IN THE DIOCESE
tvc.dsj.org | November 21, 2017
3
Paul Miner Joins Diocese as Director of Social Justice Ministries
By Liz Sullivan
For Paul Miner, commitment to faith
is a commitment to the family values he
grew up with in Davenport, Iowa.
Miner was recently named the Di-
rector of Social Justice Ministries for
the Diocese of San Jose (DSJ). He is one
of eight children and the oldest son.
Miner’s parents, Roxanne and Patrick,
who met at Jesuit-run Creighton Uni-
versity in Nebraska, have always been
active in the Catholic Social Justice
movement. Miner’s mother, Roxanne,
taught social justice at the high school
level for many years and has been very
active in Catholic Relief Services (CRS).
In the 1980’s Roxanne Miner had the
pr ivilege of meeting American labor
leader and civil rights activist Cesar
Chavez, who along with Dolores Huer-
ta, founded the National Farm Workers
Association, which became the United
Farm Workers Union.
“My roots are deep in Catholic so-
cial teachings,” said Miner. “My strong
family faith allowed me to get a taste
of social justice ministries. I remember
going to protests as a kid with my family
and I was being a witness to the power
of faith and how it can work.”
For the last eight years Miner has
worked in some form of ministry for
the Church, with stops in the greater
Chicago area; Saint Paul, Minnesota;
Saint Louis; the greater Detroit area
and fi nally the Diocese of Sacramento,
where he served as the Director of the
Newman Center in Chico. A graduate
of Lewis University with a Bachelor of
Science in Political Science, Miner has
a Master’s Degree in Philosophy and
Theology. For two years, Miner was a
Jesuit Novice in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
“The search committee looked long
and hard at several applicants for Social
Justice Ministries Director. And Paul’s
passion for embracing the preferential
option for the poor, is and has been a
Paul Miner
part of his life and his family’s,” said
Father John Hurley, CSP, Vicar for Evan-
gelization for the Diocese. “Paul will
immediately be connecting to parish
social justice outreach committees and
then with pastors where there are no
committees.”
Hurley added that Miner will be
synchronizing diocesan social justice
outreach with Catholic Charities. Wit-
ness is a huge part of that outreach. It
is the third leg on a three-legged table
of Evangelization, together with Word
and Worship.
“Paul will oversee the three goals
in the Diocesan Evangelization Frame-
work: to develop strategies for DSJ with
parishes and schools; to develop and
facilitate high-quality encounter op-
portunities; and, to invite parishioners
to encounter Christ on the margins of
our county,” added Hurley.
In his short time in the Diocese of San
Jose, Miner has been impressed with
what he has seen and heard.
“I see a lot of social justice issues in
the Diocese,” said Miner. “It is defi nitely
attractive for me and allows me to con-
nect with the teachings I learned when
I was with the Jesuits. The Church in
California is really a model for the
Church, especially with the work of
Pope Francis. It is really inclusive and
has an openness to reach all people. For
us, how can we tap into the creativity
you have in Silicon Valley? I want to be a
part of the people who reach those really
in need and give them real skill sets.”
To learn more about the Depart-
ment of Social Justice Ministries, visit
www.dsj.org/social-ministry.
New CRS President/CEO Sean Callahan Visits Santa Clara University
Faith. Action. Results.
Armed with this message, Catholic
Relief Services (CRS), the organization’s
new president and CEO Sean Callahan
visited the Diocese of San Jose on Nov. 1
when a reception was held in his honor
at Santa Clara University.
A 28-year veteran of CRS, Callahan
took over for Dr. Carolyn Woo on Jan.
1, when Woo’s fi ve-year term ended.
Callahan spent the last four years
as Chief Operating Offi cer and eight
years before that as Executive Vice
President for Overseas Operations.
“The question I often get asked is,
‘what can we do together,’” Callahan
noted. “What is the power of possibil-
ity? At CRS we assist people in various
ways. We try and restore people’s hu-
( l - r ) C R S B o a rd M e m b e r C h a r m a i n e
Warmenhoven; Bishop Patrick J. McGrath; CRS
President and CEO, Sean Callahan and Santa
Clara Unversity President, Father Michael E.
Engh, S.J.
man dignity and help them be whole. I
think we should always try and think
big and I think we can do more.”
Callahan said once human dig-
nity has been restored, the question
becomes “what can they do next?”
During his 20-minute talk, Callahan
repeatedly emphasized “opportunity,
hope and empowerment.”
“We want to unleash what they
have within them,” he said. “We just
have to provide a little investment in
them. All of these (impacted) people
are our brothers, our sisters and our
children.”
Bishop Patrick J. McGrath gave
the blessing before Callahan’s pre-
sentation and spoke about his own
experience with CRS when he and
CRS Board Member Charmaine War-
menhoven visited Guatemala.
“Visiting Guatemala was a life
changing experience for me,” said the
Bishop. “It is really amazing to see all
of the diff erent things CRS does to
make things better in people’s lives.
Our world is a much better place be-
cause of Catholic Relief Services.”
Based in Baltimore, Catholic Relief
Services is the offi cial international
humanitarian agency of the Catho-
lic community in the United States.
The agency alleviates suff ering and
provides assistance to people in need
in more than 100 countries, without
regard to race, religion or nationality.
CRS’ relief and development work is
accomplished through programs for
emergency response, HIV, health, ag-
riculture, education, microfi nance and
peacebuilding. Learn more at CRS.org.
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