Page 40 - Catholic Extension Magazine Winter 2019

40 INSPIRE

Lumen Christi Finalist

ABOVE Sacred Heart
of Jesus Church
was at the heart
of restoring hope
in the devastated
community of Salinas
after Hurricane Maria.
LEFT Father
Omar Soto Torres
prioritizes and
engages youth at his
church in the Diocese
of Ponce.

median household income of just
$16,000. Then the area was hit by
Hurricane Maria in 2017, devas-
FATHER OMAR SOTO TORRES | taing homes and plunging residents
DIOCESE OF PONCE, PUERTO RICO into further financial woes and
filling them with despair.
Young pastor finds his of Sacred Heart of Jesus Church,
Father Omar arrived to be pastor

vocation on peripheries a simple chapel in the poorest
area of town, just days after the
hurricane. The parish rectory had
been destroyed. Alone and without
resources, he discovered that he
n the rural town of Salinas, was being called not to be a victim
Puerto Rico, Father Omar or a frightened refugee, but he was
Soto Torres, a young priest being called out of the rectory and
with a big smile and relent- into the community.
less energy, has emerged He brought the people together
I as an inspiring leader in a to check on their neighbors, feed
critical moment. The town is poor the hungry and check on the
and most struggle to survive, with elderly. Parishioners distributed
more than half the population food, water and first aid, locally
living below the poverty line and a and to neighboring towns.