The Poverty Immersion Program of the USCCB's Seminarian Engagement Project

What is the Seminarian Engagement Project?

The Seminarian Engagement Project (SEP) is an effort of the USCCB's Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), initiated in 2020 at the request of the bishops on the Subcommittee on CCHD to help seminarians become aware of the anti-poverty work of the Church. The project offers the resources and national network of CCHD to men in formation for the Catholic priesthood to become aware of the anti-poverty work of the Church as a resource in their priestly ministry, understand the needs of their local Church, and witness the mission and work of the Church to accompany low-income people to address those needs. The hope of the project is that seminarians will encounter and learn from Christ in the poor and through the lived reality of the People of God, forming them to be more compassionate and integrated ministers.

What are the Goals of the Immersion Program?

The goals of the immersion program are twofold: to have seminarians learn to rely on God's providence, and to encounter Christ in the poor and marginalized. SEP hopes the immersions will provide experiences of encounter and solidarity with Christ in the poor that deepen a seminarian's ministerial ability and integration with his own journey of human and spiritual formation. The new propaedeutic (or "preparatory") stage of priestly formation focuses on human and spiritual formation, and encourages in-depth experiences of encounter and relationality that are more feasible outside of an academic seminary setting. With the 6th Edition of the Program for Priestly Formation as the normative formation document (as of August 2023), seminaries and dioceses around the country are exploring ways to creatively form men to be "with and for the poor'' (PPF6, no. 394). Poverty immersions invite seminarians to embark on a journey, often in pairs, to another diocese to be immersed in communities and organizations who offer authentic accompaniment to and seek to empower low-income individuals to be leaders in the solutions needed to address the issues of poverty they face.

The January 2024 immersion cycle was the first implementation of the program, with one more cycle planned for later this year. Dioceses interested in participating in future immersion cycles can contact Aimee Shelide Mayer at EOcontractor@usccb.org.

Reflections from Our Seminarians

This past January, I spent the month in New Orleans on a “Poverty Immersion”. It was an incredible experience to be poor with the poor. The seminary sent our class out in pairs of twos with the bare necessities to serve those in need. We took a long Greyhound bus ride down with nothing but a backpack of clothes, some money for food, and our Bibles. The Catholic Campaign for Human Development, a committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops set us up with a place to stay and some assignments to serve at.

In the mornings, we were sent to the Hope House with Brother Don. He has served the impoverished St. Thomas neighborhood for 40 years. The Hope House is a small community center in this predominately black community that provides rent assistance, free GED classes, a food pantry, and a place to hang out and experience friendship. It was powerful to see Brother Don's impact on the neighborhood. If you asked anyone you met if they knew him, they would start listing off all the ways he has been there for them throughout their lives. A place for kids to hang out after school. A place to finally get your GED. A place to go when you can’t pay rent and eviction is being threatened. A place to feel at home.

We also helped out an organization called Jane’s Place. They help renters in hard and unlivable situations by helping them understand their rights to healthy homes. With Jane’s Place, we saw some awful apartments. Buildings with no security filled with drug dealers and which had had residents murdered. Apartments with mold everywhere and no effort to clean them. And these landlords were taking their money and putting none of it back into the building. It was powerful to see Jane’s Place go into these slums, help the residents organize and go to the state government, and see actual change in situations that seemed helpless. Jane’s Place is an example of how we can change a system that does not honor individuals’ human dignity.

The Catholic Campaign for Human Development uses the example of “Two Feet of Love in Action” based on Pope Benedict XVI’s writings to illustrate how Catholics can live out the call to love our neighbors: to help people meet their basic needs for life, like food, clothing, and housing, and also to help improve the structures of society that make it hard for people to get the food and housing they need. It was a blessing to have seen both feet in action, working with Hope House to help people get what they need, and working with Jane’s Place to help improve the housing system in New Orleans. The whole trip was an eye-opening experience and has led me to reflect, as we all should, on how God is calling me to love those around me and in my community who are in need. - Michael Rahm

This past January I spent a month in Chicago, IL, on a “poverty immersion” experience. It was an amazing chance to come to understand the difficulties with which many people in poverty struggle. The seminary sent us out in pairs.  In our case we stayed at a community called the Canterbury house in Uptown Chicago; most of our ministry time was spent there.

Our stay included going out to meet with many people who lived on the streets struggling with different parts of poverty, whether that be mental health, drug use, illegal immigration, loss of job, or loss of family. James, our host, has been attached to Catholic Workers for many years and was hosting a hospitality house which provided many people living on the streets with an opportunity to warm up in the winter, do some laundry, and have some quality time with other people happy to see them. He also offers a multi denominational bible study for anyone who wants to come and participate.

The Catholic Campaign for Human Development, a committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, set up multiple opportunities for us to meet other groups that often struggle to receive the support from their community. This included The Progress Center for Independent Living, a disability assistance program and local group advocating for better living situations for people with disabilities, and Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation, a restorative justice community on the south side of Chicago.

In addition to these groups, we assisted with smaller tasks like assisting a family with getting additional help with immigration and running a soup kitchen and food shelf. However, the highlight for me was going out and experiencing what people who are homeless go through. We walked with these people who spend a great deal of time just being avoided or looked right through and it was really beautiful to see Christ present in them the same way he is with all of us. -Timothy Zappa