The following story first appeared in the Autumn 2006 Glenmary Challenge.
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Spanish Voice of the Catholic Church in Todd County, Ky.
By Jenn Basham

NEIGHBORS: Paul Witte chats with a Spanish-speaking parishioners in Todd County,Ky., about a new hammock.

Paul Witte, pastoral associate at Glenmary’s St. Susan Church in Elkton, Ky., knocks on the open door of a run-down trailer in Todd County. He’s making his rounds to check on local Spanish-speaking families. “¿Cómo estás? Buenas tardes” (“How are you? Good afternoon”), Paul calls out.

Saloman approaches the door carefully and then greets Paul with a smile. Saloman works at a Todd County sawmill during the summer and sends money home to his family in Mexico. The pay is decent, Paul says, but it’s crippling work.
It hasn’t taken Paul long to learn the schedules of parishioners like Saloman. He tries to visit them regularly to invite them to church on Sunday, asks if they need anything and translates the mail they can’t understand.

“I know these people intimately,” Paul says. “They are my friends. They are my neighbors.”

Paul also works with HOLA (Helping Out Latin Americans), an interfaith resource center that seeks to improve relationships between immigrants and the residents of Todd County.

“I work almost completely with immigrants,” Paul says. “The challenge is addressing the social ills that bring them here to the United States. They’re here because they’re poor. They’re working hard.”

Paul and his wife, Ginny, started out as missionaries in Latin America in 1969, where they eventually learned Spanish. They also spent time in Colombia and Venezuela before returning to the United States in 1987.

After living in Michigan for 11 years, they connected with Glenmary. In 1999, Paul was hired as the pastoral coordinator of Glenmary’s mission in Madisonville, Tenn., where there was a large Hispanic community.

When the mission was turned back to the Diocese of Knoxville, the Wittes moved to Elkton and began working with Father Frank Ruff, pastor of the Elkton and Guthrie, Ky., missions.

“I ended up being Father Frank’s Spanish voice,” Paul says. “If you’d asked me 35 years ago when I started working in South America if I’d be here today, I would have said, ‘You’re crazy,’ but here I am.”

Paul worries about the misconceptions people have of immigrants. His parishioners come to rural Kentucky because they are poor peasants from Mexico, and farm work is what they know.

If legislation is passed providing a way for undocumented immigrants to become legal, Paul says, “they would pay their way, gladly, to be a citizen in this country.”

Several members of his parish started the application process before 2001, and it looked like they’d eventually become residents. But after 9/11, their applications were discontinued, Paul says.

Until legislation is passed, Paul helps all Spanish-speakers contend with everyday issues. He takes people to the doctor, not only to translate, but because they have no other way of getting there. A lack of public transportation leaves most immigrants stranded.

As much as HOLA does for the community, Paul wishes it could be doing more. His wife used to teach English as a Second Language classes for Hispanics at Hopkinsville Community College, but her funding was cut and she lost her job.

“Staying faithful to these immigrants through thick and thin can be challenging,” Paul says. “They are considered the lowest of the low. They have no status. They have no rights. I’m trying to get our country to recognize that they’re worthy (of respect)!”

Jenn Basham is a staff writer for the Kentucky New Era (Hopkinsville, Ky.). The story and photo are reprinted from the June 23, 2006, issue.