If you would like to visit the Pastoral Migratoria Spanish Page, please follow visit our Pagina en Español.

When comprehensive immigration reform failed to pass the Senate in 2007, Chicago’s immigrant community needed to know what they could do to help one another through increasing, urgent, basic human and pastoral needs in the absence of immigration policy restructure.

In support, we developed our immigrant leadership ministries, called the Immigrant Social Ministry – e.g. Pastoral Migratoria and Polish Immigrant-to-Immigrant Ministry – to empower Hispanic and Polish immigrant lay leaders through service and justice actions in parishes.

Introduced in 2010, Pastoral Migratoria invites Hispanic immigrants to respond to their baptismal call to holiness and engage in service and justice actions in their parish communities. Currently, more than 200 Hispanic lay leaders and 40 Hispanic parishes actively participate in Pastoral Migratoria in the Archdiocese of Chicago. Pastoral Migratoria also responds to the call to evangelize and bring individuals and society to Christ.

Components

Leadership Development & Reflection

Candidates for Pastoral Migratoria participate in a six-week leadership training series based in Catholic social teaching and the listen-learn-proclaim (see-judge-act) methodology. Training uses a series of formation modules that integrate reflection on Scripture from an immigrant’s perspective, and analysis on civic issues facing the immigrant community. Ongoing leadership development includes public speaking, conducting meetings, teamwork, organizing workshops and information tables, community organizing, etc. There are also ongoing opportunities for prayer and biblical reflection, including retreats, forums.

After completing the initial training and being commissioned for this ministry, lay leaders work at the parish level to identify and prioritize social and pastoral needs of their local community, and strategize a response with service and justice actions.

Justice, Service and Accompaniment

Pastoral agents play major roles in advancing immigrant rights and integration by working toward systemic change in society, while also meeting immediate social and pastoral needs of the local immigrant community. In support of the Catholic Campaign for Immigration Reform Justice for Immigrants, they participate in the planning and implementation in their local parishes of advocacy initiatives such as postcard and petition campaigns. They organize prayer vigils, pilgrimages, and congressional visits involving their parish communities. They take leadership roles in the local rollout of new immigration policies such as the Temporary Visitor Driver’s Licenses, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, etc.

The pastoral agents also provide basic human support and accompaniment. They work in collaboration with community organizations and partner institutions to disseminate information through the infrastructure of their parish, provide workshops with professionals or experts in a particular area, bring resources to the parish community and accompany families who are experiencing detention or deportation.

• Immigrant Social Ministry Brochures Español | English
• Brochure for Pastoral Migratoria Formation (English)
• Map of Parishes with Pastoral Migratoria (PDF)
• Polish Immigrant-to-Immigrant Ministry (Link)