Catholic Charities offices in this Southwestern Diocese are spread
across the entire 55,000 square miles of this extensive Diocese. We
offer services to the people of diverse cultures living here. We have limited financial financial resources and few staff, but with
lots of creativity and with help from others who partner with us we are able to serve thousands of needy families each year.
We are grateful to the Extension Society, the Southwest Indian Foundation
and to those who give to the Diocesan Services Appeal for supporting our
services to the people of the Diocese.
As you review the many and varied services of each local Catholic
Charities agency in the Diocese of Gallup, you will be reading about
dedication, commitment, faithfulness. We have a total staff of 34, nine of
whom are Sisters who joyfully provide services for a small stipend
and what our own Religious Communities give us. We are grateful, too, to
our lay staff who make even greater sacrifices in order to "...clothe
the naked, give food to the hungry..." and we all feel privileged to
be in this part of the Lord's Vineyard.
If you would like to ask a question, request volunteer information, or
partner with us by making a donation, please click here to e-mail us:
Sister Kathleen Driscoll, D.C. or
Sister Mary Thurlough, D.C. at (505)722-0999.
The Diocesan Office of Peace and Justice is also the responsibility of Catholic Charities.
To fulfill this responsibility, we collaborate with local, state and national organizationsto be aware of key issues and respond appropriately. We have actively participated in education conferences on Welfare to Work, Domestic Violence, Predatory Lending (which plagues the Gallup area),the Death Penalty, Prisons for Immigrants, World Debt, Disaster Relief...
Our office chartered and hosts a local group, Interfaith Stewards of Creation, which comes together to address environmental concerns, especially uranium mining on the Navajo Reservation.
Interfaith Stewards of Creation organizes prayer services to focus on respect for
God's gifts in Creation. We also collaborate in planning an annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
ceremony to increase the awareness of the effects of violence on God's people and on His other creations.
Throughout our country, Native American people have experienced very little that has been healing in their relationships with non-Native governments, agencies and people. Unemployment is as high as 75% on some parts of the Navajo Reservation which is home to 200,000 people, 80% of whom do not have paved roads, running water, electricity. The Catholic Church is present throughout
the reservation to be a means of hope and of justice. Catholic Charities offices work with parishes whenever possible to address key concerns of all people, regardless of religious affiliation. If you want Peace, Work for Justice; If you want Justice,
Work for an End to Racism." If you would like more information on the activities of the Office of Peace, Justice and Creation Stewardship in the Diocese of Gallup, please e-mail: Sister Rose Marie Cecchini, M.M.
While the programs initiated as a result of discrimination of Native Americans in the 1940s and 1950s
no longer exist, services that can better serve Native Americans and non-Native Americans in meeting today's
challenges are badly needed. People in need often have to walk many miles for services as Gallup
has no public transportation.
Now that the renovation is complete, it is our hope that the
Catholic Indian Center will be a resource center where the poor can easily
access needed services and every person who approaches CIC will not only
receive needed assistance, but will feel valued as a person. The goal is that
all who come will have the opportunity to participate in programs that will
assist them in moving themselves out of poverty. Thank you for visiting our site. We pray that God will bless you in all ways. For additional information about Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Gallup, please contact either Sister Betty Marie Dunkel, D.C.
or Sister Mary Thurlough, D.C. at (505)722-0999.
Click on either name to e-mail or you may write to:
CATHOLIC CHARITIES Return to Catholic Charities of Gallup Home Page Catholic Charities Administration
Office of Peace, Justice and Creation Stewardship
Catholic Indian Center
In 1947, the Piedmont Hotel Building located on Route 66 was acquired by the Franciscan Friars
who, with the help of the Franciscan Sisters and later the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament,
began operating the Catholic Indian Center for the Diocese of Gallup. In the early years
the Center housed a variety of educational, recreational and spiritual services, focused primarily on programs for Native Americans
as they were not welcome to freely socialize or worship with other ethnic groups. Until recently, we
provided inexpensive housing to women who came to the city to work during the work-week, but who couldn't obtain rooms elsewhere because
of discrimination.
PO BOX 3146
GALLUP, NM 87305