El Paso - On Sunday, January 25, 2009 at 9:45 a.m., Senator Shapleigh will honor Monsignor Arturo J. Bañuelas with the "Adelante Con Ganas Award."  Every month Senator Shapleigh awards one or more persons who have made an extraordinary commitment to service, family and community.

Monsignor Bañuelas  is a native priest of the Diocese of El Paso, Texas, ordained June 11, 1976, and today is pastor of St. Pius X Catholic Parish in El Paso. He oversees St. Pius X's 43 vibrant  ministries whose volunteers daily serve El Paso County, and Bañuelas is a enduring champion for migrants, farm workers, and our county's poor and disenfranchised.

"Father Bañuelas represents for us all that a man of the cloth should be - honorable, loving, strong, energized and spiritual. He is a friend, a leader, a mentor and a guide to the better angels in our lives," Senator Shapleigh said.

Bañuelas earned his M.Div from Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, Louisiana, and a licentiate and doctorate degree from Gregorian University in Rome. In 1988 Bañuelas founded Tepeyac Institute, a diocesan ministry formation center in El Paso. Today, it is one of the largest such centers in the nation, having trained more than 12,000 persons and boasting a staff of more than 125 professors with doctorates or masters degrees teaching in advanced degree programs.
 
Bañuelas has served on numerous community boards and commissions, including the Hospice of El Paso; Paso del Norte Health Foundation; Las Americas Center, which provides legal assistance for migrants and refugees; and Festival Guadalupano Hispano. Bañuelas in 1989 founded the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States, is a widely regarded lecturer who has presented at universities across the country, and is a published author on theology, his credits including being an editorial board member for the Journal of Hispanic/Latino Theology since 1993.    

Monsignor Arturo J. Bañuelas will be honored at St. Pius X Catholic Parish, 1050 N. Clark Dr, 79905, at 9:45 a.m.
     
What:  "Adelante Con Ganas" Award to Monsignor Arturo J. Bañuelas

When:  Sunday, January 25, 2009 at 9:45 a.m.

Where:  St. Pius X Catholic Parish, 1050 N. Clark Dr, 79905