KEYNOTE
Most Reverend Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., D.D.
Archbishop of Philadelphia

SESSION I: CARING FOR IMMIGRANT FAMILIES
The Catholic Church has long served immigrants and people on the move, consistent with its identity – in the Holy Father’s words – as a church “without borders, mother to all.”  In this session, pastoral agents will lift up Catholic social teaching on immigration, and detail the vital work of Catholic institutions in caring and advocating for immigrant families, including those affected by detention and deportation. The session will feature the personal stories of immigrant families, who will explain their struggles to stay together and contribute to their new communities in the United States.

Moderator
Rev. Bruce Lewandowski, C.SS.R.
Vicar for Cultural Ministries
Archdiocese of Philadelphia

Speakers
Rosa Murcia Garcia
Administrative Assistant
Sisters of Saint Joseph Welcome Center

Sr. Linda Lukiewski, SSJ
Pastoral Minister
Holy Innocents Parish / St. Joan of Arc Community

Peter Pedemonti
Director
New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia

Jennifer Rodríguez
Executive Director
Philadelphia Mayor’s Office of Immigrant and Multicultural Affairs

Sr. Connie Trainor, SSJ
Director
Sisters of Saint Joseph Welcome Center

SESSION II: KEEPING IMMIGRANT FAMILIES TOGETHER
In a much anticipated address to the upcoming World Meeting of Families, Pope Francis is expected to speak on the often devastating effects of US immigration policies on immigrant families and to call upon the federal government to reform the US immigration system and provide much-needed legal status and protections. This session will lay out the legal framework for the US immigration system and how immigration law and enforcement policies pose significant challenges to immigrant families.  The session will also include a discussion on local and national advocacy efforts to reform the immigration system and keep families together.

Moderator
Donald Kerwin
Executive Director
Center for Migration Studies

Speakers
Michele R. Pistone
Editor of the Journal on Migration and Human Security
Center for Migration Studies
Professor of Law and Director of Clinic for Asylum, Refugee and Emigrant Services
Villanova School of Law

J. Kevin Appleby
Director, Office of Migration Policy and Public Affairs
Migration and Refugee Services / United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Maria Sotomayor
DREAMer
Civic Engagement & Community Outreach Coordinator, Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition

Most Reverend Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., D.D.
Archbishop of Philadelphia

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput was ordained Bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota, in 1988. He was named Archbishop of Denver by Pope John Paul II in 1997 and Archbishop of Philadelphia by Pope Benedict XVI in 2011. He was the first Native American to be ordained an archbishop, and is currently Chair of the Subcommittee on Native American Catholics for the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops. He is also a member of the Committee for Cultural Diversity in the Church and the Task Force for Health Care and a cofounder of the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders (CALL). Archbishop Chaput served as a delegate to the Special Assembly for America of the Synod of Bishops in 1997, and he will serve as a delegate to Synod on the Family 2015.  He is the author of two books: Living the Catholic Faith: Rediscovering the Basics (Servant, 2001) and Render Unto Caesar: Serving the Nation by Living Our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life (Doubleday, 2008). In February 2014, he was appointed to the Pontifical Council for the Laity by Pope Francis.

J. Kevin Appleby
Director of the Office of Migration Policy and Public Affairs
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Kevin Appleby is the director of the Office of Migration Policy and Public Affairs at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The Office assists the bishops in developing and promoting migration and refugee policy positions through the lens of Catholic social and moral thought, and advocates for awareness of and support for vulnerable populations. Mr. Appleby has implemented public outreach and legislative strategies to foster understanding between immigrant and receiving communities and speaks often on immigration issues to local and national groups.

Donald Kerwin
Executive Director
Center for Migration Studies

Donald M. Kerwin, Jr. has directed the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS) since September 2011.  He previously worked for the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) between 1992 and 2008, serving as its Executive Director (ED) for 15 years and its interim ED between September 2012 and March 2013.  Upon his arrival at CLINIC in 1992, Mr. Kerwin coordinated CLINIC’s political asylum project for Haitians. CLINIC, a subsidiary of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), is a public interest legal corporation that supports a national network of charitable legal programs for immigrants.  Between 2008 and 2011, Mr. Kerwin served as Vice-President for Programs at the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), where wrote on immigration, labor standards, and refugee policy issues.  He has also served as an associate fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center where he co-directed Woodstock’s Theology of Migration Project; a member of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Immigration; a member of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Immigration Task Force; a board member for Jesuit Refugee Services-USA; a board member for the Capital Area Immigrant Rights Coalition; an advisor to the USCCB Committee on Migration; a non-resident senior fellow at MPI; and a member of numerous advisory groups. He currently serves on the board of directors for the Border Network for Human Rights in El Paso, Texas.

Reverend Bruce Lewandowski, C.Ss.R
Vicar for Cultural Ministries
Archdiocese of Philadelphia

Reverend Bruce Lewandowski is a Redemptorist priest.  He has served as the Vicar for Cultural Ministries in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for four years. The Office for Cultural Ministries includes the Office for Hispanic Catholics, the Office for Black Catholics and the Office for Pastoral of Migrants and Refugees.  It seeks to cultivate a spirit of welcome, acceptance and belonging among all Catholics by promoting an understanding and appreciation of diversity in daily activities and attitudes. Reverend Lewandowski has ministered to various immigrant communities for the majority of his priesthood and has worked in the Hispanic Apostolate for 18 years. He was also the pastor of Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in the Kensington section of the Philadelphia.

Sr. Linda Lukiewski, SSJ
Pastoral Minister
Holy Innocents Parish / St. Joan of Arc Community

Sister Linda Lukiewski, SSJ is a Sister of St. Joseph of Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia who is presently a pastoral minister at the Mission of St. Joan of Arc which is part of Holy Innocents Parish in Philadelphia. Since 1971, Sister Linda has ministered as a teacher, elementary school principal, director of religious education and pastoral minister in parishes throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey. From 1996 until 2003, she was a Maryknoll Sister Associate in Guatemala where she lived and worked in a rural Mayan area.  Since her return to the United States, Sister Linda has been involved with the Catholic Latino community primarily in the north Philadelphia area.

Rosa Murcia-Garcia
Administrative Assistant
Sisters of Saint Joseph Welcome Center

Rosa Murcia-Garcia was born in Guatemala.  She arrived in the United States in 2000 with her two children. Although she possessed clerical skills, she had a very limited knowledge of the English language.  Ms. Murcia-Garcia studied English at the Sisters of Saint Joseph Welcome Center, became a naturalized citizen, and is now the administrative assistant at the Center. She now has a third child: the two oldest are in college, and the youngest is in grade school.

Peter Pedemonti
Director
New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia

Peter Pedemonti is the co-founder and Director of New Sanctuary Movement. A first generation US citizen, Mr. Pedemonti is the son of English and Italian immigrants. Mr. Pedemonti moved to Philadelphia to live and work with the House of Grace Catholic Worker, a faith-based intentional community that operates a free medical clinic, works for social justice, and has a house of hospitality for immigrants and refugees. Before coming to Philadelphia, he was the Director of Public Education and Outreach in Central New York for Citizens Campaign for the Environment. Mr. Pedemonti graduated from Fordham with a Bachelors of Arts in English Literature.

Michele R. Pistone
Director of Clinic for Asylum, Refugee and Emigrant Services (CARES) and Professor of Law
Villanova University School of Law
Editor of the Journal on Migration and Human Security
Center for Migration Studies

Michele R. Pistone is a professor of law at Villanova University School of Law, where she has taught since 1999 and founded the school’s in-house Clinical Program, which she directed for nine years. Professor Pistone is also founding director of Clinic for Asylum, Refugee and Emigrant Services (CARES), which provides free legal representation to asylum seekers and others fleeing persecution and violence. Professor Pistone has written extensively on migration issues and refugee protection, and her book, Stepping Out of the Brain Drain: Applying Catholic Social Thought in a New Era of Migration (Lexington Books), examines migration issues through the lens of Catholic Social Thought. She is currently Co-Managing Editor of the Journal on Migration and Human Security, the public policy journal of the Center for Migration Studies.

Jennifer Rodríguez
Executive Director
Philadelphia Mayor’s Office of Immigrant and Multicultural Affairs

Jennifer I. Rodríguez is Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant and Multicultural Affairs for the City of Philadelphia, established in 2013 to ensure the wellbeing of immigrants and other groups. In addition to her work for the City, Ms. Rodríguez serves on various boards including the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, where she is Vice Chair, the Reading Terminal Market Corporation and the Philadelphia Land Bank. She is also a founding member of the Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber’s Latino Professional Mentoring Network and the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce CEO Access Network. Prior to joining Mayor Michael A. Nutter’s administration, Ms. Rodríguez was Vice President for Community Engagement and Programs for Asociación Puertorriqueños en Marcha where she oversaw the organization’s efforts to improve quality of life for Latinos in Philadelphia. Ms. Rodríguez is recipient of various awards, including the 2013 NFL Hispanic Heritage Leadership Award, the 2012 Rising Star Award from the Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations and has been named among the region’s 40 Under 40 and Minority Business Leaders by the Philadelphia Business Journal. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Ms. Rodríguez migrated to the US in 1990 to pursue higher education. She holds a BA in Business Administration from Boston University and an MA in City and Regional Planning from the University of Pennsylvania. She was a 2014 Leadership for Change Fellow at Drexel University.

Maria Sotomayor
DREAMer
Civic Engagement and Community Outreach Coordinator, Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition

Maria Sotomayor is a DREAMer and Civic Engagement & Community Outreach Coordinator for the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition (PICC), responsible for administering PICC’s civic engagement, DACA and youth outreach, and Pennsylvania Dream Act work.  Ms. Sotomayor was born in Ecuador and raised in Pennsylvania. She is a DACA recipient. Coming from a mixed-status family and community impacted by the current immigration system, Ms. Sotomayor hopes to educate and support immigrant communities to use their voice and power to change the system. Ms. Sotomayor graduated from Neumann University in May 2013 with a BA in Psychology and minor in Communications. She dedicated her time at college to educating fellow students about immigration, serving as a liaison for the Keep the Dream Alive concert, Drop the I-word Campaign and raising funds for La Puerta Abierta’s Youth Mentorship Program where she has been a mentor and is a current Board member. Ms. Sotomayor became involved with PICC in 2012 shortly after sharing her story at a PICC-organized event in Chester.

Sr. Connie Trainor, SSJ
Director
Sisters of Saint Joseph Welcome Center

Sister Connie Trainor is a Sister of Saint Joseph of Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, PA.  She has taught at the elementary level in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and in the dioceses of Trenton, NJ, Wilmington, DE, and Harrisburg, PA. She has also served as a pastoral associate in parishes in Philadelphia and Camden, NJ.  More recently Sister Connie worked in Hispanic ministry in Newark, DE and then moved on to the ministry of congregational administration with her congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph. She is presently the director of the Sisters of Saint Joseph Welcome Center located in the Kensington section of the city of Philadelphia.