Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Witness to Hope: Pastoral Care of Immigrant Communities

September 23, 2026

Witness to Hope: Pastoral Care of Immigrant Communities was a regional conference hosted on September 17–18, 2026, at Villanova University. Co-sponsored by Villanova’s Mother Cabrini Institute on Immigration, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and Catholic IMMpact, the gathering convened Church leaders, scholars, advocates, and pastoral ministers from across the Mid-Atlantic states.

The conference was designed to translate Catholic Social Teaching into actionable strategies for parish and diocesan leaders serving immigrant populations. It addressed the heightened fears and legal uncertainties faced by migrant families while reinforcing the Catholic mandate to offer compassionate pastoral accompaniment and protection.

Key Themes & Agenda
• Understanding Rights & Legal Realities:
Presentations and workshops covered the current immigration enforcement landscape, practical guidance on “know-your-rights” protections, and navigating legal statuses such as Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and humanitarian parole.
• Lived Experiences:
Personal testimonies from immigrants grounded the academic and theological discussions in real-world struggles.
• Spiritual & Pastoral Support:
Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia celebrated Mass for participants, and Bishop Bruce Lewandowski delivered a keynote address urging deeper solidarity and active accompaniment within local faith communities.
• Actionable Diocesan Strategies:

Sessions featuring representatives from the USCCB, the Hope Border Institute, and Welcome.US provided concrete tools for outreach, community education, and assistance with pathway-to-citizenship programs.
Sr. Christine Marie Baltas, MSC, Karol Brewer, Co-Chair of the Cabrini Immigration Commission, Nancy Costello and Dr. Jerry Zurek, Immigration Commission members attended the conference on behalf of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred. Heart of Jesus.

Equipping pastoral leaders with policy knowledge, crisis planning tools, and advocacy strategies, the conference aimed to build supportive, bridge-building structures for vulnerable immigrant communities.

Honoring Immigrant Heritage Month

July 1, 2026

In celebration of Immigrant Heritage Month, Cabrini Immigrant Services of NYC (CIS-NYC) welcomed 20 participants for a wonderful community potluck. Clients brought traditional dishes from their home countries, giving everyone the opportunity to share and enjoy a variety of cultural foods.

The afternoon was filled with great conversation, music, and a delicious multi-cultural meal. We ended the celebration with an energetic salsa dance class led by a professional instructor, Ximena Salgado, creating a fun and memorable experience that honored the rich cultures and traditions of our community.

Pope Leo XIV Visits Sant’ Angelo Lodigiano

June 22, 2026

On June 20, 2026, Pope Leo XIV made a pastoral visit to the town of Sant’Angelo Lodigiano, the birthplace of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini. During the visit, he prayed in the parish church dedicated to St. Cabrini, venerated a relic of her heart, and reflected on her example of faith, missionary zeal, and service to immigrants and the poor.

“I am here to pay homage to Mother Cabrini,” the Pope told all those gathered in the church for his visit. Pope Leo praised Mother Cabrini as a model for Christians today, especially for her compassion toward migrants and those on the margins of society. He encouraged young people to learn about her life and writings, highlighting her courage, trust in God, and dedication to serving those in need.

Even as a child, Mother Cabrini desired to go to China as a missionary, but, at the urging of Pope Leo XIII, he encouraged her instead to serve her Italian countrymen in the United States where they were living in dire conditions. Pope Leo XIV described this decision to change her lifelong plans as “a profound example of reading the ‘signs of the times.’” The pontiff pointed to the fact that Mother Cabrini realize that her missionary dreams were not to be fulfilled in China, but rather, where the need was the greatest.

The Pope noted that migration remains one of the most pressing realities facing nations and the Church, although much more complex than in Cabrini’s time.

“If Mother Frances were living today,” he asked, “what would her missionary soul say? What would the Heart of Christ say to her heart?”

The answer, he continued, lies in the spiritual source that animated every aspect of Cabrini’s life: the love of Christ revealed in His Sacred Heart.

~ excerpts from Vatican News website

The Pope’s visit was an auspices moment for the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. General Superior Maria Eliane Azevedo da Silva, MSC, and General Councilors Sr. Gilda Mercedes Mendoza Argueta, MSC, Sr. Stella Maris Elena, MSC, and Sr. Patricia Godoy, MSC and many more Missionary Sisters were in attendance in the Basilica of Saint Antonio Abate and St. Francesca Xavier Cabrini.

The visit underscored the Pope’s continuing emphasis on welcoming migrants and caring for the vulnerable, themes that were central to Cabrini’s ministry and remain important in the Church’s mission today.

For Catholics, the visit was a reminder of Mother Cabrini’s enduring legacy as a missionary saint whose faith and charity continue to inspire the Church around the world.

To learn more and to view videos of the Pope’s visit, please click here

CIS-NYC Advocating in Multiple Dimensions

February 5, 2026

At Cabrini Immigrant Services of NYC, our staff, through the program Justice for Immigrants (JFI), has participated in a number of mobilizations in the city and in our state’s capital to show our support for protecting immigrant rights!

We joined the New York Immigration Coalition’s Annual Member Congress in Albany, lobbying our assembly members for the New York for All Act, which would prohibit state and local collusion with federal immigration enforcement; as well as the Access to Representation Act, which would establish a right to universal representation, meaning anyone at risk of deportation who cannot afford a lawyer will be provided one; and finally, demanding that the budget for immigration legal services be increased to at least $175 million.

We also paid our respects at the vigil for Alex Pretti, who was murdered by ICE officers in Minnesota, as well as attended the ICE Out of NYC rally on the designated nationwide shutdown against ICE.

At our office on Friday, January 30th, our Social Services team hosted a Nutrition Workshop for clients, where they learned how to incorporate more vegetables and fruits into their meals. The participants also completed ten minutes of exercise and prepared a healthy recipe—a salad. We hope to continue our work serving the immigrant community whether it be in our office, in the state capital, or in the streets!

Multi-day Celebrations Mark the Feast Day at NY Shrine

November 20, 2025

What a week! St. Frances Cabrini Shrine in New York hosted seven Feast celebrations over four days.

On November 13th we greeted youth from four Catholic schools and in the evening held the Canonization Concert, a re-creation of the Gregorian chant and other music used at Mother Cabrini’s canonization ceremony.

Saturday included Mass in Italian (with a surprise marriage proposal afterwards!) and a Mass for the Filipino community. Sunday dawned with beautiful weather and a full chapel for the English Mass. Msgr. Roger Landry, the National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States, celebrated. His tremendously inspiring homily can be heard here.

As the English Mass ended a busload of Ugandans arrived from Massachusetts. Warm smiles, beautiful harmonies, and huge pots of food lit up the afternoon. While they were finishing their meal in the retreat room a joyous Mass in Spanish began in the chapel, celebrated by Bishop Edmund Whalen.

All in all it was a spectacular few days.

Blessings to all!

Ice Should Allow Pastoral Workers to Bring Communion to Detainees

November 6, 2025

In remarks made on November 4th, Pope Leo XIV told reporters that he “would certainly invite the authorities to allow pastoral workers to attend to the needs” of detained migrants.

recent days in the Chicago area, specifically, at the Broadview Processing Center, for the second time in three weeks, ICE agents barred a group of clergy, religious sisters, and lay people from entering the facility to offer Holy Communion to migrants being detained there.

To read more about Pope Leo’s remarks please click here

Cabrini U. Unites with One Church, One Family

October 23, 2025

~ a reflection by Jerry Zurek, PhD, former Chair, Communications Department, Cabrini University

Cabrini University alumni and friends joined 100-plus faithful in raising their voices in song and prayer in front of the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Philadelphia field office

This public witness was a part of the nationwide Catholic campaign to call people of faith to publicly demonstrate solidarity with migrant families, asylum seekers, and refugees. The campaign is called One Church, One Family. Information may be found at 1family.us.

The speakers reflected the spirit of Pope Leo’s recent message on the World Day of Migrants and Refugees: “Migrants and refugees stand as messengers of hope. Their courage and tenacity bear heroic testimony to a faith that sees beyond what our eyes can see and gives them the strength to defy death on the various contemporary migration routes.”

“We reject the culture of fear that dehumanizes,” said Sr. Michelle Cimaroli, of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

A second day of prayer is planned for Nov. 13, timed to coincide with the feast of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini.

Personally, I was inspired by the many women religious present. As I mingled with everyone, each person spoke from their rich lives, often of decades of service. One, an IHM Sister from Peru, spoke of how the image of the United States has changed for many in other countries.

I hope that public events like this reveal the true spirit of many Americans and Catholics who understand that we truly are one family and must care for those seeking hope as best we can. Participating in a prayer vigil or a public action gives me greater courage to stand up for what we believe.

At Washington Conference, Attorneys Address an Unsettling New Era on Immigration

October 16, 2025

At Washington Conference, Attorneys Address an Unsettling New Era on Immigration
~ by Rhina Guidos for National Catholic Reporter/Global Sisters Report
Reprinted with permission from Global Sisters Report

“We gather today in unprecedented times,” Anna Gallagher, executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., told the crowd. Her organization, known as CLINIC, along with the Migration Policy Institute and Georgetown Law organized the 22nd Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference. That’s where immigration attorneys, paralegals, community advocates, as well as some priests and least one Franciscan sister, gathered on October 9 to hear a range of legal experts, historians and journalists speak. Panelists painted a picture of migrants consumed by fear and a legal community seeking to defend them, but lacking the resources to do so.

Conferences of the past provided a legal bird’s-eye view of policy in the country’s immigration realm, but scholars and experts like Doris Meissner agreed that this year, it’s different.

“We have entered a new era,” said Meissner, senior fellow and director of the U.S. Immigration Policy Program at Migration Policy Institute, as she moderated one of the panels.

No one exactly knows how this era will evolve.From the president’s public call to end birthright citizenship for children whose parents aren’t in the country legally, using information from the Internal Revenue Service to seek out migrants for deportation, and employing military and other law enforcement resources in that effort — those actions raise “profound questions about our society,” Meissner added.

A lawyer at the conference addressed the obstacles the government is putting in place to make it difficult for attorneys to contact their clients. An economist voiced worries about the impact of ICE raids at work and said the actions are at odds with economic strategy. A reporter said he had seen the negative impact of immigration enforcement on communities of faith.Immigration, after all, said CLINIC’s Gallagher, touches “every aspect of our country.”

Cabrini University Alums Learn Stark Reality Facing Many Immigrants

June 19, 2025

What would you do if you were undocumented now? What would you do if you were a mother of two children, one of them one month old, and your husband is detained and sent to a detention center? You had been seeking asylum because of threats of violence in your home country and when you go to your immigration check-in and are told that your asylum petition has been denied and you have exactly one month to come back with tickets to return to the danger in your home country. Your husband is definitely being deported. Should you pay $10,000 to appeal? What should you do with your children who are US citizens?

These are the kind of decisions that thousands of immigrants must make every day as Homeland Security is going after many people who have lived and worked in the US for many years in New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, but are undocumented or on Temporary Protected Status or seeking asylum or on a particular visa that is revoked.
Two Cabrini University graduates, who have spent much of their careers working with communities of immigrants, shared stories of the anxiety and fear and stress that these communities face every day.

Cabrini University alumni and friends meet each month to learn about and discuss social justice issues. The June meeting was led by Robin Larkins, Class of 1985, and Meghan Hurley, Class of 2007.

Robin has had a long career with various Cabrini ministries and is currently the co-founder and executive director of Spring Community Partners in Dobbs Ferry, NY – a suburban community just north of New York City. The organization particularly focuses on serving the growing local immigrant community and assisting parents in navigating the complex systems to help their families succeed and to advocate for their children.

Meghan works for CATA, the Farmworker Support Committee in South Jersey and southern Chester County. She is currently the Policy and Advocacy Organizer. She also served as a volunteer after college with the Holy Child Sisters in Peru.

Following the discussion, the 50 alumni participants wrote or called their U.S. Senators who are now debating the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” This budget reconciliation bill will increase funding for immigration enforcement from the current $34 billion to a proposed $200 billion. Funding would come from many sources, but especially by cutting social services such as many funded by Medicaid and SNAP.

If you are interested in learning about future discussions, please let the Cabrini University CAVS Mission and Service Committee know by adding your name here: https://bit.ly/cavs-ambassadors.