Some people say that youth is wasted on the young. Father Carlos Collazo would beg to differ.
As he celebrates the 10th anniversary of his priestly ordination, he has clearly used every bit of his military, priestly and academic training. His youthful energy has brought about much good for his local church in Ponce, Puerto Rico.
He does not complain about the workload. He embraces it.
For many years I’ve been doing multiple jobs at the same time and I like it. I have the energy. I like to work hard for our Church.”
Just a decade ago, he was one of the roughly 400 seminarians whose education is supported by Catholic Extension Society each year. Although we did not know him by name at the time, we soon would.
Handling Hurricane Maria: Cool in a crisis
In 2017, when Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, Bishop Rubén Antonio González Medina of Ponce recognized Father Collazo as a capable young priest. He tapped him to lead the diocese’s disaster response and humanitarian outreach.
There was so much suffering. People were still dying due to the months-long power outage. They were unable to access critical services and basic supplies, including food and water. These life-threating conditions hurt the most vulnerable populations who lived in remote communities, like this family with a bed-bound child.
Father Collazo led teams of volunteers to households like these, whose inhabitants lived in the most precarious and dire circumstances, to ensure these endangered families survived the apocalyptic aftermath of the hurricane.
This level of responsibility did not spook the young priest. Before entering the priesthood, Father Collazo served in the National Guard for eight years, where he developed a strong sense of leadership and service. All of that training allowed him to remain cool in a crisis.
His bishop saw his knack to mobilize volunteers and resources to the areas of greatest need. Bishop González kept him permanently in the role of director of social outreach for his diocese, which includes 43 parishes and serves 350,000 Catholics throughout southern Puerto Rico.
Thereafter, disasters just kept hitting the diocese.
Undaunted by earthquakes and flooding
In 2020, the Diocese of Ponce was at the epicenter of catastrophic earthquakes that destroyed parishes and schools, left many people homeless and upended the local economy. Once again, Father Collazo deployed forces—with the help of Catholic Extension Society. He created distribution centers to make sure devastated families could have their basic human needs met.
Father Collazo and his bishop also did not forget to support people’s spirits. They hit the radio airwaves, offering a live platform for people to call in and speak to their spiritual leaders, learn about available humanitarian resources, pray together and share stories of hope and encouragement. Catholic Extension Society proudly supported these efforts.
Instead of being daunted by the wreckage that was all around him after these natural disasters, Father Collazo remained ever determined to do everything in his power to help. He proved that the Church cared.
In 2022, it happened all over again. Hurricane Fiona struck the island. Although it was a Category 1 storm, it arrived with enormous rains, creating mudslides that overtook the homes of many people in his area.
Father Collazo gathered volunteers, like these pictured below, and went home by home cleaning and expelling mounds of mud and debris from the homes of the poor, physically disabled and elderly, to ensure that their houses could be habitable.
They also collected and distributed care packages of water and food.
Wearing multiple hats
As if he didn’t have his hands full already, Father Carlos had also been serving (until very recently) as pastor of one the largest parishes in Ponce, with one of the largest Catholic schools.
He worked closely with Catholic Extension Society to install an electrical system that would enable the 1,300-seat church to have air conditioning—an absolute must in an area where tropical heat and humidity can be suffocating.
Additionally, because his parish was close to the seminary, he simultaneously helped to form and mentor seminarians. Among his other accomplishments, Father Collazo has a bachelor of arts in political science. He became an adjunct faculty member at the Pontifical Catholic University in Ponce, where he teaches a theology course in Catholic social teaching.
He still wasn’t done.
On top of all of this responsibility, his bishop appointed him as the primary point person for the long-term recovery of his all of his diocese’s destroyed infrastructure (currently estimated at $14M).
In that role, he is responsible for interfacing daily with Catholic Extension Society’s team in Puerto Rico to ensure that the damaged parishes in his diocese painstakingly follow through with all the regulatory requirements that come with federal grants.
Thanks to his leadership, they now have a pathway to rebuild the historic churches that were felled or severely damaged by the 2020 earthquakes—such as Immaculate Conception Church, pictured below.
The rebuilding efforts include the diocese’s Our Lady of Guadalupe Cathedral, as well.
How you can help us rebuild Puerto Rico
Catholic Extension Society has been leading these efforts to support the Diocese of Ponce as well as four other dioceses on the island. Working in solidarity with the Church of Puerto Rico, we have helped procure nearly a half billion dollars in federal funding to rebuild more than 600 churches and schools.
However, none of this would have been possible without responsive and collaborative people like Father Collazo, who took time out of his busy schedule to pose for a photo with our president, Father Jack Wall.
So when we say Father Collazo is a dedicated young priest, we really mean it.
Since his ordination in 2015, he has done more work in the past decade than some might do in an entire lifetime.
But perhaps most importantly, his greatest accomplishment in his 10-year priesthood is that, despite the heavy load he carries, he remains a happy priest, and a hope-filled priest, always willing to say “yes” to whatever is asked of him—believing that his “yes” can lead to a blessing for someone else.
True to his character, he said “yes” this past March to come to Chicago at the invitation of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Glenview, Illinois. He spoke in their Sunday Mass homily about the resilient spirit of the Puerto Rican people.
The parish partnered with Catholic Extension Society this Lent to support the Church in Puerto Rico. When their pastor, Father Jerry Boland, visited Puerto Rico on a Catholic Extension Society–led immersion trip, he was so impressed by the energy of Father Collazo and the other young priests he met.
Father Collazo’s story is a reminder that when young people give themselves over to God’s calling in their early years, God will use all their youthful energy and capabilities for the good of His kingdom, just as He has in Ponce, Puerto Rico, with a young priest named Carlos.
That is exactly the message Father Collazo offered to the children of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Glenview when he told them:
“You are the future! You are the hope of your families, your country, and our Church. You are the ones who will continue to bring kindness, faith, and love to the world. Never forget that God has a special plan for each of you. Keep studying, keep praying, and keep helping one another. You are a light, and the world needs your light!”
Clearly, he practices what he preaches.
Father Collazo knows he does not work alone. He is looking for outside supporters to help him strengthen the Church and all of Puerto Rican society.
“I think we have to use time wisely, and to make a change for the better. For that reason, I am still doing this job. I am grateful to all the people supporting Catholic Extension, because without you this recovery would be impossible.”
Do you want to help Father Carlos Collazo?
