Bible Scholar Father Villalobos to lead week-long Spanish Bible study (Hispanic Heritage Month)

The newly formed Immigration Ministry Office of the Archdiocese of Newark welcomes Bible scholar Father Manuel Villalobos Mendoza, C.M.F., to St. Joseph’s Church in Jersey City to lead a week-long Spanish Bible study program during National Migration Week from Sept. 23 to 27.  

Father Villalobos, a Claretian and Bible Scholar, founded the Instituto Bíblico Claretiano de las Américas, or Claretian Bible Institute of the Americas, based at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. 

National Migration Week, instituted by Pope Pius X and inspired by the International Day for Refugees and Immigrants, has been celebrated since 1914.

Father Alex Gaitan, Immigration Ministry Office coordinator, proposed celebrating National Migration Week in the Archdiocese with a Bible study on migrants in the Old and New Testament presented by Father Villalobos. 

The Bible study school was born through Father Villalobos’ initiative to conduct Bible Missions during Lent and Advent in the migrant communities that the Claretians serve in the U.S., Father Gaitan said.  

“We discovered that there are many Bible Study programs in English, but not that many in Spanish,” Father Gaitan said. “This is an initiative that brings the Word of God to communities and groups that haven’t had the opportunity to go to a formal school and learn more about the Bible and the Word of God.”  

Father Gaitan worked with Father Villalobos in Chicago when they were both parochial vicars and conducted Bible Missions during Advent and Lent. When Father Gaitan was transferred to Atlanta, he held the weekly Bible Study in a trailer park housing 700 families from Mexico. The study was so popular that the parish trained lay ministers to receive their Bible Certificates and teach the study.  

“I chose him [to teach the study in Jersey City] because he is an immigrant — now naturalized. He is very sensitive to the reality of migrants in the U.S., and he has the expertise as a Bible Scholar to not only teach about the Word of God, but to help in the personal growth of those that attend the Bible Formation Program,” Father Gaitan said. “He uses simple language in his Bible Classes, he empowers lay leaders to not only learn about the Word of God, but to also teach the Word of God, and take part in the ministry of proclaiming the word of God as lay ministers.”  

The following will be discussed: 

• Migrant patriarchs’ bearers of God’s blessing 
• Laws of Israel in favor of migrants 
• Exodus 
• Exile 
• Jesus and the Migrant Church 

Father Villalobos received his Ph.D. in Bible and Culture from Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary in Chicago, Ill. He is a published author and the creator of  Escuela Bíblica Claretiana’s YouTube channel, which spreads the Word of God. 

The study will take place from Sept. 23 to 27, from 6 to 8 p.m., and a live stream will be available. The event is in Spanish with simultaneous English interpretation.  

To register, go to National Migration Bible Week.