Texas Border Business
On Friday, October 14, 2022, Valley Interfaith and IAF had the rare opportunity to visit with Pope Francis at the Vatican.
An interfaith delegation of 20 leaders and organizers from the West/Southwest Industrial Areas Foundation met with him to share their collective work of broad based organizing at a time when the Pope is guiding the global church in a historic Synod listening process.
The Holy Father sat side by side with the group at his residence, thanking them for inconveniencing themselves to come see him. What ensued was a true dialogue, a 90-minute conversation in Spanish with a lot of back and forth engagement. The encounter was filled with many graced moments about both the joys and the struggles of their work, and the work of the Church, past, present, and to come.
This invitation to meet was in large part due to the recognition of the groups work by local Bishops, in particular those involved with the Recognizing the Stranger strategy, which is dedicated to formation and leadership development of immigrant parishioners. As well, their involvement to support the Synod process in multiple dioceses has helped to bring those in the margins to the center of the synodal dialogue.
As experiences of organizing were shared, they were struck by how carefully he listened, asked questions, and engaged with a lot of humor. Early on, he reflected to them, “Usaron mucho las palabras ‘ver’ y ‘escuchar,’… Me impresiona que ninguno de ustedes es parte de alguna teoría. Ninguno dice ‘leí un libro y me interesó eso.’” (You constantly use the words “to see” and “to listen.. I am impressed that none of you start with any theory. No one says ‘I read a book and that interested me.’) “El peligro es intelectualizar el problema” (The danger is when you intellectualize a problem.)
He stressed the importance of being with people and paying attention to their reality, emphasizing Amor Concreto, love concretely in action, saying that he understood our work as seeing and hearing of injustice in the real lives of our people, acting to change the situation, and being changed themselves as a result. He expressed his appreciation for the groups focus on what they are doing, rather than to complain about what is not being done or to disparage anyone. “Ustedes no menospreciaron a nadie.”
Before concluding, he thanked them for the visit, saying that although he had never known of IAF before, he was glad that he knew us now, and he welcomed further conversation around our continuing work with the Synod process.
Some in our delegation were able to meet also with others at the Vatican, including leadership in the Dicastery for Integral Human Development, the General Secretariat of the Synod, and the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. It was a trip that opened many doors.
The group is grateful to the support of this historic visit. Many contributed with prayers, advice, encouragement, and financial investment. The group spent a full day in advance of the meeting with Pope Francis by conducting their own synodal process. They all felt an obligation to you and those who came before us in making this pilgrimage possible.
We teach that power recognizes power. Pope Francis said, “el verdadero poder es el servicio,” (“true power is service”). Recounting the Good Samaritan, he clearly stated that the Gospel cannot be understood without acting with those who are suffering. He recognized the leaders and organizations of the IAF and the powerful work that is happening every day at the margins. He referred to the IAF as “Good News for the United States.”
The group is humbled to represent the many decades of work from those who preceded them, and are encouraged in the continuation of their work into the future.
Valley Interfaith leaders along with industry partners founded VIDA in 1995 as a workforce development model to serve the Rio Grande Valley’s economically disadvantaged residents achieve career success. They remain active in workforce development initiatives, with currently 6 of VIDA’s board members representing Valley Interfaith leaders.
