In keeping with the theme of this Jubilee Year declared by our late Pope Francis, “Pilgrims of Hope,” we write these words to encourage all of us to continue pressing forward as bearers of hope to eradicate racism in the minds and hearts of the people and cultures today. Since hope is knowing and believing that God is present even in the midst of struggles, trials, and suffering, we are confident that our work will yield fruits as we stay focused on Jesus Christ.

While working as a priest in the Diocese of Orange I served Bishop Norman McFarland for many years. He succeeded Bishop William Johnson, who was the founding bishop of the Diocese of Orange, established in 1976. Bishop McFarland came to Orange after having served for a number of years as the bishop of Reno-Las Vegas (later split to form two separate dioceses).

When he arrived in 1986, I was working at Catholic Charities managing the immigration department. In 1989, Bishop McFarland re-assigned me to work with him at the Diocesan Pastoral Center as the Episcopal Vicar of Hispanic Ministry. Among the many duties of the office was the translation into Spanish of Bishop McFarland’s monthly English column published in the diocesan newspaper.