Visiting Angels

OPTalkspodcast
Written By Open Plaza

Stephen R. Di Trolio Coakley and Hector Herrera talk to Dr. Mariana Alessandri about migration, activism, and theology in the Texas Rio Grande Valley

Sister Norma Pimentel, Executive Director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, is hailed as “a tireless advocate for families, and especially children” by her alma mater Loyola University Chicago. Photo: Heather Eidson, Loyola Magazine

Sister Norma Pimentel, Executive Director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, is hailed as “a tireless advocate for families, and especially children” by her alma mater Loyola University Chicago. Photo: Heather Eidson, Loyola Magazine

 
 

Stephen R. Di Trolio Coakley and Héctor Herrera talk to philosophy professor Dr. Mariana Alessandri, whose theological vision of migration is informed by her teaching experience at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and the work being done with migrants in the Rio Grande Valley. She recounts her experience of living and working at the border, as well as issues related to migration in South Texas amidst the events at the border in 2019. Today, this conversation is as timely as ever.

Dr. Alessandri also introduces us to the organizations and the people still doing the work on the ground. She tells the story of the ministry of Sister Norma Pimentel, Executive Director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley (CCRGV)—named among Time’s 100 Most Influential People of 2020 as “the Pope’s favorite nun”—and her humanitarian work at the Humanitarian Respite Center (HRC). HRC was initiated by CCRGV as a direct response to the refugee relief crisis that began in June of 2014 in the Rio Grande Valley and since has served 100,000 refugees. Part of the larger family of Catholic Charities USA and Caritas Internacionalis, CCRGV is the first point of contact for these individuals when they are released from the immigration detention centers. HRC provides basic human care to refugees and their families from other countries seeking asylum in the United States.

To support the work of Sister Norma and the Humanitarian Respite Center, visit the Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley donation page at: https://www.catholiccharitiesrgv.org/Donations.aspx

 

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“Restoring Human Dignity at the US Southern Border” by Sister Norma Pimentel, TEDWomen 2019, December 2019

 
 
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Mariana Alessandri

Dr. Mariana Alessandri is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), where she teaches ethics, existentialism, religious studies, and the history of philosophy. She also engages in public philosophy, publishing in The New York Times, Times Higher Ed, Chronicle of Higher Ed, Yahoo Parenting, New Philosopher Magazine, and Womankind. Dr. Alessandri volunteers with the Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas, as well as with the Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights.

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Stephen Di Trolio Coakley

Stephen R. Di Trolio Coakley is a PhD student at Princeton Theological Seminary in the Department of History and Ecumenics (world Christianity and history of religions). He worked and taught in Buenos Aires, Argentina before moving to Princeton, New Jersey. His research interests include Pentecostalism, Latin American history, political theology, and decolonial theory. Di Trolio Coakley is currently a Louisville Institute Fellow.

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Héctor Herrera

Héctor Herrera III currently serves as associate pastor at Tokyo Union Church (TUC). He is the son of asylum seekers who escaped the Guatemalan civil war; his family became integrated into a larger international community of Latin American immigrants from 20 different countries at a local Spanish-speaking Baptist church, where Herrera’s Christian identity would form. Herrera holds a Bachelors in Philosophy from the University of California, Irvine, and MDiv and MA degrees in Christian Education and Formation from Princeton Theological Seminary. His pastoral experience and ministry include serving as a campus chaplain at Princeton University, a hospital chaplain at Arcadia Methodist Hospital, as a pastoral intern at San Marino Community Church near Los Angeles, and work with children and youth. Herrera also has international experience, having served at the Scotts Kirk in Lausanne, Switzerland and at Youngnak Presbyterian Church in Seoul, South Korea. With strengths in online communication and education, he has helped develop resources in Digital Learning for Princeton Seminary. Herrera aims to continue helping people of all ages and abilities connect with each other and with God as much of TUC’s ministry moves into digital space. Herrera and his wife Marie (childhood friend and high-school sweetheart) are the proud parents of Hector Herrera IV and Margot Herrera.

 
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