PCI Hosts RTS Training Alongside Bishop Edward Weisenburger & Kino Border Initiative ED
On Saturday, October 5th, 35 Catholic clergy and lay leaders from 14 Tucson parishes gathered at St. Cyril’s of Alexandria Catholic Church for a Parish Leadership Training on immigration, organized by Pima County Interfaith. This was more than just a meeting—it was a strategic organizing session aimed at confronting one of the most urgent challenges facing their communities: the protection of immigrant families.
Tucson Bishop Edward Weisenburger and Joanna Williams, Executive Director of Kino Border Initiative, anchored the day in Catholic Social Teaching, emphasizing the defense of immigrant rights and human dignity. Their message was unambiguous: protecting immigrant families is both a moral duty and an organizing challenge for parish leaders. The day also included a critical analysis of Arizona’s Proposition 314, a ballot measure that would give federal immigration enforcement powers to local law enforcement, threatening civil liberties. Arizona Catholic Bishops have strongly opposed the proposition.
Organizers led hands-on trainings, equipping leaders with practical strategies to build power within parishes and strengthen their organizing capacity. This effort was part of the West/Southwest IAF’s Recognizing the Stranger initiative, launched in 2017 with support from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development and the Diocese of Tucson.
With Support of Bishop, PCI Launches Parish IDs in Tucson, AZ
In a major step towards establishing trust between local law enforcement and immigrants, and with the support of Bishop Weisenberger and local law enforcement, Pima County Interfaith officially launched the first printing of parish identification cards in Tucson. Participating law enforcement, including Sheriff Chris Nanos of the Pima County Sheriff’s Department and Assistant Chief Diana Duffy of the Tucson Police Department, reassured PCI that they could be trusted to accept the IDs. With this in mind, they encouraged parish ID holders to report when they are victimized or witnesses of crimes.
Bishop Edward Weisenberger of the Catholic Diocese of Tucson supported the strategy while Monsignor Raúl Trevizo spearheaded the action at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church. While over 300 people attended orientations to receive IDs over the last few months, leaders from St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church limited the issuance of parish IDs to 60 for this inaugural event. Leaders are scheduling parish ID events in other local parishes.
Read moreAna Chavarin of PCI: "When One Part of the Body is Hurting, Then the Whole Body is Hurting."
In Tucson, Arizona, work at Pima County Interfaith began advocating for pandemic relief as the pandemic hit, seeing it as a natural outgrowth of its grassroots work.
Ana Chavarin, an organizer with the Catholic Campaign for Human Development-funded organization, said its community leaders quickly advocated for rental assistance for people threatened with eviction. And, after weeks of activism, members were able to convince health care providers to bring vaccines to some of the most vulnerable communities Feb. 6.
She credited local leaders for their work in neighborhoods, parishes and church congregations. She said the effort is rooted in church teaching on solidarity and recognizing the dignity of each person....
Chavarin recalled that when coronavirus testing began in Tucson, the site was established far from low-income communities. For people with a vehicle, the trip would take 40 minutes. However, for poor residents it required riding on multiple buses on a trek that took several hours in each direction.
To prevent such inequities, Chavarin urged collaboration among low-, middle- and upper-income residents to develop solutions to community challenges. While such conversations might currently be pertinent during the pandemic, they could also lead to meetings on environmental issues, jobs and education, she said.
She cited the letter to the Corinthians for inspiration in understanding the importance of building such relationships: "When one part of the body is hurting, then the whole body is hurting."
"We need to understand," Chavarin said, "that we are one body in need of creating those connections and having those conversations to talk about specific goals."
[Photo Credit: Eloisa Lopez, Catholic News Service / Reuters]
To Overcome Economic Disparities, Turn to Papal Encyclicals, Panelists Say, National Catholic Reporter [pdf]
VIP/AIN Persist in Push for Ongoing Testing in State Prisons
Kim Crecca, VIP leader and coordinator of the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona's prison ministry program, commends the department for testing all inmates in the state in a short period of time, but says "There's no plan in place for continued testing...so, somebody who tested negative, you know, a week ago, could be positive today based on something somebody brought in from the outside." (Arizona Republic)
Inside an Outbreak: How Tucson Prison's Whetstone Unit Became a COVID-19 Hotspot, Arizona Republic
After COVID-19 Cases Spike in Tucson Prison Unit, Advocates Demand Action to Spare Inmates, AZ Central
Arizona Interfaith Calls on Dept. of Corrections to Mitigate Spread of COVID-19 in Prisons
A late-July spike in Pima County COVID-19 cases shown on the Arizona Department of Health COVID-19 webpage shows ... 642 cases, the highest number of cases by far that month.
On July 2, Barbara Hudson died in the San Carlos Unit in Perryville Women’s Prison in Goodyear. Before her death, she sought medical care for shortness of breath and chest pain, said Kim Crecca, convenor of the Diocesan Prison Ministry, who has volunteered at Perryville and communicates often with prisoners.
Crecca is part of the Arizona Interfaith Network, a group of faith-based leaders across the state that organizes people for social and economic improvement.
“We feel that her death is a rallying cry, not only to help with the release of inmates as possible but also about the underlying conditions there that make them really vulnerable to the virus,” Crecca said.
“It was alarming very early on in our conversations with the state about how they were not addressing the asymptomatic nature of the virus,” said Joe Rubio, lead organizer of the Arizona Interfaith Network.
The faith groups started meeting with Department of Corrections Director David Shinn in April and less often with Dr. Cara Christ, Arizona Department of Health Services director, to discuss what the state could do to better protect inmates from the virus.
“No one who is incarcerated should have a death sentence by virus, but particularly those who are incarcerated for low-level offenses,” [Episcopal Bishop Jennifer] Reddall said. “They should not be put in a place where they’re going to die because of some infraction."
[Photo Credit: ]
Tucson Prison Inmates Say Close Conditions, Slow Test Results Spread COVID-19, Arizona Daily Star [pdf]
Msgr. Carrillo, PCIC Founder, is Eulogized in Tucson
One of the first Tucson-born, Mexican-American priests to serve in the Diocese of Tucson was eulogized and laid to rest by three dozen priests and deacons, and Bishop Gerald Kicanas, in addition to extended family and friends.
Described as a "giant" and a "Pope Francis priest" long before the Franciscan arrived at the Vatican, Msgr. Carrillo was a founding member of Pima County Interfaith Council.
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