The Mexican-born priest says more migrants are returning to the Catholic Church as they seek hope, community and spiritual support while navigating immigration uncertainty in Los Angeles.
For Father Juan César Martínez, serving the migrant community is a service God has granted him, allowing him to help those who, through their faith, seek a bit of peace amid the difficulties of migration and the hostile situation they face under this administration.
“We are living a spiritual rebirth—more and more people have returned to the Church, or are coming for the first time. When the migrant community sees a priest celebrating Mass and the sacraments, they feel great pride; they feel their homeland close to them,” says the Mexican priest, originally from Tepames, Colima.
“Being a migrant isn’t easy. There are so many difficulties we face; being united, recognizing ourselves as such, allows us to survive that situation,” he adds.
This priest grew up under a strong Catholic upbringing, instilled mainly by his grandparents. From the age of eight, he was an altar boy; the parish courtyard was his social space and his playground—that’s where it all began, as he calls it.
“Closeness with the priests of Tepames was an inspiration. Since I was a boy, people in town told me I could be a good priest. I began to understand this mission by accompanying them—we helped the poor, the sick, those who needed food. That’s when I knew we are instruments of God,” he adds.
When he finished high school, he decided to enter the seminary in Colima, even though he was very drawn to technology and computing. He considered it a pause. Afterward, he earned a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and worked for two years as an elementary school teacher in Mexico.
“I also sold cars to pay for my studies. But even though I felt a strong pull toward those fields, I felt empty, unsatisfied—I kept asking myself if being a teacher made me happy. I went to see one of my mentors, the priest in my town, and after laying out all my doubts to him, he told me something simple and profound that changed my life: ‘You are receiving a call from God.’ I asked God for signs, and he gave them to me—I had a religious experience. One night, after I finished praying, I imagined myself celebrating Mass; I felt an intense fire in my heart, and I experienced happiness. That’s when I had my answer.” The priest told him about opportunities in California for bilingual priests, and he decided to move to this country and re-enter a seminary.
He was ordained a priest on June 4, 2022, by Archbishop José H. Gómez for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. His first pastoral assignment was St. Mariana de Paredes parish in Pico Rivera.
In July 2023 he was named parochial vicar of St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, where he continues to carry out his pastoral ministry.
And now he is associate vicar at San Antonio de Padua church in Gardena.
Father Papucho and his connection to the migrant community
“I love the Archdiocese of Los Angeles; I love its multiculturalism, people from all over the world—it represents who we are. Coming to California connected me with many people I hadn’t seen in years; I had known them when I was a boy, they had migrated, and now I was reuniting with them again in Los Angeles. They see me, come up to me, and point, saying: ‘Look, there’s Papucho,'” he laughs.
Father Juan César mentions that this is the nickname he’s known by among the Colima community. Since he was a child, a friend one day said, “Bring Papucho along,” and it stuck ever since. Now, many call him Father Papucho, which conveys the level of familiarity people have with him.
“Imagine seeing so many people after so many years—they saw me as an altar boy, and now as their priest. They ask me for advice, I give them the sacraments, I talk with them. That boy and young man who grew up in Tepames is now here with them in Los Angeles, like a migrant who walks alongside them,” he adds.
For this priest, one phrase is clear: “When God calls, he calls.” For him, that was the lesson he learned. He decided to dedicate the rest of his life to God, with everything that entails. “You take vows to remain faithful to that calling—if you choose something, you have to be convinced you’re doing it out of love.”
This is an example he leaves for his community. He mentions that when the pandemic hit, many of the faithful drifted away from the church and hadn’t returned for years; now they are living that awakening, working with the community on issues facing young people, and problems with addiction.
“There is a great need for God. Many believe that going to Mass once a week is enough. I tell them that if they love God, they have to keep the sacraments—not just see and feel him for a moment on a Sunday. We have to educate ourselves in the faith. This is the responsibility of parents. Many times children ask why they have to go to church, and parents fall silent—we need to tell them how faith in God has helped us, going to Mass, being with him. I see it all the time: priests are not experts in everything; we can’t fix every problem. Often the sheer number of problems we see is overwhelming, but it’s part of the job. If we listen, pray with people, and give them a blessing, we’ve fulfilled our mission,” he adds.
When someone comes to the priest asking how to make God hear them, he offers practical advice: “To be close to God, you have to keep the sacraments.”
Has God punished us?
When the faithful face problems and go through a rough patch, they think God has punished them. Father Martínez understands the question well.
“The enemy of the people is Satan. We have to be very careful when the Devil enters our lives. A few weeks ago I used a parable in the Eucharist, the one about the wheat and the weeds,” he says.
The parable of the wheat and the weeds (Matthew 13:24–30) tells how a farmer discovers that an enemy sowed weeds among his wheat. Although his servants want to pull them up right away, the owner orders them to let both grow together until the harvest, so as not to damage the wheat as well. Later, Jesus explains that the wheat represents the righteous, the weeds those who do evil, and the harvest the final judgment—teaching that good and evil will coexist for a time, and that the final separation belongs to God, not to human beings.
“We have to have gratitude toward God, serving in a country that isn’t our own, serving the people. Being in this country isn’t easy—it takes great sacrifice. That’s why our community celebrates the Mass for the Absent Brothers every year, to honor them, remember them, and keep them present. Many migrants cannot return, not even to bury their loved ones,” he concludes.
