Recently, Bishop James R. Golka shared more about his experiences visiting our ministry partners in Guatemala. Below is a partial transcript of our interview.
Cross Catholic Outreach: Bishop Golka, you just returned from a board of directors’ vision trip to the front lines of poverty in Guatemala. In your opinion, why is it important for members of the board to go to the peripheries?
Bishop Golka: For me it was huge … to be able to be on the ground and to see actual buildings that have been built [and the] people that we’re working with. I have a much better understanding now, I think, of our mission. Hopefully, I can better serve as a board member now, having had that experience.
Cross Catholic Outreach: Talk about the large wealth gap in Guatemala and other developing nations.
Bishop Golka: We help the wealthy [and] know they have a responsibility and should be moved to generosity. And the impoverished know someone is standing with them. As a Church, we need each other; we need everybody.
Cross Catholic Outreach: The late Pope Francis famously said that Christians, with the help of their pastors, are called to hear the cry of the poor. Why do the faithful need the help of their pastors to hear the cry of the poor?
Bishop Golka: Pastors are crucial in helping people acknowledge and share their burdens, as everyone carries a form of poverty or wound, often hidden, especially in America. Pastors serve as a vital connection between the impoverished and those who are not, enabling them to better pray for and be with their community members and demonstrating a heart for the poor through their actions.
View the full interview by visiting CrossCatholic.org/interviews.
Donations from this campaign will be used to cover any expenditures for this project incurred through June 30, 2027, the close of our ministry’s fiscal year. In the event that more funds are raised than needed to fully fund the project, the excess funds, if any, will be used to meet the most urgent needs of the ministry.
