AUGUST 21, 2026
mississippicatholic.com
United In Mission campaign launches across Diocese of Jackson BY JOANNA PUDDISTER KING
JACKSON – The Catholic Foundation of the Diocese of Jackson has launched United In Mission – Forming Shepherds, Strengthening Parishes, a $21.5 million capital campaign for the Diocese of Jackson. The campaign will direct $10 million toward parish needs, $10 million toward a permanent seminarian education endowment and $1.5 million toward the 2027 Catholic Service Appeal. “Through parish gatherings, listening sessions and conversations rooted in faith and prayer, one message became clear: We must invest in the future of our Church by forming strong spiritual leaders and strengthening our parish communities,” Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz said in a letter introducing the campaign. “As one diocesan family, we are called to move forward together,” Bishop Kopacz said. “United by our faith and guided by the Holy Spirit, we have a unique opportunity to strengthen our Church today while preparing for the needs of tomorrow.” Parishes will conduct their campaigns in one of two phases. Block 1 campaigns will continue through December 2026, while
Block 2 parishes will participate from January through June 2027. Pledges may be fulfilled over five years. The Catholic Foundation will oversee gift processing, pledge fulfillment, donor stewardship, campaign reporting and the long-term management of endowment funds. It is working with Guidance In Giving to provide pastors, parish leaders and volunteers with campaign training, materials and individualized support. “United In Mission gives every parishioner an opportunity to help address the needs of the Church both now and well into the future,” said Rebecca Harris, executive director of the Catholic Foundation. “Through one unified effort, we can strengthen individual parishes, provide lasting support for the formation of future priests and sustain the diocesan ministries that serve people across the state. The Catholic Foundation is honored to help ensure that every gift is managed responsibly and according to the Diocesan seminarians gather for their annual summer convocation intentions of our donors.” The first funds raised by each parish in August. Launching this month, the United In Mission capital will fulfill its 2027 Catholic Service Appeal campaign will support seminarian education, parish growth and goal. Once that goal is met, half of the funds
development, and the 2027 Catholic Service Appeal. (Photo by Joanna Puddister King)
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‘Come and see’: Unexpected year in Saltillo deepens priest’s understanding of mission BY JOANNA PUDDISTER KING
FOREST – When Father Adolfo Suarez-Pasillas learned that a change in immigration requirements would force him to leave the United States for a year, his first reaction was uncertainty. “At the beginning I panicked a little bit, because that was not within my life’s plan,” he said. Father Suarez-Pasillas, a priest of the Diocese of Jackson who is originally from Mexico, had expected that after five years in the United States he would be able to obtain permanent
residency. Instead, changes in immigration requirements meant he would have to leave the country, with no guarantee, at least in his mind, that he would be able to return. “My future was uncertain,” he recalled. But as he has learned to do throughout his priesthood, Father Suarez-Pasillas tried to look for God’s will in the unexpected turn. “I always try to see God’s will in every event in my life,” he said. “Once I accepted it, I was at peace with this situation.” That unexpected year would ultimately take him to the Diocese of Saltillo in Mexico, a longtime mission partner of the Diocese of Jackson, where an immigration challenge became an opportunity for ministry – and for Father Suarez-Pasillas to experience
firsthand a relationship Mississippi Catholics have supported for years. At the time of his departure, Father Suarez-Pasillas was serving as pastor of St. Michael Parish in Forest, St. Anne Parish in Newton and St. Michael Parish in Paulding, as well as administrator of Centro Católico in Morton. Leaving those communities was difficult. “We were all sad and disappointed,” he said, but he reminded his parishioners that they must trust that what was happening was within God’s will for both them and him. The communities had experienced periods of time without a pastor before Father Suarez-Pasillas arrived, he said, and knew how to keep parish life
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