest Among Our Dear Neighbors: How One Health System Helps Immigrants to Thrive,” Catholic Health Association of the United States, March-April 2014, Volume 95, Number 2.
- Mary Alessio, “Empowering Refugees in Resettlement,” Catholic Health Association of the United States, March-April 2014, Volume 95, Number 2.
- Marie Rohde, “Bon Secours Language Services Program: Employee Translators Add to Quality Care,” Catholic Health Association of the United States, March-April 2014, Volume 95, Number 2.
- Fr. Aloysius Ochasi, MA, STL and Fr. Peter A. Clark, SJ, Ph.D., “Mercy Health Promoter Model: Meeting Needs of Specific Immigrant Communities,” Catholic Health Association of the United States, March-April 2014, Volume 95, Number 2.
- Kirsten Walter, “Gardening, Nutrition Programs Bloom,” Catholic Health Association of the United States, March-April 2014, Volume 95, Number 2.
- Mark Crawford, “Doctors from Abroad: A Cure for the Physician Shortage in America,” Catholic Health Association of the United States, March-April 2014, Volume 95, Number 2.
- Kathleen G. Beavis, MD, “Medical Care for People in Transition: Symptoms May Point to Stories,” Catholic Health Association of the United States, March-April 2014, Volume 95, Number 2.
- Marie Rohde, “Interview with James L. Griffith, MD: Global Mental Health, One Refugee at a Time,” Catholic Health Association of the United States, March-April 2014, Volume 95, Number 2.
- MC Sullivan, RN, MTS, JD and Sr. Catherine O’Connor CSB, Ph.D., “Human Trafficking: Why Catholic Health Care Commits to the Fight,” Catholic Health Association of the United States, March-April 2014, Volume 95, Number 2.
- Ron Soodalter, “Human Trafficking – Call It What It Is: Slavery,” Catholic Health Association of the United States, March-April 2014, Volume 95, Number 2.
- Nancy Mulvihill, MA, “Human Trafficking – Look Around: It’s In Our Own Backyard,” Catholic Health Association of the United States, March-April 2014, Volume 95, Number 2.