By PAT MARRIN

SAN ANTONIO . Sr. Mary McCauley, her sil-ver hair framing a classic Irish face,could easily seem a diminutive nun inher 70s looking at retirement after alifetime in the classroom or conventadministration. But circumstancesand, she would say, divine providenceput her at St. Bridget Church as pas-toral administrator in May 2008, whenhundreds of FBI and Immigration andCustoms Enforcement agentsswooped down on the tiny town ofPostville in northeastern Iowa toround up hundreds of undocumented— mostly Guatemalan — workers at akosher meat-processing plant. Alertedto the raid, McCauley put out theword to the workers and their fami-

lies, “Tell them to come to thechurch.”

For many, the Postville story hascome to exemplify the human tollexacted by a failed immigration poli-

cy and the challenge to churches torespond with courage and compas-sion on an issue of decisive impor-tance to our national identity — and

Continued on Page 13This

issue

was

mail

ed on

Jan.

28.

REPORTERNATIONAL

CATHOLICT H E I N D E P E N D E N T N E W S S O U R C E

www.NCRonline.org FEBRUARY 4, 2011 Vol. 47, No. 8 | $2.95

Immigration: ‘Tell them to come to the church’

By CHRISTINA S.N.

LEWIS

ONGATA RONGAI, KENYA . In thecool early morning hoursof Jan. 14, I was awak-ened by piercing screams.Again and again, thewomen screamed.

I did not know it then,but gunmen had brokeninto the complex of theEvangelizing Sisters ofMary, an African order ofCatholic sisters where Iwas spending the night.

When the men came to

her door and demandedmoney, Sr. Levina Ka-likwela grabbed a small,gold-veneered framedpicture of the VirginMary with the baby Je-sus.

“They entered and Iheld it,” the sister toldme the next day, stand-ing in her destroyed bed-room. “I said, ‘God,we’re finished.’ And Ijust held it like this.”She grasped the picturein both hands and held itover her head.

The men hit the pic-ture with their knife,breaking it, Kalikwelatold me.

“They were askingme,” said Kalikwela, hervoice cracking. “And Iwas telling them I haveno money. I have nomoney.”

That night the gunmenmurdered one of thecompound’s guards.While they did not physi-cally harm the sisters,they manhandled three,

Continued on Page 8

ANALYSIS

By MICHAEL SEAN WINTERS

The U.S. bishops releasedtwo letters to members ofCongress late last month thatoutline the “principles and pri-orities that guide the public pol-icy efforts” of the U.S. Confer-ence of Catholic Bishops.

The first letter, signed bythe newly installed confer-ence president, ArchbishopTimothy Dolan of New York,exhorts the lawmakers to pro-tect human life from concep-tion to natural death. “Ourprayers and hopes [are] thatthis newly elected Congresswill advance the commongood and defend the life anddignity of all, especially vul-nerable and poor personswhose needs are critical inthis time of difficult economicand policy choices.”

The letters were dated Jan.14 and released to the publicJan. 18.

Dolan pledges to “seek waysto work constructively withthe administration and thenew Congress and others ofgoodwill to pursue policieswhich respect the dignity of allhuman life and bring greaterjustice to our nation and peaceto our world.”

The second letter — signedby Cardinal Daniel DiNardoof Galveston-Houston, headof the pro-life committee;Bishop Stephen E. Blaire ofStockton, Calif., chairman ofthe justice and human devel-opment committee; andArchbishop José H. Gomez ofLos Angeles, chairman of themigration committee — dealt

Continued on Page 12

Letters outlineUS bishops’

policy priorities

—NCR photo/Christina S.N. Lewis

Anna Mary Henrietta Nyangoma, general superior of the Evangelizing Sisters of Mary inOngata Rongai, Kenya, turns away as policemen examine the corpse of a watchman slainon the convent’s grounds Jan. 14.

Sr. Mary McCauley, left,stands with immigrantsIsabel Ampora andthree of her fourchildren, who wereallowed to return toPostville, Iowa, Dec. 4,on a visa granted toworkers who werevictims of crimes at theAgriprocessors plant.

—Judy Callahan, BVM

AFRICA: A REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK

Sisters and thievesAttack highlights all too common African violence

SPECIAL SECTION

DEACONSLetter to newly ordained;new statistics on deaconsin US; and more PAGES 1a-8a

BISHOP RUIZ Champion of poor andindigenous in Chiapas,Mexico, dies at 86 PAGE 11

COLUMN

GUN CULTURE Guns are tools with a very limited use

in our worldPAGE 16

US NEWS

BEATIFYINGJOHN PAUL IITension between personalholiness, public actions PAGE 5

By PAT MARRIN

SAN ANTONIO . Sr. Mary McCauley, her sil-ver hair framing a classic Irish face,could easily seem a diminutive nun inher 70s looking at retirement after alifetime in the classroom or conventadministration. But circumstancesand, she would say, divine providenceput her at St. Bridget Church as pas-toral administrator in May 2008, whenhundreds of FBI and Immigration andCustoms Enforcement agentsswooped down on the tiny town ofPostville in northeastern Iowa toround up hundreds of undocumented— mostly Guatemalan — workers at akosher meat-processing plant. Alertedto the raid, McCauley put out theword to the workers and their fami-

lies, “Tell them to come to thechurch.”

For many, the Postville story hascome to exemplify the human tollexacted by a failed immigration poli-

cy and the challenge to churches torespond with courage and compas-sion on an issue of decisive impor-tance to our national identity — and

Continued on Page 13This

issue

was

mail

ed on

Jan.

28.

REPORTERNATIONAL

CATHOLICT H E I N D E P E N D E N T N E W S S O U R C E

www.NCRonline.org FEBRUARY 4, 2011 Vol. 47, No. 8 | $2.95

Immigration: ‘Tell them to come to the church’

By CHRISTINA S.N.

LEWIS

ONGATA RONGAI, KENYA . In thecool early morning hoursof Jan. 14, I was awak-ened by piercing screams.Again and again, thewomen screamed.

I did not know it then,but gunmen had brokeninto the complex of theEvangelizing Sisters ofMary, an African order ofCatholic sisters where Iwas spending the night.

When the men came to

her door and demandedmoney, Sr. Levina Ka-likwela grabbed a small,gold-veneered framedpicture of the VirginMary with the baby Je-sus.

“They entered and Iheld it,” the sister toldme the next day, stand-ing in her destroyed bed-room. “I said, ‘God,we’re finished.’ And Ijust held it like this.”She grasped the picturein both hands and held itover her head.

The men hit the pic-ture with their knife,breaking it, Kalikwelatold me.

“They were askingme,” said Kalikwela, hervoice cracking. “And Iwas telling them I haveno money. I have nomoney.”

That night the gunmenmurdered one of thecompound’s guards.While they did not physi-cally harm the sisters,they manhandled three,

Continued on Page 8

ANALYSIS

By MICHAEL SEAN WINTERS

The U.S. bishops releasedtwo letters to members ofCongress late last month thatoutline the “principles and pri-orities that guide the public pol-icy efforts” of the U.S. Confer-ence of Catholic Bishops.

The first letter, signed bythe newly installed confer-ence president, ArchbishopTimothy Dolan of New York,exhorts the lawmakers to pro-tect human life from concep-tion to natural death. “Ourprayers and hopes [are] thatthis newly elected Congresswill advance the commongood and defend the life anddignity of all, especially vul-nerable and poor personswhose needs are critical inthis time of difficult economicand policy choices.”

The letters were dated Jan.14 and released to the publicJan. 18.

Dolan pledges to “seek waysto work constructively withthe administration and thenew Congress and others ofgoodwill to pursue policieswhich respect the dignity of allhuman life and bring greaterjustice to our nation and peaceto our world.”

The second letter — signedby Cardinal Daniel DiNardoof Galveston-Houston, headof the pro-life committee;Bishop Stephen E. Blaire ofStockton, Calif., chairman ofthe justice and human devel-opment committee; andArchbishop José H. Gomez ofLos Angeles, chairman of themigration committee — dealt

Continued on Page 12

Letters outlineUS bishops’

policy priorities

—NCR photo/Christina S.N. Lewis

Anna Mary Henrietta Nyangoma, general superior of the Evangelizing Sisters of Mary inOngata Rongai, Kenya, turns away as policemen examine the corpse of a watchman slainon the convent’s grounds Jan. 14.

Sr. Mary McCauley, left,stands with immigrantsIsabel Ampora andthree of her fourchildren, who wereallowed to return toPostville, Iowa, Dec. 4,on a visa granted toworkers who werevictims of crimes at theAgriprocessors plant.

—Judy Callahan, BVM

AFRICA: A REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK

Sisters and thievesAttack highlights all too common African violence

SPECIAL SECTION

DEACONSLetter to newly ordained;new statistics on deaconsin US; and more PAGES 1a-8a

BISHOP RUIZ Champion of poor andindigenous in Chiapas,Mexico, dies at 86 PAGE 11

COLUMN

GUN CULTURE Guns are tools with a very limited use

in our worldPAGE 16

US NEWS

BEATIFYINGJOHN PAUL IITension between personalholiness, public actions PAGE 5

Parish becomes GreenFaith sanctuaryBy BRIAN ROEWE

—Courtesy of Church of the Presentation

Fr. Bob Stagg in June 2011 blesses solar panels installed on the roof of the Church of the Presentation. The array has cut the parish’s energy bill in half.

January 3-16, 2014

As you pass by the Church of the Pre-sentation in Upper Saddle River, N.J., you’ll notice a not-so-ordinary feature glimmering in the sunlight on the roof of the building.

“The solar panels make the place look more attractive,” opines Fr. Bob Stagg, the pastor.

While an outward sign of the parish’s commitment to energy conservation and fiscal responsibility, it serves as just one piece of an effort to promote envi-ronmental stewardship across its count-less ministries and 4,000 families. 

The collaborative energy has trans-formed Presentation into a GreenFaith sanctuary.

GreenFaith is an interfaith coalition that offers resources and assistance to religious communities seeking to be-come better environmental stewards. The organization offers a two-year cer-tification program  to achieve Green-Faith sanctuary status, which distin-guishes a religious group as a leader in environmental sustainability. The requirements and fees (Presentation paid $1,300 to enroll) vary depending on an institution’s size, denomination and location, but fall into three categories: spirit, stewardship and environmental justice.

To date, 15 religious communities have passed the certification process, predominantly Protestant and Jew-ish congregations. When Presentation made the decision to pursue certifica-tion, it began a path to becoming the first Catholic GreenFaith community, an honor it received during a celebra-tion Mass Oct. 20.

“We were able to affirm our beliefs

in a creator God who has called us to be responsible stewards for our planet’s health and life,” Fr. Ed Ciuba said dur-ing a homily the day before the official presentation. “Being named a ‘sanctu-ary’ is not a conclusion, but a continua-tion of those efforts.”

The initiative began in 2011 through the parish’s Justice and Peace Ministry. The ministry learned of GreenFaith when it scheduled a series of speakers to talk about environmental issues.

“It seemed a systemized way for us to really make a commitment to do some-thing,” said Beth Begley, a member of the Justice and Peace Ministry.

A first step had the parish review-ing GreenFaith requirements in light of already ongoing efforts. As early as

2009, it had begun the process of plac-ing solar panels on the church. It had also updated its bathrooms to use less water and replaced paper towels with hand dryers.

But those initiatives only scratched the surface of what GreenFaith ne-cessitated. The stewardship category alone required 25 programs in seven separate areas. In addition, the parish would need to hold six eco-themed wor-ship services and a half dozen annual educational classes to satisfy the bulk of the spirit conditions.

To lead the numerous projects, the parish assembled a Green Team, led by Stagg and made up of members of the parish staff and parish council, as well as representatives from the Justice

and Peace Ministry, the liturgy and youth committees, and the St. Francis Ministry. That broad coalition formed a solid base toward achieving the goal of certification.

“With the pastor embracing it, I think that’s always an im-portant point,” said Connie LaMotta, chair of the St. Francis Min-istry, which focuses on environmental stew-ardship. “But with the community of leaders in this area really em-bracing it, that made it move.”

One by one, the parish crossed the nu-merous tasks off the list.

They installed more efficient light bulbs and upped their recycling efforts. They switched to greener cleaning products and hired an environmen-tally conscious lawn care crew. They worked with other parish committees and groups to abandon bottled water at meetings for pitchers and coolers, and replace Styrofoam products with re-cycled paper products, even if it meant a higher cost. On top of that, they built birdhouses, installed beehives, planted an organic garden, and invested $70,000 in establishing a Chartres-style laby-rinth on the property.

In terms of worship, they added sea-sonal, environmentally themed servic-es, including a rebirth-focused liturgy in the spring, followed by a “first fruits” service in the summer. An outdoor bon-fire and creation story accompany the Easter Vigil liturgy, while Stagg and other priests deliver sermons through-out the year emphasizing the environ-ment.

Outside the Mass, Presentation imple-mented an annual Green Fair to connect faith with actions to protect and pro-

mote creation. Movie nights reinforced those themes, as did a pamphlet written by Ciuba, titled “Why Should We Care About Planet Earth, Our Home?”, which was distributed to all parish families. They brainstormed ways to integrate environmental care into the summer Bible camps for kids, and planned eco-themed field trips to nearby wetlands and organic farms.

The steps fulfilled GreenFaith re-quirements, and instilled a concern for the earth into the parish’s DNA.

“What’s fundamental in our parish is being lovers of God looking to grow spiritually, and being a green parish is just another dimension of doing that,” LaMotta said.

Added Begley, “Just like I think jus-tice and concern for the poor are part of our baptismal calling, I think care of the earth is also.”

But seeing how environmental deci-sions impacted the poor proved more difficult than their ties to worship and stewardship.

“It was a new connection for many, many people who already were envi-ronmentally committed,” Begley said. “They didn’t realize the disproportion-ate influence that anything from putting

an incinerator or toxic waste site, any of that had on poor people.”

“We don’t see frack-ing, we don’t see lots of toxic conditions in our area, so I think that’s probably the hardest to teach people,” Stagg said.

To begin making that connection, the parish reached out to the Ironbound com-munity in nearby Newark. The neigh-borhood, home to 50,000 people with one in four living in poverty, is filled with

shuttered factories and industrial sites, with high rates of asthma among both children and adults.

Looking to help, Presentation pa-rishioners partnered with community groups to plant gardens and clear de-bris, and have offered legal services and further support of their efforts to limit pollution. In addition, they joined a pe-tition to block storage of toxic fracking waste in the state, Begley said.

Looking back, Presentation can see the signs of its labor. People inside and outside the parish pray and contemplate as they walk the labyrinth. The solar panels have slashed energy costs in half, while Stagg has seen a contagious en-ergy grow in his parishioners, not ready to rest on their laurels, but to continue moving forward.

“It’s just a sign that the community wants to leave the earth a better place than when we got here,” he said. “And that’s what we want to do with faith — we want to pass on our faith to the next generation … and I think good ecologi-cal stewardship of the earth is a good chunk of that.”

This article originally appeared in the National Catholic Reporter. For more independent news, visit NCRonline.org.

To request a sample issue, visit NCRonline.org/sample or call 1-800-333-7373.

[Brian Roewe is an NCR staff writer. His email address is broewe@ncron-line.org.]

NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER January 3-14, 2014

—Courtesy of Church of the Presentation

Members of the Green Team stand during the Oct. 20 presentation Mass where the parish received its GreenFaith sanctuary certification.