[Photo Credit: Sam Owens, San Antonio Express-News]
TMO: Pope Francis Cared About Houston. We Must Carry on His Work
Pope Francis meeting with Rabbi Lyon. He and Bishop John Ogletree (photo below) are leaders with TMO and wrote this article.
[Originally published in Houston Chronicle]
Last year, Pope Francis met with a group of 15 or so Houston community organizers and leaders in his private residence. It was the third time he’d met with us, members of The Metropolitan Organization (TMO) of Houston and colleagues from the West/Southwest Industrial Areas Foundation. This time, he counseled us not to lose the ability to laugh.
Read moreEPISO/BI: Francis Was a Pope Who Listened to Those on the Margins
Pope Francis greets Silvia Camacho, a leader with San Juan Diego Catholic Church in Montana Vista, in a 2022 meeting at the Vatican. (Photo courtesy of Rabbi John Linder)
[Originally published in El Paso Matters]
Father Pablo Matta was just a young seminarian when he attended an El Paso Interreligious Sponsoring Organization (EPISO) meeting at Santa Lucia Catholic Church (now St. John Paul II) in 1985. At the meeting, local leaders were gearing up for a big fight – thousands of people in the colonias of El Paso had been sold parcels of land with the promise of utility services – water, sewer and gas – only to learn that they had been swindled by unscrupulous developers.
Read morePutting Scripture Into Action, Valley Interfaith Transforms Border Colonias
[Excerpt]
Eddie Anaya, a Catholic lawyer and lifelong resident of a colonia called Las Milpas, got involved as a young man with Valley Interfaith, an affiliate of the West/Southwest Industrial Areas Foundation, because his Mexican immigrant mother, Carmen Anaya, was one of its co-founders. When he was growing up, Anaya said Las Milpas had no water, sewers, street paving or lighting or police force.
Anaya chauffeured his mother around the state and interpreted for her at meetings with other Texas IAF affiliates as they championed 1989 state legislation that provided funding for water and wastewater infrastructure, which Anaya said stimulated other improvements in the community.
In Las Milpas, where the Catholic Church is the center of community life, Anaya said, conversations after Mass shaped a political agenda for the whole community through Valley Interfaith and backed by the Diocese of Brownsville. “ When you organize around Scripture and put it into action, that not only strengthens the community, but also makes people understand the Gospel much better,” said Anaya….
(Photo Credit: Eddie Anaya)
Read moreGOP Aligns with COPS/Metro in Stand Against Taxpayer-Funded Spurs Arena
Last year, at a City-wide Action with over 1,100 members, COPS/Metro came out as the first organized opposition to the use of any public funds for a new downtown stadium for the Spurs, or for the creation of a sports and entertainment district surrounding the area, known as Project Marvel. The project has been negotiated largely behind closed doors and is expected to cost between $3-4 billion with a majority of funding likely from public tax dollars.
Leaders turned up the heat this year, publishing an op-ed, and testifying at an Eastside town hall and again before the Bexar County Commissioners Court. “Our tax money is better spent on what the East Side needs — more green spaces, workforce development and opportunities, and affordable housing and access to healthcare facilities and quality health care,” said Stewart Blanton, speaking on behalf of COPS/Metro.
This month, Bexar County Republican Party precinct chairs passed a resolution denouncing the project, similarly opposing the use of public funding. The resolution states: “Be it resolved, we object to any attempt to relocate the San Antonio Spurs to a new arena developed or renovated by public funds,” it continues. “Be it further resolved, that we object to the wasting of public funds to expand the city’s sports and entertainment industry.”
COPS/Metro Leader Atanacio Garcia Recognized in Natatorium Renaming
On March 20, 2025 the San Antonio City Council unanimously approved renaming the San Antonio Natatorium to Atanacio Garcia Natatorium, recognizing the determined COPS/Metro leader of Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine Catholic Church who organized his community to create the city’s first Olympic-sized public pool on the West Side.
Read moreValley Interfaith Shuts Down a Crusher Plant in Brownsville, Texas
10 months after Valley Interfaith leaders in Brownsville led a community outcry about the impact of clay dust emanating from a Milwhite industrial plant on the South Padre Highway, the company agreed to cease operations in that location.
In December of 2023, Valley Interfaith leaders told graphic stories about the health impacts of Milwhite plant operations at an assembly they organized. In addition to new skin conditions developing among infants and adults, excessive white dust, noise and truck movement was making life intolerable for nearby residents.
"We’re literally breathing in the dust particles,” said Valley Interfaith leader Adhlemy Sanchez.
Valley Interfaith challenged the Mayor of Brownsville to address the situation, and the City of Brownsville responded. They soon filed a lawsuit, as did the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). On October 28, 2024 the City announced the resolution of the lawsuit, in which Milwhite Inc. agreed to stop crushing operations at their plant.
City of Brownsville and Milwhite, Inc. Reach Beneficial Resolution for Residents, City of Brownsville
Video: Valley Interfaith Leader Stories, Rio Grande Guardian
Valley Interfaith to Hold Town Hall Meeting on Milwhite Relocation, Rio Grande Guardian [pdf]
Brownsville Leaders Sympathetic to Residents Living Next to Milwhite Industrial Plant, Rio Grande Guardian [pdf]
TMO Secures $11.3M in Funding for Rental Assistance in Brazoria Co.
[Excerpt]
Churches in Brazoria County, with its county seat being in Angleton, are helping residents still hurting from the pandemic’s financial fallout to apply for rental assistance through a recent $11.3 million federal grant, community leaders say.
The monies became available June 14 after Church and community leaders met with Brazoria County Judge Matt Sebesta earlier in the spring. They specifically asked him how they could help distribute the funds so it wouldn’t be sent back to the federal government as had been considered.
A contingency of three Catholic priests, The Metropolitan Organization (TMO) nonprofit and other church groups, including Grace Episcopal, met with the county judge back in March.
“We let the county judge know that we have volunteers to help with the paperwork and we have those in dire need of assistance,” said Sister Maureen O’Connell, director of the Secretariat for Social Concerns.
“Poor and vulnerable people trust the Church more. So this collaboration between government and Church groups is a wonderful opportunity to help them,” she said.
[Photo Credit: Catholic News Service]
$11.3 Million Approved for Brazoria County Residents Struggling With Rent in Pandemic, Texas Catholic Herald
DAI Calls Shelter Conditions for Migrant Teens a 'Humanitarian Crisis'
[Excerpts]
Some of the dozen people familiar with the conditions who spoke to The Dallas Morning News about the center say the management of the boys’ asylum cases seems chaotic, with boys unclear about processes such as their pending family reunions, deportation cases, or why they are being held.
“This is a humanitarian crisis in the convention center,”
said Josephine Lopez-Paul, Dallas Area Interfaith’s lead organizer, who did volunteer work at the convention center. Like others interviewed, Lopez-Paul was taken aback by the number of children, mostly from Guatemala and Honduras, kept in one massive gray hall of the convention center, their metal cots in neat rows.
The Dallas center was initially billed as a “decompression center” for children, and after it opened on March 17, it quickly filled to capacity, about 2,300 boys ages 13 to 17.
But many who have worked or volunteered there have described the pop-up detention center as inadequate and depressing for the children, though they acknowledge it’s better than conditions at the Border Patrol sites where they are initially processed after crossing the border seeking asylum in the U.S.
[Photo Credit: Dallas Visitor's Bureau]
Worries Rise About the Welfare of Migrant Teens in Dallas Emergency Shelter, Dallas Morning News [pdf]
Migrant Teens Held in Dallas Convention Center Feel Imprisoned, Dallas Observer [pdf]
Advocates Worried for Migrant Teens at Improvised Shelter, Arkansas Democrat Gazette [pdf]
Incumbents Who Participated in COPS/Metro Accountability Assembly Win Re-election. Non-Incumbent Candidates Advance to Runoff
[Excerpts]
"At a recent 'accountability session' staged by the influential COPS/Metro organization, candidates were asked to commit to a number of positions, including several regarding police discipline. A key one was this: “Would the candidates “commit to only voting in support of a police contract that does the following: Ensures that the chief can hold officers accountable and that arbitrators will only have the ability to rule on the facts of the case, and not be able to overturn officer disciplinary action?”
Saying yes were the mayor, three incumbent council members who won reelection Saturday, both candidates in two runoffs, and the candidates who led in two other runoffs. That’s eight of the 11 council members. The other three, for districts 8, 9, and 10, did not participate in the COPS/Metro event."
Rick Casey: A Very Strange Election in San Antonio, San Antonio Report
Texas IAF, Bishops, Faithful Call on Lt. Governor and Senate to Reject 'Permitless Carry' Legislation
Bishops, rabbis, clergy and faithful from across Texas convened to express vocal opposition to the passage of proposed legislation HB1927 which would allow "permitless carry" in the state of Texas.
Catholic Bishop Mark Seitz referenced the massacre in El Paso which resulted in dozens of residents dead and seriously injured. Baptist Rev. Darryl Crooms from San Antonio testified to the "unnaturalness" of adults burying children. Lutheran Rev. Jessica Cain testified to the impact of last weekend's shooting in North Austin on local worshippers. Rabbi David Lyon recalled last year's deadly shooting in Santa Fe High School.
Together -- with Lutheran Bishop Erik Gronberg, Episcopal Bishop Suffragan Kathryn Ryan, Methodist Director of Missional Outreach Andy Lewis, Dallas Catholic Bishop Gregory Kelly and several lay leaders -- all expressed concern that passage of HB1927 would increase gun violence. States that have passed similar laws, removing the required license and training needed to carry a handgun, experienced spikes in homicides and gun violence.
“Our faith tradition teaches us to protect life,” said Bishop Suffragan Kathryn M. Ryan of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. “You cannot protect life if people carrying deadly weapons aren’t properly trained and licensed.
"You’ll find no scripture that will support this kind of legislation,” said Pastor John Ogletree, First Metropolitan Church of Houston.
“It makes our church much less safe,” said El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz.
Texas ‘Constitutional Carry’ Proposal for Handguns Has New Momentum in State Senate, Dallas Morning News
Texas Faith Leaders Come Out Against 'Permitless Carry', CBS Austin [pdf]
Bishop Mark J. Seitz, Other Religious Leaders Oppose Bill That Would Ease Carrying of Guns, El Paso Times [pdf]
Religious Leaders Speak Against Texas Bill That Could Allow You to Carry Gun Without License, ABC13 Houston [pdf]
Group of Texas State Leaders Say They're Opposed to Permitless Carry, FOX KDFW
El Paso Bishop, Gun Store Weigh In On Texas 'Constitutional Carry' Bill Debate, KFOX14 [pdf]
Esto Opinan Líderes Religiosos en Tejas Sobre la Propuesta Legislativa de Portar Armas Sin Licencia, Univision Dallas