From left, Glenmary President Dan Dorsey, newly ordained Father José Carlos Miguel López, Nashville Bishop J. Mark Spalding, Glenmary vice presidents Father Aaron Wessman and Brother Larry Johnson pose after Mass.
It’s a thrill that Glenmary has three new priests this March, and another man heading for Final Oath as brother at the end of this month. One of the three priests, Father José Carlos Miguel López, stands out as the first Hispanic Glenmarian. In an era when Glenmary parishes have a growing Hispanic population, Fr. José Carlos is a welcome first.
What might the vocation path be of a young man from a rural area in Mexico’s south? In Fr. José Carlos’s case, it started with the dream of becoming a foreign missioner. “When I was young, I watched TV, and we always heard about these countries that are very poor, that need priests, that need help, especially in Africa. Growing up, I just wanted to go somewhere, to serve those people in need. Africa was one of the poorest continents; I wanted to go there,” he recalls.
That changed when a Glenmarian came to visit his home town in Mexico. Father Vic Subb, a missioner in Hartford, Ky., had gone to Mexico on his vacation, at the invitation of poultry workers who worked in his former parish in Georgia. Fr. Vic wanted to meet these workers’ families, and to see firsthand where they come from to work in the United States. It was a vacation adventure for Fr. Vic. But it was also a time to share Glenmary’s work.
“At that time I was in high school,” recalls Fr. José Carlos. “I met Fr. Vic, who was there to visit a friend in Chiapas, where I lived. He introduced me to Glenmary. And the way he spoke about Glenmary truly convinced me. Glenmary would be not only serving in another country, but also serving the poor, in the rural areas of the United States.”
That was back in 2006. José Carlos was working around complicated immigration policies. He enrolled in a nearby seminary and began coming to the U.S. for summers, working in Glenmary parishes, “to get to know Glenmary,” he says. When he was ready for advanced studies, at the Glenmary house at St. Meinrad Seminary, he moved to the U.S.
“I was assigned to many parishes, in different states. I remember people telling me always they needed a Hispanic priest, someone who spoke their language, somebody who understood their culture.” That affirmed his priestly calling. That need for cultural empathy is matched by a need for antipoverty work. “Poverty is so high in Glenmary areas,” he observes. “When you are working for the poor you are doing the work that Jesus asks you to do.”
Fr. José Carlos is beginning his priestly career as associate pastor in Bertie County, N.C. He already has worked there during his priestly formation. Beloved in the community, he now will be able to lead celebration of Mass, and be shepherd to his Hispanic sisters and brothers.
—John Feister