The Diakonia Americas’ Family
We are a dedicated council of vocational priests and volunteers, united by a singular focus: to put faith into action through service to the most vulnerable across the Western Hemisphere. We do not support parishes or hold external ecclesial roles; Diakonia Americas is our full-time ministry. This specialized team ensures that spiritual care and practical, life-saving aid are seamlessly integrated into every program.
We, Diakonia Americas, are a continental family woven together by international benefactors, professional collaborators, secular partners, clinical-pastoral counselors , bi-vocational worker-priests (both men and women), dedicated lay volunteers, and the resilient communities we serve across the hemisphere. Each and every one of them is a fundamental protagonist, contributing in a profound, practical way to deliver crisis containment, restore human rights, and extend a sanctuary of unconditional dignity to those pushed to the margins of society.
As a borderless family, we connect throughout the year, convening for regional synodal assemblies, localized solidarity forums, and cross-border liturgies of thanksgiving across our strategic hubs in the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Peru.
Today, the call to radical, inclusive service continues to inspire diverse voices from across the hemisphere and beyond to stand with the vulnerable. Meet the hands and hearts driving our mission!
Director
Archpriest Justo Hurtado, O.S.B., Ph.D., S.T.L.
At the helm of our continental mission is Archpriest Justo Hurtado, Ph.D., a Benedictine cleric who perfectly embodies our bi-vocational worker-priest model. Bringing over 12 years of regional ecclesiastical governance, certified clinical chaplaincy, and crisis intervention experience across the hemisphere, Father Justo intersects advanced organizational psychology with a deeply compassionate, trauma-informed approach to pastoral care. As an executive director and specialist in counseling psychology, his leadership ensures that our regional hubs operate as professional, confidential, and unconditionally inclusive sanctuaries of healing on the front lines
Diakonia Worker-Priests
Our bi-vocational clergy, both men and women, joyfully bring their unique dual vocations into the public square. Functioning as senior executives, human rights attorneys, medical doctors, and specialized counselors, they operate under regional structures like the Synod of the Americas to intersect theological formation with advanced institutional tools. By carrying their priesthood directly onto the streets, into marketplaces, and across borders, they transform everyday secular labor into a living liturgy of healing, crisis containment, and structural relief.
Ecumenical Associate Clergy
Associate Clergy are ordained ministers, chaplains, and priests from partner communions, including the Episcopal, Anglican, and Evangelical Lutheran traditions, who collaborate with us under historic sharing agreements. With the blessing of their respective jurisdictions, they dedicate a portion of their time to our specialized street ministries and front-line initiatives. At the end of their period of association, they return to their home churches heavily enriched by deep, cross-border, trauma-informed field experience
Specialized Field Volunteers
Our volunteers are highly trained professionals, including trauma case workers, clinical staff, and emergency logistics experts, who deploy directly to our regional Hubs of Hospitality across the hemisphere. Serving communities throughout the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Peru, they work hand-in-hand with our clergy to establish immediate, non-judgmental lifelines for displaced families, marginalized populations, and individuals navigating severe life crises
Training, Formation & Advocacy Forums
This is our dedicated space for specialized training, educational linkage, and human development. Through these interactive programmatic networks, we provide essential training to local caregivers, youth, and pastoral agents. Workshops are deeply rooted in our inclusive care models, focusing on communication, peacebuilding, and trauma-informed stress containment within highly vulnerable or marginalized neighborhoods.
Benefactors and Sustaining Donors
Our global network of individual donors, matching-gift advocates, and grant foundations serves as the structural lifeblood of our mission. Operating through our secure 501(c)(3) public charity framework, their financial solidarity and shared values are translated instantly into tangible resources on the ground, funding mobile water-purification units, constructing emergency medical shelters, and sustaining our daily regional distribution pipelines.
Families of our Ministry Teams
The spouses, children, and extended families of our worker-priests, chaplains, and field staff. With immense love, patience, and understanding, they support the demanding dual-vocation of our front-line responders. By standing close to our teams as they navigate complex crisis environments, these families serve as quiet, indispensable anchors of our hemispheric network.
Hemispheric Partners and Host Communities
The individuals we meet in every corner of the Americas, the local seniors, families in transit, unhoused neighbors, and grassroots leaders who welcome us into their communities. They are never viewed as passive recipients of charity; they are our friends, our guides, and our active collaborators. They teach us local nuances, correct our logistical paths, and ensure we protect the sacred dignity and history of every neighborhood we enter.
Operational and Institutional Collaborators
The dedicated professionals working inside our administrative offices, regional houses, and institutional networks. Utilizing their expertise in human resource management, regulatory compliance, corporate files, and global communications, they work day by day to maintain a secure, high-efficiency pipeline. Their behind-the-scenes dedication ensures our cross-border operations remain seamless, transparent, and legally sound.