Catholic Extension Service films Utah's missions

Intermountain Catholic

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A film crew from a company Chicago film the dedication Mass of the Saint Paul Catholic Center in Hurricane May 17. They filmed a total of 25 hours of tape over two days.

HURRICANE — The weekend of May 16-17 was busy for southern Utah. There was the Sacrament of Confirmation taking place in Delta, First Holy Communion in Fillmore, and dedications in Hurricane and Beaver. The Catholic Church Extension Society from Chicago was there to film them.

"We were blessed during this trip through southern Utah to be accompanied by representatives of the Catholic Church Extension Society," said Vicar General Msgr. J. Terrence Fitzgerald. "They had invited us to be a part in the new video they are making regarding Mission America and the needs of mission diocese such as our own. The team of photographers, along with Bill Dixon, director of development from Catholic Church Extension Society, accompanied us to Delta where the Most Rev. John C. Wester, Bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, confirmed children in Delta, and to Fillmore for First Holy Communion, and then on to Hurricane for the dedication of the Saint Paul Catholic Center.

"They photographed the beautiful scenery of southern Utah, and conducted a series of interviews with the bishop, myself, and various others to help explain the needs of and the story of Utah’s missions," said Msgr. Fitzgerald.

"We have come here to do a production, some filming, so we can further our cause, on behalf of America’s missions," said Dixon. "So I met with Msgr. Fitzgerald, Michael Lee, diocesan director of pastoral operations, in Salt Lake City to hear their perspective. We were in Delta and Fillmore, and we have been all over the state. There were wonderful families there, beautiful communities, and the scenery was beautiful, which made a great day.

"Last week, I was in the Diocese of Savannah, Ga., and we were in a few communities in isolated areas like these for confirmation and first communions," said Dixon. "That diocese is a little smaller than this diocese, but none the less, grand in size. We were in two communities that were 45 minutes apart. In Utah, we have been in communities that are hours apart.

"What I am trying to do with this production, and with my being here, is to convey to people who do not have the opportunity to come to Utah, is to convey to them the size of your diocese, and the kind of work people like Michael and Msgr. Fitzgerald have to do, and the traveling the bishop has to do, as well as the deacons and priests, and all the lay people who volunteer and otherwise who work in this area. We met with several of the traveling priests and watched them jump in their cars after we interviewed them and run off 85 miles to their next assignment.

"Where I live in Chicago, I can walk two blocks to a Catholic church," said Dixon. "A mile the other way is another parish, the one I go to. There are two parishes within a mile of each other, and each parish has five priests. Most of them are assigned somewhere else, but there are five priests living in that one house. And within 10 miles of my house there are 12 Catholic Churches.

"Catholic Extension has been headquartered in Chicago since it was founded in 1905," said Dixon. "All of our work is done outside of Chicago. We travel a lot to see the work. My role is in marketing and communications, so it is my singular honor to represent people like Msgr. Fitzgerald and Michael, and Tony Foran, pastoral administrator of the Saint Paul Center in Hurricane, and all the priests, sisters, and people who give money to us. Then we can therefore give the money to the dioceses and other places to expand and to do work.

Dixon said they have about 85,000 donors each year to Catholic Extension. They give away somewhere between $16 million and $20 million every year.

"Our focus now is to increase that substantially over the next five to 10 years, somewhere in the neighborhood of two to three times that," said Dixon. "The money we bring in, we will simply turn around and hand back out all across the country. We only support missions in the United States and it territories. Two thirds of the United States is mission country, in 84 dioceses. We are on both sides of the dateline, and both sides of the equator. We give to the missions in Guam, the Marshall Islands, the Aleutian Islands, and almost all the states in the United States. We have supported the building or reconstruction of over 12,000 churches in the United States.

"It is a fun mission, but nowhere near as fun as being out here in Utah, as seeing the work that Michael, and Shannon Lee, director of Diocesan Development Drive, and others have done. That is what we are here for.

"We filmed about 25 hours of footage, and will probably use about five minutes of it in the video," said Dixon. "We will use as much of the footage on the internet as we can. Our internet site is Catholicextension.org. And we will repurpose it to use as much of it as we can in telling little stories. Again, our purpose is not to create videos, but to tell the story of the missions so people in places like Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Miami, Dallas, and Philadelphia know what goes on in mission territory. People have heard of Zion National Park, but they do not know about Hurricane, Utah, the Saint Paul Catholic Center, or the growing populations in all these communities that are Catholic, whether it is here, Texas, Alaska, or Georgia. The Catholic Church is one of the only churches that is sustaining its levels and actually growing a tiny bit, and we have to be there for them, and they are happening most of the time in small communities like this."

"The Fillmore and Delta missions, as you know, do not have full-time priests," said Maria Cruz Gray, director of Hispanic Ministries. "Once a month, Father Marco Tulio Lopez, from Saint Mary of the Assumption Parish in Park City, comes to celebrate Mass and visit with them. The rest of the time Deacon Mario Rodriguez and Deacon Rubel Salaz come and celebrate a communion service.

"The people in the rural area are growing so they have a lot of needs," said Gray. "Delta is currently about 70 percent Hispanic, and Fillmore is about 95 percent Hispanic. Because of the their needs, I have been training 12 catechists over this past year in Fillmore. During the summer, I held a vacation bible school during the day, and in the evening, I would teach the catechists the practical religious educational skills.

"This was a great success," said Gray. "When we began, we had 15 kids and when it was over we had 150 kids. The catechists are very devout. They are there every Sunday, so much so that now the facility is too small.

Gray said on May 16, Father Oscar Martin Picos, Msgr. Fitzgerald, and Father Javier Virgen, vicar for Hispanic Affairs and associate vocation director, were there for the First Communion of nine boys and one girl. Extension Service filmed this service."

Gray said now they have bi-lingual books, and are prepared to teach bi-linqual because some of the Spanish students who have been there for a while are learning English, but those who have just moved in, do not yet know English.

"Our office is a bridge, it is transitional, so the books are in English," said Gray. "Everyone is having a wonderful time. Seeing the success, I am now going to Delta and to Beaver every two weeks. From 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. I teach the class in Delta to about 16 catechists. Then my husband, Deacon Forrest Gray, and I travel from Delta to Beaver, about 80 miles, so I can teach about 10 catechists in Beaver from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The reason the class is so late is because they work in the pig farms during the day.

"You can see how much they love the Lord and how much they want to do the right the thing," said Gray. "We also teach them the Safe Environment courses because they are not familiar with the American culture. They are very kind people and so eager to learn. I can see their devotion and their enthusiasm and how they really want to be involved and take care of their faith.

"They realize if they do not take care of the children now, then later on they will not be there and they will no longer be interested. Now they have a lot of love for the Lord," said Gray.