Valley Interfaith, IAF activists meet with Pope Francis

By PAUL BINZ

The Valley Catholic

SAN JUAN — The accomplishments of Valley Interfaith and its sister organizations throughout the United States brought local activists a face-to-face audience with Pope Francis in Rome.

A delegation of 20 leaders and organizers from the West/Southwest Industrial Areas Foundation, the umbrella organization for Valley Interfaith, accepted the pope’s invitation to come to Rome. They met for an hour and a half Oct. 14 at the Vatican.

“Our meeting with the pope was just amazing,” said Eddie Anaya, a Valley Interfaith leader. “It was a very productive experience for the organization. It opened doors for the Industrial Areas Foundation, Valley Interfaith. It was just good for all of us — for the diocese, for our churches, for our leaders. It was validation, really, for the work that’s been done over the past 40 years here in the Valley.”

Valley Interfaith has a four-decade history of activism in the Rio Grande Valley, fighting for social justice with community organizing, and by holding elected officials accountable for their actions, promises and failures. Eddie Anaya’s late mother, Carmen Anaya, was a high-profile organizer during Valley Interfaith’s early years. The organization’s efforts have contributed to significant improvements in health care, education, living conditions and voting rights throughout the four-county area.

Pope Francis came to know about Valley Interfaith’s work — and that of the IAF’s 80-year-history — from various U.S. bishops and archbishops, Anaya said.

Two days of preparation by group members in Rome preceded the sit-down with the pontiff.

“It was really work for a couple of days, preparing for this meeting,” Anaya said. “We had really our own synod process … when we met one on one, talked about why or how Valley Interfaith over the years has changed us.

“There were people from San Francisco, Colorado, Michigan, Oklahoma, Arizona, New Orleans, Texas. Different denominations — Baptist, Jewish community, Methodist, Catholic. It was amazing that after being with them two days in preparation, we all had something in common, which was to act and understand what the Gospel meant, and we got to know each other very well. And it was interesting that we all had something in common, no matter what our background, where we were coming from, what part of this country …”

When the time for the meeting with Pope Francis arrived, the delegation awaited him seated in a circle. Then, Anaya said, Pope Francis entered, greeted them, “and said, ‘Thank you for taking your time in meeting with me.’ We felt welcomed at this meeting. And he went around and shook everybody’s hand.”

The meeting was conducted in Spanish, Pope Francis’ first language from his native Argentina.

“He was very intrigued and interested,” Anaya said. “‘How many people are in this organization? How many organizations are there?’”

Members of the group made presentations about different issues. Anaya spoke about the Valley’s colonias.

“After about a minute and a half of synopsis about what we had done, his eyes lit up and a big smile … ,” Anaya said.

He quoted the pope’s response: “‘As of right now, all I’ve heard is that you all have listened,’ Pope Francis said. ‘You listen to people; you talk to people. You’re not coming here with a book or a theory or a study, to implement a theory. You come here because you listen to people and hear their problems and try to rectify them.’”

They also talked about the Synod process and “recognizing the stranger.”

Anaya said Pope Francis concurred with Valley Interfaith’s agenda that labor, land, lodging, a good education, and health care are priorities for the marginalized.

“I agree with the work that you all are doing, going out and talking to people, listening to people, addressing situations that are unjust to people, and helping people that are in the margins,” the pontiff said.

“The Gospel can only be understood if you act with those who are suffering,” Pope Francis said.

Anaya said the pope called their efforts “good for America.”

“He smiled, he laughed with us. There was tremendous interchange, exchange of ideas. But most importantly, he listened,” Anaya said. “It almost seemed like he knew: ‘I’ve seen this before. I’ve heard it. I lived it.  I’ve experienced it. And you are doing the right thing to change people’s lives.’

“And that is what came out of this meeting. He understood us. He understood the work that the diocese is supporting in our community,” Anaya said. “And he left us with one (mandate): ‘You continue doing your work. You don’t stop. You continue, no matter what.’”

“In the end … everybody was literally speechless. It was very, very emotional — very touching. We were humbled by the fact that he accepted us in his place to hear the stories and the work that we are doing now and in the future. … He knows about the Valley, the diocese, the work that has been done.”

The delegates left Rome hopeful for a follow-up conversation with the pontiff by electronic means during an upcoming regional IAF meeting in late February in San Antonio.

“It was an honor for me to represent the Valley. Because it wasn’t for myself; it was for the diocese, the leaders, the work that had been done by our community,” Anaya said. “Just to be there with him was very powerful.

“I didn’t expect to feel that way, or to be touched that way, as for his understanding,” Anaya said. “The energy and validation that he gave us for so many years that we’ve worked. … ”

“In hearing what he was saying, it was basically coming full circle in a sense,” Anaya said, reeling off the names of several of Valley Interfaith’s historically prominent activists. “All that work … that people in the past had done, had worked. It was a vindication that they were right.”

“It was so satisfying and so wonderful to hear it from the Holy Father.”