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The Redemptorists/Denver Province

UPDATE

Volume 9

Issue 29

July 29, 2016

COMMUNITY SCHEDULE

Celebrating a Quarter-Century
Journey with the Kmhmu
by Dan Morris-Young
West Coast Correspondent
National Catholic Reporter
Adaptation used with permission
When Redemptorist Fr. Don MacKinnon speaks about the Kmhmu people,
he often employs we as a matter of course.
Indeed, members of the Kmhmu Catholic Community in the San Francisco
Bay area embrace the San Diego native as one of their own, a designation he
has earned over the last quarter-century ministering to the roughly 1,000
members in the area.
He is Kmhmu, flatly states Kanseng (Kan) Souriya, the national Kmhmu
Catholic Community leader. Kan has worked with Fr. Don and Holy Family
Sr. Michaela OConnor since now-retired Oakland Bishop John Cummins
asked the pair to minister to Kmhmu refugees who had fled Southeast Asia.
Kan said it is hard to find words to express what Fr. Don has meant to the
Kmhmu.
Continued on Page 2

January/February
Immaculate Conception Bronx
Inter-Provincial Novitiate
Toronto
Seelos House Chicago
Young Adult Ministry
March/April
St. Clement Maria & West Coast
Mission Team Berkeley
St. Mary of the Assumption
Whittier
Sacred Heart Seattle
St. Michael & Mission Team
Chicago
May/June
Mission House & Mission Team
Liguori
St. Clement Health Care Center
Liguori
St. Alphonsus Rock St. Louis
Our Lady of Perpetual Help
Kansas City
July/August
St. Gerard Baton Rouge
St. Alphonsus New Orleans
Our Mother of Sorrows/
Blessed Seelos/Vietnamese
Martyrs Biloxi
Hispanic Initiative Greenwood
September/October
St. Alphonsus Grand Rapids
St. Alphonsus Minneapolis
Holy Ghost Houston
St. Gerard & CSsR Apostolic
Center San Antonio
November/December
Provincial Residence Denver
Confreres in Rome
Redemptorist Renewal Center at
Picture Rocks Tucson
Desert House of Prayer Tucson
Pagani House/Redemptorist
Retreat Center Oconomowoc

Cover: Fr. Don MacKinnon

with flowers presented by
some of the Kmhmu, who
consider him Kunpah
father to us all, speaker for us
all, speaker of the clan, full of
compassion and advocate for
our needs.
Above: An estimated 500 Kmhmu attended a
commemorative Mass during Fr. Dons farewell
gathering earlier this month at Transfiguration
Parish in Castro Valley, CA; and Fr. Don gives a
blessing.
Photos by Patrick Inthavisay

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THE REDEMPTORISTS/DENVER PROVINCE
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DENVER, CO 80231
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Co-Editors:
Fr. Mat Kessler, C.Ss.R.
Provincial Vicar
303.565.5403 mkessler@redemptorists-denver.org
Ms. Kristine Stremel
Public & Community Affairs Director
303.565.5416 kstremel@redemptorists-denver.org
2

The Redemptorists of the Denver Province recently

assigned the 82-year-old priest to St. Gerard Majella
Parish in Baton Rouge, where he will reside after a
three-month sabbatical in Denver.
Fr. Dons departure is an emotional blow to the Kmhmu
Catholic Community, say Sr. Michaela, Kan and others.
The whole aspect of our ministry will change, said
Sr. Michela. Fr. Don has been very close to them, and
this is a very hard moment. He has done so many
wonderful things for them, suffered with them in so
many ways. Over the years, he has become part of the
fabric of their lives, and now there will a hunk taken
out of that beautiful material.
However, she pointed out, the Kmhmu have suffered
multiple losses over time on many levels, and have
learned how to survive. Nearly every family I know has
lost children. They lost their country. They had their
priests executed or exiled. They lost their livelihoods.
They survived the Thai camps. They are survivors.
Indigenous to the jungles of northern Laos, thousands
of Kmhmu were either relocated to the U.S. following
the Vietnam War, or have since immigrated. The largest
contingent came to the Richmond, CA area in the
Oakland Diocese. According to Fr. Don, it is estimated
that 7,000-10,000 now live in the U.S., and 70 percent
of those are Catholic.
What Fr. Don has come to mean to the Kmhmu was
celebrated July 9 at Transfiguration Parish in Castro
Valley, CA. The farewell gathering drew an estimated
Continued on Page 3

UPDATE07.29.16

Left to right, from top left:

Retired Bishop John Cummins
of Oakland, who presided at
the commemorative Mass, with
Fr. Don MacKinnon and other
concelebrants; an elaborate
traditional Kmhmu flower tree
used in community prayer; and
Kmhmu dressed in traditional
clothing carry the offertory
gifts to the altar during Mass.

500, including Kmhmu from small communities up and down the West Coast, as well as from Texas, Oklahoma
and Georgia. St. Joseph Sr. Felicia Sarati and Bishop Cummins both attended, and he presided at the days
commemorative Mass.
Sr. Felicia has long headed the Oakland dioceses ethnic ministries office, which is administrative home base for
the Kmhmu Catholic Community and 16 other ethnic groups.
Throughout his many years of dedicated service, she said, Fr. Don has become known as Kunpah, father to us
all, speaker for us all, speaker of the clan, full of compassion and advocate for our needs. Fr. Don will always be
part of the history of the Kmhmu people who found a home here in Richmond because they had Kunpah.
Fr. Don and Sr. Michaela mutually describe their work as a ministry of accompaniment and presence.
Sister and I put a strong emphasis on home visiting, just as the people were used to from the missionaries in Laos,
Fr. Don said. We still did a lot, but not so much as when we were younger. The home visits often lead to driving
people to schools or the school office when problems arise, or to doctors, hospitals, jails, courtrooms and the
occasional employer.
Kan distills Fr. Dons ministry: He is such a very good priest and has worked so hard 24/7.
Fr. Don acknowledged many middle-of-the-night calls. One in particular still haunts him. A few years ago, there
was a knock on a familys apartment door. The daughter answered and was immediately shot dead. The gang was
Continued on Page 4

UPDATE07.29.16

after her brother who I knew was in jail in Oakland. The TV stations jumped on the story. By the time Kan and I
and some other elders arrived, they had so much cable taking up space that we could hardly get into the house to
try to get them out and restore some sense of nap to the Kmhmu who always come rushing to help a family.
Nap, the priest explained, is the most basic moral and social Kmhmu tradition. Youve seen Asians bowing and
often folding their hands. For the Kmhmu it is much more than just saying, Hello. It is what they always get back
to when situations come up. It is the four cardinal virtues and the three theological virtues all wrapped up in one.
Respect, in fact, is their No. 1, constant attitude.
While there have been social, educational and employment bright spots among the Kmhmu, Fr. Don and
Sr. Michaela agree that there have been too few. The Kmhmus limited agrarian skill set, lack of formal education,
and cultural differences have made adjusting to a harsh urban environment an uphill battle, they said, noting that
depression is the leading health issue.
Many Kmhmu live under a cloud of fear and doubt, Fr. Don explained. The U.S. really is a dominant culture
Coca Cola, the golden arches, Silicon Valley. It all absorbs just about everything they encounter.
Familial and culture tensions also arise as the emerging generations of U.S. Kmhmu mature, he added. A Kmhmu
father trembled telling me that he cant talk to his grown son because he does not have enough English, and the
son is innocent of Kmhmu adult language. I usually say they speak kitchen Kmhmu. The depth and passion of
the communitys Catholic faith, however, help provide consolation, comfort and cohesion.
Their faith is simple and true and deep, Sr. Michaela added. They teach me so much more than I teach them.
They are not a complicated people, and they have community down pat. They are so people-oriented no Kmhmu
is going to go hungry or be without a roof and they love God.
It is no small thing, she and Kan underscored, that Fr. Don labored to learn how to celebrate the Mass in Kmhmu,
a task made all the more challenging because there is no written Kmhmu language.
While two young Thai priests in the area have agreed to help with the Kmhmu liturgical celebrations as Fr. Don
departs, it is not clear how proficient they are in the language itself. Fr. Don relishes celebrating Mass in Kmhmu,
but quickly admits he does not speak the language.
The Kmhmu community is so grateful that Kan and other leaders got me to lead Mass and most common prayers
in their language, he explained, describing the Eucharistic liturgy as really a chant between the priest and the
congregation that I now do almost automatically.
Continued on Page 5

UPDATE07.29.16

Previous Page: String unites the

Kmhmu community.
Left to right, from above: Fr. Don
MacKinnon receives pieces of string
to tie him to the grateful community;
and a dancer who performed presents
Fr. Don with a beautiful rose.

Fr. Don lauded St. Paul Parish in San Pablo and the Conventual Franciscan staff for allowing the parish to become
the center of worship for the Kmhmu. The weekly Kmhmu Mass is celebrated there Saturday mornings.
With help from others, the trio Fr. Don, Sr. Michaela and Kan managed to develop a Kmhmu missalette that
all the different subdialects of Kmhmu can agree on. It is true that Kmhmu is an unwritten language and most of
the initial generation doesnt read, but it is a great unifier to have one version of Mass to use, Fr. Don said.
Sr. Michaela and Fr. Don praise Kan as the heart of everything Catholic and Kmhmu, Fr. Don said, describing
him as a charismatic leader and multitalented artist.
Sr. Michaela and Fr. Don sometimes call themselves Kans chaplains. He is known for spending hours in prayer
and composing hymns, above and beyond his work in the community.
Fr. Don explained that Kan was appointed national leader of the Kmhmu diaspora in the U.S. nearly 30 years ago
by two exiled bishops from Laos Alessandro Staccioli, an Italian, and Pierre Bach, a Frenchman. Kan was then in
his early 20s, he said, and had already begun a Kmhmu Catholic Community in the greater Richmond area.
Many Kmhmu celebrations, prayer meetings, planning sessions, and other events take place in Kans Richmond
apartment. Kmhmu Catholic Community stationery lists a Berkeley address, which is actually Fr. Dons former
residence. The community once leased modest space, but rent increases and income challenges curtailed that.
Sr. Michaela laughs, but is not kidding, when she says, Fr. Dons and my offices have been our cars.
She takes a deep breath. Fr. Don and I have worked as a team for 25 years now, and we love and know these
people. We have really learned a lot, and experienced a lot, and have had a lot of fun over those years. I will sorely
miss him, and, yes, there are times when I feel like bawling. He is a wonderful example of the Redemptorist spirit
the missionary spirit.
Prior to his 25-year ministry with the Kmhmu, Fr. Don was longtime pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in the
Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood of San Francisco, an area then populated by racial minorities and plagued
by pollution, substandard housing, declining infrastructure, limited employment, and discrimination.
An archivist and historian for the Sisters of the Holy Family, Sr. Michaela applied those skills in working with
Fr. Don to publish The Kmhmu Story, a volume that compiles Kmhmu stories, traditions, photos and other historical
content. Materials include recollections of Kmhmu support of the U.S. military during the Vietnam War.
Work on a sequel has begun. In addition, several boxes of Kmhmu historical information, photos and artifacts
now rest in the Archdiocese of San Franciscos archives in Menlo Park.

UPDATE07.29.16