Fr. Emmet Farrell
Father Emmet Farrell is the Director of Creation Care Ministry for the Diocese of San Diego. He has focused his environmental activities on educating the Catholic community on the moral and ethical issues of Climate Change. He has directed a variety of Climate programs based on Pope Francis' encyclical: Laudato Si-- On Care for Our Common Home.
BIO
Fr. Emmet was born on a farm in Emmetsburg, Iowa. He studied at a Catholic high school. This was followed by Philosophy studies with the Benedictines at St. John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota. He then proceeded to study Theology and Dominican priests at Mt. St. Bernard in Dubuque, Iowa. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Sioux City, Iowa, in June of 1965.
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In 1968 he entered the St. James Foreign Missionary Society of Boston, Massachusetts, and worked as a missionary in Peru for 16 years. In 1984 Father Emmet returned to the United States to study at the Mexican American Culture Center (MACC) in San Antonio, Texas, before going to work with Central American Refugees in Houston for three years.
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He directed studies in the Sanctuary Program at Maryknoll, New York. After a discernment retreat, he opted to stay in the United States and work in Hispanic Ministry. He served as the Director of Hispanic ministry in Vicariate II for six years. Fr. Emmet started an Hispanic ministry in a parish in Chicago.
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He came to San Diego, California, in 1994 to do parish ministry in bilingual parishes. He first served as an associate pastor, and then as a pastor. In 2009 he retired, and with volunteer help, they published seven books of Family Catechesis in English, and seven in Spanish.