Yvette Walker
With KVCR News, I'm Yvette Walker. This is IE Latino Voices, where we invite representatives from Latino led and Latino serving organizations to share their stories and their impact in our region. Joining me today is the leader of the Catholic Church in the Inland Empire, Bishop Alberto Rojas of the Diocese of San Bernardino. Thank you for being with us today. Bishop Rojas.
Bishop Alberto Rojas
Thank you for having me.
Yvette Walker
Bishop Rojas, what did your call for the priesthood sound like to you?
Bishop Alberto Rojas
It was a very early age, but it was a beautiful way of beginning to understand who I was as a person and also as a child of God, and then later on, understood that there was something that was coming to me as a responsibility to be part of this mission of Christ, right for people in the world. And that's when I decided to go into the seminary to discern and maybe take it a little more seriously, to see if this was really what God was asking me to do. And I guess it was.
Yvette Walker
Bishop, what is your primary mission in the Catholic Church, and what does your flock look like today?
Bishop Alberto Rojas
Well, I think the Diocese of San Bernardino is a very beautiful group of people, very diverse. We have people from just about everywhere around the world. Obviously, because of the location and everything near the border with Mexico, we have a lot of Mexican people here, but also a lot of Hispanics from many parts of the world. So that brings a different flavor to the local church, and that's also part of the richness of the Diocese, to have people from all backgrounds and cultures all together united with the same faith in Christ as a leader of the church. My goal is that people get to know more who God is, who Jesus is. What was Jesus's mission for us here in the world. Gospel values are like the best way for people to live peace and justice and love for one another.
Yvette Walker
We all are familiar with the churches and the educational institutions that exist that are part of the Catholic Church. What does that educational landscape look like today?
Bishop Alberto Rojas
Well, the church has always been very focused on educating in many different levels, first of all, in understanding who you are, as a human being, as a person, as a child of God, and that you respect yourself for who you are, not for who the media or the current movements or ideologies of society are saying, you have to come to the basics of who you are, and we use our parishes and evangelization, Catechesis programs is kind of the main means to bring that message forward. And our schools, of course, we focus on children who are learning everything. And along with learning life and everything else, we also care they know who they are in terms of God and their relationship with other people.
Yvette Walker
As a mother of three that have gone through the Catholic school system, I can definitely appreciate the level and the caliber of education that they've received. But this is perfect timing, because it is a Jubilee year. Tell us more about that and how the community can be a part of it.
Bishop Alberto Rojas
It is a beautiful timing for that. It's always time for evangelization. It's always time for bringing to people's minds the respect for human dignity. It's always time for justice. It's always time for loving one another, for peace. But I think when the church organizes itself like that every 25 years, all the way from the Vatican, the Pope declares a Jubilee year. It's just another way to remember, really, what the message of the Gospel and of Jesus, of course, is. You know, for us and how we're doing it.
Yvette Walker
How can the community connect and learn more about the mission, resources and events for this year and beyond within your jurisdiction?
Yvette Walker
Well, Bishop Rojas, thank you so much for being here today and for spreading the gospel.
Bishop Alberto Rojas
One of the main ones would be through the parishes. We have our main offices here in San Bernardino City that we call the Pastoral Center. We have a website that if you just Google the Diocese of San Bernardino, you'll find everything in there. There will be all kinds of offices for different ministries that you'll find in the website. We have a paper we published and distribute. There's some access to the Diocese, so anybody wants to get in touch with it.
Bishop Alberto Rojas
We thank you for the interest on speaking about topics like religion – it’s always not popular in public media. But I think as much as we want to avoid it, it's part of who we are, and I'm just glad you have this opening for us to also share a little message to anyone that wants to come closer to God.
Yvette Walker
Bishop Alberto Rojas of the Diocese of San Bernardino is the leader of the Catholic Church in our region. Join us again next week for IE Latino Voices. You can find this story and others on our website at kvcrnews.org/IELatinoVoices. IE Latino Voices is produced by KVCR Public Media and is funded by generous support from the CIELO Fund at IECF, uplifting and investing in the IE's Latino community. For KVCR News, I'm Yvette Walker.
