Mexican priest to minister in diocese
By RENEE WEBB, Globe associate editor
Posted June 20, 2002

DENISON - As the number of Spanish-speaking parishioners continues to expand in the Diocese of Sioux City, extra help was needed to effectively minister to them.

Father Jose Herrera, a religious order priest from the Society of the Brothers of Jesus, recently came here from Mexico to do just that. The former superior general of his religious order and parish priest from the Compeche Diocese, he now serves as a Hispanic outreach worker for the diocese.

It was Sister Maria de Jesus Ybarra, the director of Hispanic ministry for the diocese, who first contacted Father Jose about working here. Bishop Daniel N. DiNardo invited him to visit.

With Sister Maria interpreting, Father Jose said he agreed to serve here after seeing the needs of the Hispanic population in the diocese last January on a visit to Iowa.

"I realized that many of them were loosing their traditional values and were leaving the church," he said. "It was important for the people to have a priest that understands their culture, their language, their way of thinking and the way they are."

Father Jose, who arrived back in Iowa in late March, hopes to help people overcome the obstacles that they have encountered.

"Immigration gave him a year, but we hope to keep him longer," noted Sister Maria.

Father Jose resides in Denison but doesn't limit his ministry to the southern portion of the diocese. Fort Dodge, Sioux City and Le Mars are part of his coverage area. The priest, a native of Puebla, Puebla celebrate daily and Sunday Mass in Denison.

Every other week he goes to Fort Dodge for Mass, sacramental instruction and catechetical leadership. Currently celebrating Mass every week in Le Mars, Father Jose will soon rotate weekends at St. James Church in Le Mars with Father Paul Kelly of Cathedral in Sioux City. The Hispanic priest will celebrate Spanish Mass in Sioux City at both Cathedral and St. Boniface at every other week and gives instruction on Cursillo on a weekly basis.

"In Denison, every Sunday I will have a religious radio program built on the concerns and aspirations of the Hispanic people," noted Father Jose. The program will air weekly from 4 to 5 p.m. on KDSN.

He explained that while it may seem like a lot of travel, he is used to it. In his work in the Compeche Diocese in Mexico, many of the communities were missions with no resident pastors. He regularly celebrated three different Masses a day in different communities.

The priest will travel even further north this summer when he goes to World Youth Day in Canada.

In Mexico, Father Jose also served as the director of missionary works for the diocese as well as vicar general for the consecrated life.

"This is a beautiful state," he said. "There are a lot of opportunities to do pastoral work."

Sister Maria is pleased to have the extra help and looks forward to the arrival of a deacon from the same Mexican diocese.