Jesuit Refugee Service/USA press release
Washington, D.C., January 12, 2009
Kino Border Initiative to launch bi-national ministry in Nogales on the Arizona-Sonora border
NOGALES, Ariz.--The Kino Border Initiative (KBI) will be inaugurated on the U.S.-Mexico border on Jan. 18 to serve the communities of Nogales, Ariz., and Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, and the people who pass through this historic corridor of trade and culture. The new ministry is being launched as a bi-national partnership of Jesuit and Catholic organizations and laypersons on both sides of the border.
Three years in development, the KBI is “the culmination of a process of listening, dialog, and discernment regarding how the resources of our Province might best be put to use to serve and foster solidarity with those most directly affected by immigration and enforcement policies along the border,” said John P. McGarry, S.J., Provincial of the California Province of the Society of Jesus.
“We are blessed in this endeavor by our collaborative partnerships with the Jesuit Refugee Service/USA (JRS/USA) and the Jesuit Migration Service of the Mexican Province,” said Fr. McGarry. “Together with our partners in the Diocese of Tucson and in the Archdiocese of Hermosillo, and the religious women of the Missionaries of the Eucharist, the KBI will provide education, social assistance, research, and advocacy where they are sorely needed,” he added.
“What we’ll be trying to do is to help people find a safe place to talk about the issues of migration,” said Fr. Ken Gavin, S.J., Director of Jesuit Refugee Service/USA. “We’ll be going into parishes, talking at masses and after masses, talking with groups of adults and groups of students, trying to see how our own faith, our own sense of being brothers and sisters in the Lord, can somehow influence who we are as men and women who live on one side of the border or the other,” Gavin said.
Two Jesuits of the California Province have been assigned to this ministry. Sean Carroll, S.J., will serve as Executive Director, and Peter Neeley, S.J., will be Associate for Education and Formation. They are joined by Martin McIntosh, S.J., of the Mexican Province, who will be Associate for Socio-Pastoral Outreach, and Donald Bahlinger, S.J., of the New Orleans Province, who will serve as Chaplain.
Working closely with priests of the Dioceses of Tucson and Hermosillo, as well as the Missionary Sisters of the Eucharist, this team will offer basic outreach to migrants who are deported from the U.S. on a daily basis. The KBI will also collaborate with local priests on both sides of the border to make parish-based presentations and offer workshops on migration policy and the Catholic social tradition. The KBI will welcome delegations of students and visiting scholars from high schools, universities, and parishes seeking opportunities to engage the complex realities of the U.S.-Mexico border and immigration policies.
In Nogales, Sonora, the KBI will be responsible for staffing the Aid Center for Deported Migrants (CAMDEP), a diocesan-sponsored care center where migrants deported from the U.S. can receive a meal and counsel, and the Nazareth House for Deported Women, a short-term shelter for unaccompanied women who are particularly vulnerable to exploitation. The Missionary Sisters of the Eucharist will administer these facilities located near the Mariposa port of deportation.
The initiative is named for Eusebio Francisco Kino, S.J., a Jesuit missionary known as the “Padre on Horseback,” who rode across southern Arizona and northern Sonora from 1687 until his death in 1711, serving native tribes and founding more than 20 missions. This year, nearly three centuries after Padre Kino’s passing, the California Province is celebrating its Centennial (1909-2009), marking a century since it became a separate province of the Society of Jesus with a mission geared toward the needs of people living in western America.
To view a new video and a slide show about the KBI produced by the Jesuit Refugee Service/USA, visit: http://www.jrsusa.org/kino
On Jan. 18, a Mass of Inauguration for the KBI will be offered at Sacred Heart Church in Nogales, Ariz.
Mass of Inauguration on January 18, 2009:
Mass at Noon, Press Conference at 1:30 p.m.
Reception to follow at Sacred Heart Church
272 N. Rodriguez St., Nogales, Ariz., 85621
For more information on the Kino Border Initiative, contact Fr. Sean Carroll, S.J., at 520-287-2370 or e-mail kino@calprov.org.
For background information and current details on KBI inauguration activities, contact Mark Potter, Provincial Assistant for Social Ministries of the California Province of the Society of Jesus at 323-780-9503.
For more information on the California Province of the Society of Jesus, visit:
http://www.jesuitscalifornia.org/
Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) is an international Catholic non-governmental organization whose mission is to serve, accompany, and advocate on behalf of refugees and other forcibly displaced persons.JRS works in 57 countries worldwide. It employs more than 1,400 staff including lay, Jesuits, and other religious to meet the educational, health, social and other needs of more than 500,000 refugees and other forcibly displaced persons. JRS services are made available to refugees and displaced persons regardless of their race, ethnic origin, or religious beliefs.
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