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New visa rules hurt recruitment of foreign priests
With his gentle nature and easy laugh, the Rev. Jovito Rata was well-liked by his parishioners at Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Redding. The priest stunned churchgoers last year when he announced at Sunday Mass that he had three days to leave the country and return to the Philippines because of complications with his visa.
“God willing,” he said tearfully, “I’ll see you soon.”
Fourteen months later, he has still not returned.
Rata and other foreign-born priests have long filled U.S. pulpits. But recent changes in requirements for religious visas are making that harder to do, say some church leaders. Now, citing increased costs and difficulty obtaining visas, some will no longer actively recruit clerics from other countries.
Bishop Jaime Soto, the spiritual leader of the Sacramento region’s 900,000 Catholics, said last week that he has stopped a long-standing diocesan practice of seeking priests outside the United States.
“It’s alarming how difficult it is for us to bring over priests who are willing to serve here,” said Soto. “The current immigration protocol handicaps our ability to find ministers.”
More . . .
With his gentle nature and easy laugh, the Rev. Jovito Rata was well-liked by his parishioners at Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Redding. The priest stunned churchgoers last year when he announced at Sunday Mass that he had three days to leave the country and return to the Philippines because of complications with his visa.
“God willing,” he said tearfully, “I’ll see you soon.”
Fourteen months later, he has still not returned.
Rata and other foreign-born priests have long filled U.S. pulpits. But recent changes in requirements for religious visas are making that harder to do, say some church leaders. Now, citing increased costs and difficulty obtaining visas, some will no longer actively recruit clerics from other countries.
Bishop Jaime Soto, the spiritual leader of the Sacramento region’s 900,000 Catholics, said last week that he has stopped a long-standing diocesan practice of seeking priests outside the United States.
“It’s alarming how difficult it is for us to bring over priests who are willing to serve here,” said Soto. “The current immigration protocol handicaps our ability to find ministers.”
More . . .