For 110 years, the Claretian Missionaries carried on the spirit of their founder — St. Anthony Mary Claret — in spreading the Gospel in Arizona through parish ministry, media, missions, retreats, works of charity and devotion to Jesus Christ in the Eucharist and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In what’s been described as “bittersweet,” the last of the Claretian priests left the Diocese of Phoenix — and the state — over the summer when they turned the care of Sacred Heart Parish in Prescott, Ariz., and St. Catherine Labouré Parish in Chino Valley, Ariz., back to the diocese. Last month, Bishop Dolan installed Members of the missionary Society of the Divine Word, pastor Fr. Krzysztof Pipa and parochial vicar Biju Thomas to serve at Sacred Heart.
“Claretians adore the Eucharistic Lord. When I came here as associate pastor, I was so happy to see how people come to the adoration chapel, day and night, snow days, rainy days, hot, cold, nothing affects the interests of the people in coming to the church and worshiping the Eucharistic Lord. As Claretians, we always promote the Eucharistic worship in all of the parishes,” said Claretian Fr. Raj Britto, the outgoing pastor of Sacred Heart. “We truly see Mary as our own heavenly mother. We want to promote that spirituality in the parishes where we serve. There is a great Marian devotion here in our parish, Eucharistic devotion, love for the Word of God. As a Claretian missionary and pastor, what else can I ask for?”
But the impact of the Claretians — officially the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary — extends far beyond Yavapai County. They first arrived in Arizona in 1914 to serve at Immaculate Conception Parish in Yuma, Ariz., The next year, then Bishop Henri R. Granjon of the statewide Diocese of Tucson asked them to serve at Sacred Heart and at St. Jerome Parish in Jerome, Ariz., — now a mission of Immaculate Conception Parish in Cottonwood, Ariz. Throughout the 20th century, they would establish multiple parishes throughout the Valley, starting with Immaculate Heart of Mary in downtown Phoenix in 1924, and other parts of the present-day diocese, as well as what would become Mount Claret Retreat Center.
Impact on parish growth
While the Claretians had been in the Americas since their founder had served as archbishop of Cuba in the 1850s, they had only been in the United States for 12 years before arriving in Arizona, having been invited to serve the Mexican American communities in San Antonio in 1902.
“Some of the American bishops heard about the Claretians. There were lots of Mexicans in the United States that were not being ministered to in their own language,” said Claretian Fr. Ralph Berg, outgoing pastor of St. Catherine Labouré. “So, they asked some of our missionaries to come up and give these weekend missions or weeklong missions.”
One of the first priests to serve in Arizona, Claretian Fr. John J. Maiztegui, pastored Immaculate Conception in Yuma 1914-1915. In 1926, Pope Pius XI appointed Fr. Maiztegui to serve as bishop of the newly created Vicariate Apostolic of Darién, Panama. By 1933, he would become the archbishop of that country’s capital city, serving as spiritual leader for the Central American nation’s Catholic population.
At the time, the copper mining town of Jerome was Arizona’s third largest city. Holy Family was built in 1900 and established as a parish in 1908. From this base, Claretian missionaries built St. Cecilia Mission in Clarkdale, Ariz., in 1924 and Immaculate Conception in 1930. When the latter became its own parish in the 1960s, the Claretians turned it, along with St. Cecilia to the care of the diocese.
“In those days, this area was — and is still — wide-open country. It was really frontier country because people had to get around on horseback,” said Fr. Berg.
Out of Sacred Heart, the Claretians provide sacraments to St. Francis Parish in Seligman and St. Anne Mission in Ash Fork, Ariz., the former becoming a parish in 1940. They also celebrated Mass for the community that would become St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Bagdad, Ariz., when it still met at the Bagdad Community Church. While not establishing St. Anthony Parish in Wickenburg, Ariz., the Claretians provided pastoral care to the mission 1925-1941.
The Claretians served Immaculate Heart of Mary in Phoenix until 1970. From there, they established the nearby St. Anthony Parish in 1943, serving there until 1992. Claretian Fr. Manuel Almuedo raised the money to build what is today the Old Adobe Mission — the first church in Scottsdale, Ariz. He served the community that would become Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish 1929-1931.
“The mark and legacy is in the human stones that build up the Church; the Church isn’t just a building or structure,” said Dcn. Billy Chavira from St. Mary’s Basilica in downtown Phoenix, who grew up at St. Anthony. “The Claretians were great in promoting the laity.”
In the West Valley, priests regularly celebrated Mass in Tolleson, Ariz., and Claretian Fr. Joseph Gamm served the mission as the first pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish. In 1935, Claretian Fr. Juan Atucha Gorostiaga raised money to purchase an old adobe building to be used as a church in Peoria, Ariz. According to John Hanley, co-author of “The Diocese of Phoenix: Celebrating 40 Years,” it was Fr. Atucha who named the mission after St. Charles Borromeo. He would eventually also serve as pastor of Holy Family in Jerome until his death in 1979. In Litchfield Park, Ariz., the Claretians provided pastoral care 1925-1943 to the mission that would become St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Avondale, Ariz. Also in Avondale, Claretian Fr. Joseph Gamm starting celebrating Mass in an Avondale school in 1946 for the community that would become St. John Vianney Parish in Goodyear, Ariz. He served as the spiritual leader of the community until 1954.
“The Claretians did a lot of work, just like any priests, especially in religious life. Arizona didn’t start by themselves,” said Claretian Fr. Alberto Ruiz, a past director of Mount Claret. “We had to go out to little places and give missions and retreats, and we had to drive, get on horses. We had to do all kinds of stuff. It wasn’t just driving around in a nice car. No way. There was a missionary work that had to be done. This is why we’re Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”
Going to the margins
By 1915, the future St. Mary’s Basilica was the only established Catholic parish in the Valley, with missions scattered throughout. The city continued to grow due to an influx of migrants from the Eastern United States and refugees fleeing the Second Mexican Revolution. This demographic shift led to growing tensions between the Anglo and Mexican communities, even spilling over into the Church.
With the completion of the St. Mary’s structure that stands today, the priests announced that Mass for the English-speakers would be held in the new upper level, while Mass for Spanish-speakers would be celebrated in the basement level “old church.” Because Mass was celebrated in Latin at the time, the only difference was in the language of the homilies. The turmoil led Bishop Daniel J. Gercke, the new bishop of Tucson, to erect Immaculate Heart of Mary, located six blocks from St. Mary’s. initially served by the Franciscan Friars from St. Mary’s, the bishop asked Claretian Fr. Antinimo Nebreda — who had been serving in Jerome — to take the reins of the new parish.
“Claretian priests from Spain under Fr. Antimino, came in with several Spanish-speaking priests, and they were to serve all the Mexican community, not only in Phoenix — Scottsdale, Tolleson and other areas, also,” the late historian Frank Barrios, author of “Mexicans in Phoenix,” told the Sun. “The center of the Mexican community would be Immaculate Heart of Mary.”
As the Hispanic community grew, Bishop Gercke assigned Claretian Fr. Antonius Bandres to establish St. Anthony Parish in 1943.
“The Mexican culture was very Chicano, first- and second-generation, definitely bilingual,” recalled Dcn. Chavira. “The teaching, preaching and Masses were about trying to integrate the Chicano culture into the liturgy and recognizing the beauty of that.”
Another priest, Claretian Fr. Tom Mitchell was an Anglo who “had a tremendous love for the Mexican culture and people,” said Dcn. Chavira. “He would walk through the housing projects distributing Communion and visiting the sick at Memorial Hospital.”
Dcn. Chavira recalled that when his uncle died, his grandmother couldn’t afford to bury him. The Claretians told her “not to worry about it,” he said.
“It’s a sense of who the Claretians were,” said Dcn. Chavira. “They never lost that sense of really caring for the poor.”
Outside of the Valley, the Claretians helped the Hispanic community develop in Prescott. When Sacred Heart Parish was still located at its old location in what is now the Prescott Center for the Arts, they opened up a Spanish-speaking mission church located on Goodwin and McCormick Streets to accommodate the growing community. When the new church was built in 1969, the two communities began worshipping in the same church again.
A large part of the Claretian charism was to serve the underserved populations, Fr. Berg said. Throughout the U.S., much of that included serving the Spanish-speaking communities, especially considering that the order was created in Spain and already well-established in several Latin American nations.
“Serving people that were not being served would be largely the Mexicans,” said Fr. Berg. “That’s where the need was the biggest because so many of the Mexican population felt that they were second-class citizens in the same church.”
Currently, there are around 26 groups involved in Hispanic ministry at Sacred Heart. Jimena Aragón, director of Hispanic Ministry, has worked alongside the Claretians for nearly 22 years.
“For me, the Claretians have been family. Not only a spiritual family, but a very personal family for us,” said. From the Claretians, she gained a “spirit of service to the immigrant community and commitment to the Hispanic people and their projects, always supporting us.”
A movement of the Spirit
Zelda Graham, a parishioner at St. Thomas the Apostle in Phoenix, has literally spent her entire life as a part of the Cursillo community. She technically attended her first Cursillo weekend in 1961 — when her mother was pregnant with her and went through her own retreat.
“We grew up in the Cursillo movement,” she recalls, adding that she remembers “going to meetings with them, and when they moved to Mount Claret, rolling down those hills.”
Graham and her family attended St. Agnes Parish in Phoenix yet maintained a relationship with the Claretian priests at Immaculate Heart of Mary who ran the retreat. She also remembers praying for them every night.
“As a young child, you saw them as very holy men. They were very involved in the community,” she said. “For years, I didn’t even know who these priests were. We just knew they were involved in something very big in our parents’ life, and they were priests, so they needed our prayers. We would just say, ‘We pray for Fr. [Alonso] Duran, Fr. Aloysius [Ellacuria], etc.’”
Foreshadowing the Second Vatican Council, St. Anthony Claret and his fellow missionaries traveled the countryside conducting missions, evangelizing the laity and empowering to evangelize each other. Following that spirit, it was the Claretians who introduced the Cursillo movement to Arizona.
Brought to the United States from Spain, the Cursillo began in this country in Texas. At first, the missionaries conducted the retreat at Immaculate Heart of Mary. As the movement grew and the retreats became more frequent, Fr. Duran arranged for the purchase of the La Fonda Fiesta Guest Ranch — an old hotel — and converted it into Mount Claret Cursillo Center.
“The Cursillo has changed thousands of people,” said Fr. Ruiz, who served as the spiritual director of the movement in the 1990s. “I loved every minute of it. I would hear Confessions for days. These people came for changes, and they came to change their hearts.”
Not only did Fr. Ruiz participate in the Claretians’ missionary efforts but his vocation is the direct result of them. Having grown up attending St. Anne Parish in Gilbert, Ariz., he became familiar with the Claretians through their efforts in the Cursillo movement. His parents were among the first Cursillistas in Arizona. It was when he made his Cursillo in 1978 that he heard a voice tell him, “serás sacerdote,” Spanish for “you will be a priest.”
“I was busy trying to become a millionaire. Why would I want religion? So, I said to God, ‘I’m going to do the Cursillo but if you don’t give me some answer, I don’t need you in my life,’” Fr. Ruiz said. But when he went on his retreat, it was during Confession that he heard that voice. “My uncle was in front of the Blessed Sacrament praying, and he and I hugged and cried. At the end on Sunday, I get up and tell people I’m going to become a priest.”
That same priest who heard Fr. Ruiz’s Confession — Fr. Ambrosi — invited the former to discern a vocation with the Claretians.
Graham made her Cursillo two years later, in 1980. Once Fr. Ruiz became the director, her family included him in their prayers.
“Once I made my Cursillo, you just saw how much they loved the movement and how much they loved being priests,” recalled Graham. “There was a lot of honesty in how they interacted with the community.”
At one point, as many as 16 retreats would be held throughout the year, four each in English and Spanish for both men and women. After the retreat, many people took leadership roles in parish ministries.
“People who have gone on the Cursillo weekend have come back and been motivated to be involved in their parish. There are a lot of Cursillistas that are leaders in parishes right now,” said Graham.
“This is just such a beautiful way that He is spreading His Gospel through Cursillo, especially in Arizona,” she added. “We felt really blessed that the Claretians did that and that they brought that to us.”
When the Claretians were unable to continue maintaining the retreat center, they sold the property to the diocese but continued to serve there for a number of years before leaving altogether. Still, Mount Claret retains its name and character and continues to serve as a home for the Cursillo movement. A large statue of the order’s founder stands prominently on the property.
“St. Anthony Claret was very Gospel-oriented, and the statue has him holding the Bible,” said Tom McGuire, who serves as Mount Claret’s current director.
Facilitating God’s call
Initially asked to discern a vocation to diocesan priesthood, Fr. Ruiz knew God was calling him to be a religious priest.
“I needed to be a religious missionary,” he said as to why he joined the order. “I’m Marian — I needed to have a Marian order. Third, I needed to have the Eucharist.”
Fr. Ruiz isn’t the only vocation the Claretians inspired. Four other Arizonans also entered the order, while others who grew up in Claretian-run parishes discerned holy orders through other means. Fr. Michael Accinni Reinhardt, a diocesan priest and the incoming pastor of St. Catherine Labouré, grew up as a parishioner at Sacred Heart. He remembers his grandmother cooking for the Claretians and occasionally having dinner with them.
“My grandmother cooked for the Claretians after she retired from the VA hospital for about 12 years before she couldn’t anymore,” he said. “She provided their meals every day, so you just get to know them.”
Unlike Fr. Ruiz, Fr. Accinni Reinhardt felt God calling him to remain connected closer to home and devote his life to parish ministry. However, there are still aspects of the Claretian spirituality that he carries with him.
“I respect, especially, their work that they did in parishes. But also, I respect their work tremendously when they worked the Cursillo Movement,” he said, adding he also developed a “love of the Blessed Mother. Of course, they’re the Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”
Having grown up in a Claretian parish, Fr. Accinni Reinhardt said in many ways he felt at home being assigned to replace them at a parish just 30-minutes from where he grew up.
“I think it’s helpful that I’m sensitive to a lot of Claretian ways,” he said. “I expressed the sentiment of great sadness, grief. The communities are grieving. When the announcement came that the Claretians were leaving, they were caught off guard.”
Seminarian Daniel Carlisi, who served at the altar during the Claretians’ last weekend of Sunday Mass, also grew up at Sacred Heart. He credits the Claretians for planting the seeds for his own ongoing discernment process.
“I was privileged to know a lot of great priests growing up, and they were all Claretian,” said Carlisi, who is entering the Configuration Stage of his seminary program.
“One priest when I was growing up had really awesome homilies. Another priest when I was in high school was just very down-to-earth, I could relate to him very easily,” he added. “These were all seeds being planted. I didn’t notice a strong desire for the priesthood until I was in college. But nevertheless, these priests were very encouraging and cultivating the faith in general.”
While Fr. Ruiz served as spiritual director of the Cursillo movement, he noticed there weren’t many permanent deacons who were Hispanic or came from blue collar backgrounds serving in the diocese.
“Everybody cannot be doctor or lawyer deacons. These are gardeners, these are people that work,” Fr. Ruiz remembers telling then Bishop Thomas J. O’Brien about the need for these men. Out of that effort, four men were ordained to the diaconate, including Fr. Ruiz’s brother, Dcn. Ron Ruiz, who currently serves at Christ the King Parish in Mesa.
In addition to serving at St. Mary’s Basilica, Dcn. Chavira also serves in the diocese’s Office of Worship. His love and appreciation for the beauty of the liturgy was instilled in him by the Claretian priests at St. Anthony. If God had called him to the priesthood, he said, he would have been a Claretian, as their charisms continue to impact his ministry.
“I’m the hands and the feet of Christ, and the person that’s in front of me is my brother and sister; they’re not an ‘other,’ they’re not a problem,” said Dcn. Chavira of the importance of acknowledging people by their names.
“The Claretian says the Eucharist isn’t just adoration but seeing Christ in those around us. They instilled in me a love of Mary. The beauty of incorporating devotions. To help the people because that has meaning to people,” he added. “They helped the people maintain their faith, whether it be the rosary, processions, quinceañera. Those are organic parts of the life of the Church.”
Impact of a future saint
One priest who served in the diocese would go on to be renown for his holiness. Claretian Fr. Aloysius Ellacuria served as pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary from 1963-1966. Fr. Aloysius died in 1981 but on April 11, 2016, he was officially declared a Servant of God, allowing his cause for canonization to move forward.
“I smelled the sanctity when he used to walk by. I saw him heal at the Masses,” recalled Fr. Ruiz. “He had poor people and rich people, movie stars. Loretta Young used to come, and Bob Hope’s wife [Dolores Hope] used to come, and the other Catholics used to come because he was known.”
During his time in Phoenix, then Bishop Francis J. Green of the Diocese of Tucson — which included Phoenix at the time — developed a friendship with Fr. Aloysius and encouraged local priests to seek him out as their confessor.
Fr. Ruiz first met Fr. Aloysius when the former was discerning the priesthood. While in his novitiate, Father Ruiz asked the sainthood candidate to be his spiritual director. One day after gardening, he recalled, he went into the chapel when he saw Father Aloysius praying in front of a statue of Mary. Hoping not to disturb him and to avoid talking to his spiritual director, Father Ruiz knelt in front of the Blessed Sacrament and covered his eyes.
“I’ve got my eyes closed and my hands over my eyes, and all of a sudden, he puts his hands on me and blesses me and tells me some personal things,” said Fr. Ruiz. “I didn’t know what to say or do. And then he left, and I said, ‘Oh, wow, what just happened?’ Fr. Aloysius was not only praying, he was talking to Mary.”
According to “Fr. Aloysius: Wonder Worker in America” by Jeffrey J. Moynihan, while he was in Phoenix, Fr. Aloysius refurbished Immaculate Heart’s church, rectory and grounds, receiving a beautification award from the city.
Fr. Ruiz said that Fr. Aloysius blessed Mount Claret and buried holy medals at the corners at the property. In Phoenix, as well as everywhere he went, he was known for healing.
“He was well-known because of all the healing that was happening,” said Fr. Ruiz. “He did over 1,000 miracles before he died but not one of them is good right now. It has to be after he dies.”
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles — where Father Aloysius spent most of his life — is currently leading the cause. Fr. Ruiz currently represents the Claretians in the canonization process.
He noted how the sainthood candidate prayed the Rosary every day. Today, Fr. Ruiz uses a chalice and rosary that Fr. Aloysius used. For the last 40 years of Fr. Aloysius’ life, it is believed that he had the Blessed Sacrament undissolved inside of him, an experience shared by St. Anthony Claret.
“When he died, he was only 75 but he didn’t have a good heart. But he had the Blessed Sacrament inside of him, and this is what you smell, this is what you knew,” said Fr. Ruiz. “My part is just to help him get known. Claretians just don’t retire. We either forget who we are or die, and that’s literally the truth.”
Keeping the faith in Yavapai County
With all of their efforts throughout Arizona, their longest impact was in Prescott, taking over Sacred Heart parish when it was only 30 years old and serving for the next 109 years.
Because of decreasing vocations across the board, the Claretians had to pull out of Arizona and consolidate several ministries. Even though missionaries from across the world — such as Fr. Britto — have joined the order’s North American province, it isn’t sustainable without more homegrown vocations.
“It was a hard decision but we had to do it to strengthen our ministries in other places which are so close to our heart,” said Fr. Britto, who admitted he was initially upset about the decision. “It’s not my will but God’s will should be done. I strongly believe that religious superiors can discern what is good for the province, and after they make the decision, we will obey as missionaries. Although, I don’t like to go but I will go.”
Hailing from the Claretians’ province in Chennai, India, Sacred Heart is the only parish where Fr. Britto has served since arriving in the U.S. in 2013. He became pastor in 2018. With the Claretians leaving Arizona, Fr. Britto will be serving as pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish and rector of the National Shrine of St. Jude in Chicago.
Angelica Santillán has been attending Sacred Heart for 30 years. She remembers how supportive the Claretians have been for her and her family in that time. Fr. Berg helped her and her husband prepare for marriage and learn how to pray as a couple. All four of their children were baptized in the church.
“As missionaries, they showed us how to serve the community and others. Their doors were always open,” Santillán said during a farewell party for the Claretians at Sacred Heart July 28.
She remembers former pastors Claretian Fr. Joseph Nuevo, who baptized her oldest son Jeremy, and Daryl Olds for his “beautiful” homilies. Both pastors died while serving at Sacred Heart. She also remembers Claretian Fr.Valentín Ramon’s emphasis on punctuality. If parishioners arrived too Mass late, he’d pause the liturgy and invite them to sit in the front row.
“He corrected us in a very loving way,” she said. “But I think that the community learned that for the House of God, we should arrive before Mass begins.”
Former youth minister Amanda Cardenas grew up attending Sacred Heart. She said she was shocked when she heard the Claretians are leaving.
“They really take their roles as fathers very seriously,” she said. “That’s what they mean to me — fatherhood.”
Looking back on their legacy, Sacred Heart Dcn. Mark Weber noted the Claretians were in Prescott when the city was still considered part of the frontier.
“All throughout the 20th century, they’ve been a strong and solid backbone of the Catholic community here in Prescott,” he said. “We will certainly miss them but we know that God has a plan, and that we’re always looking forward to the future.”
In farewell remarks during a Mass on July 27, that saw the installation of a new pastor and order of priests at Sacred Heart, Fr. Britto thanked the community.
“Sacred heart Parish is blessed to have wonderful parishioners like you. Your thirst for spiritual growth, love for Scripture and the sacraments — especially the Eucharist — and your involvement in prayers, charity and works of justice have made a deep impact in our vibrant community” he said.
“Claretian missionaries have been serving this amazing parish since 1915,” Fr. Britto continued. “Many of the Claretians who worked here enjoyed their ministry. It has been a real pleasure working in this diocese and serving this community.”
