Msgr. Scott Friend has been talking about the importance of Hispanic Catholics in Arkansas for nearly 20 years.
After an eight-week course in Spanish, he started to minister soon after his ordination to the small but growing Spanish-speaking population in the state. With blue eyes and blond hair, “Padre Juero” (Father Gringo) was welcomed at south Arkansas parishes where he would celebrate Mass and lead Scripture study.
His message to English-speaking parishioners is the same today as it was in 1989.
 In his own words Click here for an exclusive bonus story on Msgr. Scott Friend, available only on the Arkansas Catholic Web site. |
“We must make our parishes a place of welcome, a home for our brothers and sisters,” he said. “If we ask, ’Why don’t these people learn English?’ or if we refuse to deal with Hispanics until they are like ’us,’ we will probably not see too many Hispanics in our churches.”
By 1992 the priest had more hope that Hispanics were being welcomed and were coming to Mass.
“The Catholic Church in Arkansas is becoming a bilingual Church,” he said, noting weekly Masses were celebrated in three parishes.
For his work championing Hispanic ministry in the state, Msgr. Friend was named the winner of the Catholic Church Extension Society’s Lumen Christi Award. The award is given out each year to the top missionary in the United States who brings the “light of Christ” to the poor and underserved.
Msgr. Friend, well known for his work in Hispanic ministry and vocations recruitment, will accept the $50,000 prize — $25,000 for himself and $25,000 for the Diocese of Little Rock — during a special Mass and reception in Chicago Sept. 22. The priest plans to divide his gift among St. Juan Diego Chapel in Wickes as well as several people and families who are in need.
Growing up in Little Rock, the son of Dr. Max and the late Betty Friend watched his parents in their roles of service and hospitality in the community.
Msgr. Friend’s sister, Marie, said, “This is something that we celebrate with everyone who has touched Scott’s spirit since he was a child. When your brother becomes a priest, you share him with everyone. His family is now composed of thousands of Catholics throughout the state of Arkansas.”
Msgr. Friend, 46, the current diocesan vocations director, celebrated his 20th anniversary as a priest June 20. He previously served as the director of Hispanic ministry twice and was pastor in at least 10 different parishes, most recently at St. Raphael Church in Springdale.
Being a missionary is one of the important aspects of his priesthood, Msgr. Friend told Arkansas Catholic this week. “You have to have a missionary spirit to be a priest in Arkansas.”
He said he often hears God speaking to him.
“The most important thing you have to learn is to be a contemplative in action,” he said. “It doesn’t mean your prayer is your work. It means you discern the will of God all day long. You end up doing in your life what you desire and what you do is what God wants. That’s the only thing you end up desiring. It’s simple, but it’s not easy.”
Bishop J. Peter Sartain, the former bishop of Little Rock, nominated Msgr. Friend a couple of years ago for the Catholic Extension award.
“Msgr. Scott is a man of love and a man of humility,” Bishop Sartain said. “He speaks simply and unashamedly of his relationship with his friend, Jesus, and it is clear to those who know him that his relationship with God motivates all he does. He desires, above all else, to bring people to Jesus Christ.”
Msgr. Friend is credited with several advancements in Hispanic ministry.
He pushed for the opening of Catholic Immigration Services in the early 1990s while he served as director of Hispanic ministry.
He organized the first Encuentro Hispano in 1990 at St. John Center in Little Rock.
In 2001 he was instrumental in starting the diocesan collection on Ash Wednesday for Arkansas missions. Msgr. Friend said he experienced what missionary work is serving at St. Barbara Church in De Queen from 1997 to 1999.
“It’s important that we know our story … and how we are called to respond to it. We can’t forget that our primary mission is the salvation of souls,” he told Arkansas Catholic in 2001.
St. Raphael Church in Springdale became the largest Catholic church in the state in 2003 after Msgr. Friend encouraged the Hispanic parishioners attending Mass to register and become involved in parish ministries.
Deacon Chuck Marino said the priest helped the church become a bilingual parish with Masses and classes in both languages and made sure the parish council reflected the parish demographics.
“He has such a strong love for the Lord and a strong love for the people that it is just so apparent,” Marino said. “I think people see that and so they’re drawn to this love that he has. He awakens the Spirit in different people.”
In the fall eight of the diocese’s seminarians will be Hispanic and two will be Vietnamese. He believes the seminarians studying for the Diocese of Little Rock should reflect the Catholic population in the state.
Sheila Gomez, the first director of Catholic Immigration Services who now lives in Florida, met Msgr. Friend while at his first assignment as associate pastor of Our Lady of the Holy Souls Church in Little Rock in 1987. Gomez, whose mother was a missionary in Columbia, often talked to the priest about the new immigrants in the state.
“He is all about creating community and empowering other people with the power of the Holy Spirit,” she said. People are attracted to the priest’s message because of “the love in his heart.”
“He is real. Even when he could hardly speak Spanish, people responded. It’s not about the language,” she said.
He has become a father figure in the Hispanic community, which more than tripled between 1990 and 2000.
“You father people into the kingdom of heaven,” he said. “I don’t think those (priest) titles are there for nothing. … We also have to father the next generation of priests.”
Eduardo Martinez, a native of Mexico and member of St. Edward Church in Little Rock, said Msgr. Friend is now his best friend and godfather to each of his seven children.
“Like a father and son, the son always does what the father says,” he said. “For us, he’s our father. When we need something, we just go straight to him. I don’t know why or how, but we get it.”
For the past two years Msgr. Friend has been getting positive reactions for his vocations recruitment.
“He takes great interest in his seminarians,” said T.J. Hart, who will be ordained a priest June 30 in Little Rock. “He has a great gift of spirituality.”
Msgr. J. Gaston Hebert, diocesan administrator, relies on Msgr. Friend in two important roles, as a member of the College of Consultors and as diocesan director of vocations.
“The number of our seminarians has doubled. … I cannot praise Msgr. Friend enough,” he said. “His phenomenal efforts are going to bear fruit.”
In 2005 Msgr. Friend earned a master’s degree in spirituality and a certificate in spiritual direction and directed retreats from Creighton University in Nebraska. Over the past two years he has led silent directed retreats around the state and country based on the spirituality of St. Ignatius of Loyola. He is also in demand as a spiritual director.
His newest ministry might play a larger role in his life as he faces living with multiple sclerosis, which was diagnosed in 2003. While today he is active and able to go on vacations and hike, he is aware that he might have to cut back his ministry.
“There is a good possibility that I will be disabled,” he said.
Msgr. Friend said he is happy the Catholic Extension award will bring attention to the Church in Arkansas and its diocesan priests.
“I am proud to say I am a priest from Arkansas,” he said. “I am just grateful to be a priest. It gives me great joy to be able to help people.”
Tara Little contributed to this article.
