“GIVE us patience, faith, and charity to minister to those who do the dirty jobs of planting the haciendas, trimming the trees, harvesting [fruits and vegetables] in the hot sun, that we may pass laws honoring their dignity as human beings. Let us not treat them as second-class citizens, but, like every immigrant, who came before from England, Germany, France, Italy, Ireland, and all those who came to America, a nation of immigrants, these [undocumented immigrants] are also worthy of their own path to progress. Let us treat them as equals, as our Christian brothers and sisters, with dignity in our words and practice.” – Fr. Albert S. Carreon, 2011.
Fr. Albert S. Carreon is 88 years old. He is vibrant and steadfast in his commitment to the poor, the sick and the immigrant community. He converses fluently in Spanish with parishioners who come to his office.
It is only 9am, but his schedule is on overdrive: a Spanish television interview, a mass, an interview with Asian Journal, a seminar for those seeking sobriety through their faith, and a visit to the sick. He has ministered to the Philippine president, Philippine ambassador and lepers in Tala Leprosarium. He has served as faculty in Manila, Rome and Mexico, a cultural attaché to the embassy, a defender to couples seeking annulment and a negotiator/leader who worked with Senator Harry Reid for immigrant rights.
Yet, he remains close to Hispanics, referring to his special ministry of teaching sobriety by renewing one’s closeness to God.
He believes that the undocumented must be given a legal path to work and be responsible taxpayers, hence he advocates for the bracero program.
“After a track record of obeying US laws for three years, they can get a green card and later, citizenship,” he said. He shared this collective perspective (gathered from his faith community -- a 2,000 person-strong rally in Nevada) with Sen. Harry Reid. This is humane public policy, he added, but he does not believe in amnesty for those who should be deported because they committed crimes. He assisted a thousand refugees during the Reagan years to acquire legal papers, particularly those who fled the civil war in El Salvador.
He heard God’s calling in fifth grade, as an altar boy. During that time, he won the Central Meycawayan Singing Contest and a zarzuela director, who watched him sing, cast him in a three-act play, called Batis ng Kaligtasan (Fountain of Salvation). He traveled and performed with the cast, in all the provinces of Luzon.
That public exposure got him a scholarship to Colegio Serafico San Francisco del Monte, where he studied Humanities, Latin and Spanish. He was initiated to the Franciscan order.
When WW II broke on Dec. 8, 1942, the Franciscans disbanded and students were sent home. He stayed in San Carlos Major Seminary in Mandaluyong, and studied logic. Later, he got admitted to the Novitiate of the Dominican Order in Lingayen, Pangasinan.
After the war, he studied philosophy and theology in Hongkong. He was ordained a priest of the Dominican order on Sept. 21, 1951. He got assigned pastor in the UST chapel and he served as the chaplain of North General Hospital. He took his MA degree in UST and wrote “The Metaphysical Analysis of the Documents about Ecclessiastical View of Nationalism,” which he defended successfully to an examination panel of professors and student body. He got a summa cum laude qualification.
He taught forensic medicine in Maryknoll (now Miriam College). He became the chaplain to the family of President Ramon Magsaysay. As the President’s chaplain, he traveled with him and together, they went to Leyte to celebrate the anniversary of the Fall of Leyte. After that, the President headed for Cebu, while Fr. Albert went to Bukidnon. Had he not joined the bishops, he would have had the same fate as President Ramon Magsaysay, who died in a plane crash on his way to Cebu.
He was sent to Rome and studied for a year at Angelicum University. There he met John Paul II, who was in his senior year. In Rome, he was the Ecclesiastical Advisor to Ambassador Jose Delgado in the Vatican. Given that he is fluent in Spanish, he gained access to the Vatican Library and read the Vatican memos which ordered the Spanish clergy in the Philippines to cede control and form a native clergy. The Spaniards did not comply with the memos.
After he studied in Rome, he became Letran’s Dean of High School and Principal in Manila. He was involved in the Filipinization of the Spanish Dominicans, separating the Spaniards from the Filipinos. Monsignor Leonardo Legaspi became its first vicar -- the first Filipino rector of UST. This is, perhaps, the first implementation of Rome’s prior edict.
He taught in the Studium Generale of The Dominicans in Mexico and became the Master of Novices. He became a faculty member of the National University of Mexico and the University of Motolinia, and the head of the department of moral and psychiatry department of Clinica Prima Vera, an orthopedic hospital. He took his Ph.D. -- majoring in psychology in the Jesuit University of Mexico. His dissertation was “The Passion-Love, according to St. Thomas Aquinas.”
He was chosen as the representative of the Cardinal in Mexico and addressed the Congress of the Christian family movement. Here, he gave a memorable speech: “A good nation is built on a well-educated family in morality, spirituality, fidelity and faith. When parents are educated in these values of morality and spirituality, they pass on these values to their children, and they teach by words and deeds their own examples of harmony, fidelity and faith. If the parents are not educated in morality and spirituality, what values do they transmit to the family? After all, a marriage is a commitment of mature people to build a community of life and love with children.”
His speech caught the attention of Philippine Ambassador Octavio Maloles, who asked him to succeed Horacio dela Costa (a Jesuit scholar) as the cultural attaché of the Philippine Embassy, a position which Fr. Carreon held for 9 years.
In the seventies, he was assigned to the diocese of Galveston-Houston, Texas. The Bishop assigned him to a new parish, with a base of 300 families. There was no church to hold the mass. He visited all 300 families in their homes to be able to evangelize them. He convinced them to worship at a nearby school. He organized them into a community and asked them to support the building of a new church.
He looked for a terrain that the church could be built on. With the raised funds, he bought 9 acres for $100,000. The community lent him more support, one farmowner donated a barn that was converted to a social hall, with converted floors to use as a skating rink for young teens and for bingo/dances they held.
He secured a loan from the Diocese, and they extended him $274,000. His architect friend designed the church. Fr. Albert became the founding pastor of St. Mark the Evangelist Church in Galveston-Houston, which still stands today. He also founded the Knights of Columbus and the Spanish Cursillo. After 20 years of being the founding parish priest, he was given medical retirement and sought treatment for his ailment in California.
Though he is retired now, he has not slowed down. He works everyday, going where the need is greatest.
As we parted, he gave me his business card and said, “ I like you to be my friend. Remember that our Lord was an immigrant to Egypt.” He then blessed me, and said this prayer for me: “Jesus, please change the hearts of men/women, only you can do it, so they are conscious that they are always loved, not hated.”
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