Hamilton church continues legacy shaped by immigrants
“It is a parish that has known a lot of immigration stories."
St. Julie Billiart Parish is a church shaped by generations of immigrants and newcomers – a legacy that continues today – as concerns about immigration enforcement grow, according to Rev. Mike Pucke, a former pastor and volunteer at the parish.
Since its creation in the 1830s, and various name changes over the years, St. Julie’s has been home to many cultural and ethnic groups.
Pucke said that the German community, who first started what is now St. Julie’s, made the church their home by implementing handmade stained-glass windows.
Soon, the Irish community came along and asked to be a part of what the German community had started. They were met with a simple “no.”
“It’s typical of immigration conflict,” Pucke said. “People have short memories that not so many years ago, we were immigrants.”
The Irish community, and soon the Italian community, eventually created their own churches in the area.
“It is a parish that has known a lot of immigration stories,” Pucke said.
Today, St. Julie’s hosts nearly 900 church-goers from these ethnic groups and more, highlighted by the local Hispanic community.
Before coming to St. Julie's Father Pucke worked in Chile from 1986-92, where he grew a strong connection with the community and became a fluent Spanish speaker.
Pucke came to Hamilton in 2005 on a clergy assignment as a pastor, and has spent his time being an active member of the church and the city.
Since retiring in 2017, he has devoted his time to volunteering with the church and helping the local Hispanic community.
Even in retirement, Pucke is still a frequent face in parish activities, celebrating mass almost daily, hearing confessions, visiting the sick, presiding over funerals and performing baptisms.
“I got interested in immigration because it was an important issue for some parts of our parish,” Pucke said.
In recent years, Pucke has noticed an increase in local Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities. While ICE activity in Hamilton hasn’t been as high as in other parts of the country, according to Pucke, he has watched fears from members of the church grow.
Since joining the church in 2005, Pucke has been visiting the Butler County Jail (BCJ) once or twice a week to visit detainees and prisoners who want to speak with a pastor, many being Hispanic.
The randomness of arrests, Pucke said, has caused these fears to grow and Sunday mass attendance to drop.
“The biggest thing that troubles them is just being away from their families,” Pucke said.
Pucke said he believes having a presence in the local Hispanic community and a frequent face at the BCJ has made an impact.
“What I’m doing is dealing with individual people,” Pucke said. “(They) just need to know that God loves them and that they’re not forgotten.”
Pucke is in the process of gathering local, somewhat bilingual, Catholic individuals to go to the BCJ and speak to more inmates.
“The point (is) not so much what we’re doing, but just that we’re there to have some kind of presence of the church,” Pucke said.
Pilar Hernandez, Hispanic Ministry coordinator at St. Julie Billiart Parish, spoke to the Oxford Free Press about the community at St. Julie’s.
“(We have) a very big Hispanic community,” Hernandez said. “It’s like a family.”
Hernandez said that the community at the church is made up of various Hispanic and Latin American cultures.
“It (is) good,” Hernandez said. “It’s the same religion, but we (have) different traditions.”
At the parish, Hernandez helps conduct quinceañeras, weddings, baptisms and first communions. Hernandez said her work includes finding resources for locals, including legal and healthcare needs.
Hernandez said her work goes beyond these activities.
When Hernandez and her family originally arrived in Ohio, St. Julie’s was a place for her children to experience practicing their religion and feel comfortable in a Spanish-speaking environment. Hernandez said the church has felt less like a safe space in recent years for some members.
“It’s about the human person,” Hernandez said. “Sometimes I help or accompany the people to the court, to the hospitals, to schools, to doctor’s appointments and I help the people with documentation.”
Since first coming to St. Julie’s 15 years ago, Hernandez has seen younger children in the parish grow up and begin to attend college.
“Education is so important,” Hernandez said. “And we are always trying to bring resources (to the community).”
Hernandez shared that some families have decided to leave and head back to their home countries out of fear from immigration enforcement.
During her volunteer work with the children’s liturgy, which includes kindergarten to second graders, she said some children have been speaking to her about these fears.
“One kid said, ‘I pray for my parents (to) come back home each day,’” Hernandez said. “The kid is five, six years old (and) praying for that.”
