By Diana Pando
This month I sat down to chat with Father Brendan Curran to discuss the work St. Pius Parish is doing in the community. In our conversation, he reveals how St. Pius is creating leaders and strengthening the Pilsen community.  Read the full interview below.
How did you end up at St. Pius?
Well I’m an Irish Catholic kid from the South Side of Chicago that didn’t speak a lick of Spanish who found his way to the door of St. Pius and felt welcomed. I found a community asserting itself into its own leadership and developing its parish and future. That’s what motivated me to come here, and if I could figure out how to learn the language and how to understand the cultural respect, maybe this would be a place to learn and flourish in my first ministry as a priest. Since then, I have been pastor for over 12 years at St. Pius thanks to the community that welcomed me in and helped me develop my ministerial skills.
Why is St. Pius unique?
It really is a parish that is of and about the community. The parish breathes the very community it is a part of in very unique ways. We have traditional sacramental programs like baptisms and funerals as well as parenting programs and small church experience. We also have a number of outreach initiatives that include a soup kitchen, a food pantry, a second-hand store, and family intervention with a Chicago legal clinic that handles immigration issues. If anyone would like to volunteer in our social action community, education, and advocacy programs, they can send us a message via email and specify what program they’d be interested in participating in.
Can you give us an example of a family that’s been impacted by a parish program?
While there are many families that have been impacted, the one that comes to mind is Ismael Perez and his wife. Their son Jorge is blind and they had been struggling to get him into programs where he has access to learning and become independent. They found our special religious education program and were welcomed during a difficult part of their lives because as a couple, raising a child with health complications had estranged their relationship. Thanks to the support they got at St. Pius they stabilized and strengthened their family. While they participated in the program years ago it became part of their family and they maintain their participation at the parish. Their son is currently a member of the choir, reads at mass using brail, and plays the piano in remarkable ways. I’m privileged to witness the transformative experiences families, leaders, and volunteers in the parish have.
How is St. Pius working on immigration reform?
A number of years ago, the parish developed a social action committee out of leaders who wanted things like respect, dignity, and educational learning opportunities to become proactive leaders. They wanted to guide parish families while educating themselves and standing on their own feet. Today, they are in the trenches advocating for immigration reform among parishes. A number of us have been advocates for immigration reform because we represent a parish community that is largely undocumented and is an immigrant parish experiencing abuses, difficulty, and conflict in their daily experiences.
How has partnering with community organizations like The Resurrection Project (TRP) strengthened outreach initiatives?
We’re very grateful with our relationship with TRP because we have been able to engage with a dedicated staff member from TRP who is in the trenches and enabling us to engage other parish leaders. We are one of the original parishes in establishing TRP because we needed to have expertise in these areas. The parishes around us were suffering collectively. What better way to invest resources, time, expertise, and in real impact throughout parishes? That’s why TRP has been a great help and why we are proud of how we have been able to drastically change the housing environment and engage leaders to be more assertive about their community problems.
Do you have a holiday reflection for our readers?
During the holidays, as we prepare for Christmas, ask yourself, how do you see yourself as an effective voice and making an impact in our community? That’s what TRP was founded to be and we invite you to be involved in your parish community or organizations like TRP because that’s how it really happens: by just getting involved and reaching out to us.

Return to Nueva Vida December 2013 here.