Help Our International Priests and Nuns; Write Congress

Friday, May. 09, 2025

It should come as no surprise to readers of this column that we don’t have enough Catholic priests here in Utah. Parishes along the Wasatch Front typically have a daily Mass and a couple on Sunday celebrated by one priest. In some mission areas, however, they often are limited to a single Sunday Mass, and sometimes not even that because the mission priest can only make it once or twice a month.

We have about 60 active priests in the diocese, aided by maybe a half dozen active retired priests, to minister to the more than 70 parishes, missions and stations spread through the 84,899 square miles of the state. That’s less than one priest per site. 

Another unsurprising fact is that about half of our priests come from other countries throughout the world. This has been the case throughout our history. In the early years of the diocese they came from Ireland and Italy; these days, many of our priests come from various countries in Latin America and Africa, as well as India and the Philippines. 

In addition to our priests, many of our Carmelite nuns and Daughters of Charity are from outside the United States and  face the same immigration issues.

Without their ministry, the Catholic Church in Utah would be much poorer.

Among the hurdles these priests and nuns face in serving here is the immigration process. Many of them come on visas specifically for religious workers, but the quota for these visas has been filled already. Another issue is that a backlog in processing extensions to the temporary visas granted to religious workers now requires many of them to return to their home countries until the paperwork is completed. One of the priests ministering in our diocese just returned after a year in his home country while waiting for his visa; another is preparing to leave for this reason. 

Catholic dioceses nationwide are affected by this issue, as are organizations of other faith congregations. To address the matter, several Catholic members of Congress have introduced the Religious Workforce Protection Act in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. This bipartisan legislation, if passed, would allow religious workers from other countries to stay in the United States while their applications for permanent residency are processed. 

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is urging lawmakers to pass this legislation, saying that it would further “the free exercise of religion in our country for the benefit of all Americans.”

We members of the Catholic laity can do our part to encourage lawmakers to make this bill into law. We can do this by contacting our federal legislators by phone, email or letter, asking them to support the legislation. This is a simple process; anyone can do it and it only takes a minute or two per congressperson. 

Your message should be brief and specific. Feel free to copy the phone message I left, which was, “Good morning, Senator/Representative X. I am calling to ask you to support the Religious Workforce Protection Act. This is a piece of bipartisan legislation that would help religious workers minister in the United States while they wait for permanent residency. I am a Catholic, and our Church in Utah depends heavily on priests from other countries, so this legislation is important to me, and I am asking you to vote in favor of its passage. Thank you.”

I am asking you, dear reader, to please contact Utah’s two senators and the congressperson who represents your district with a similar message. The contact information is below. Please note that while the two senators represent all Utahns, members of the House of Representatives will respond only to voters in their districts. 

Phone: 801-524-4380 (Salt Lake City)) or 202-224-5251 (Washington, DC)

Email: https://www.curtis.senate.gov/contact/

Mailing address: 125 S. State St., Suite 8402, Salt Lake City, Utah  84138

Phone: 801-524-5933 (Salt Lake City) or 202-224-5444 (Washington, DC)

Email: https://www.lee.senate.gov/contact

Mailing address: Wallace F. Bennett Federal Building, 125 South State, Suite 4225, Salt Lake City, UT 84138

Phone: 801-625-0107 (Salt Lake City) or 202-225-0453 (Washington, DC)

Email: https://blakemoore.house.gov/

Mailing address: 324 25th St., Ogden, UT 84401

Phone: 435-703-7720 (St. George) or 202-225-9730 (Washington, DC)

Email: https://maloy.house.gov/contact/

Mailing address: 111 East Tabernacle, St. George, UT 84770

Phone: 801-607-3238 (Provo) or 202-225-7751 (Washington, DC)

Email: https://mikekennedy.house.gov/contact

Mailing address: 3549 N University Ave, Suite 275, Provo, UT  84604

Phone: 801-999-9801 (West Jordan) or 202-225-3011 (Washington, DC)

Email: https://owens.house.gov/contact

Mailing address: 9067 South 1300 West Ste. 101, West Jordan, UT 84088