A Texas nun who advocates for immigrants is making an unexpected journey to Rome for Pope Francis’ funeral a decade after the pontiff singled her out for praise during a 2015 ABC News event.
Sister Norma Pimentel has been the face of immigrant advocacy in South Texas for more than a decade, overseeing the Rio Grande Valley in her role as executive director of Catholic Charities.
Watch ABC News live coverage of the funeral for Pope Francis on Saturday starting at 3:30 a.m. ET on ABC stations and streaming on ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu.
In this Feb. 26, 2020, file photo, Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, poses for a portrait while visiting Shaughnessy Family Center at Laboure in South Boston.
Boston Globe via Getty Images, FILE
Speaking to ABC News on Thursday, Pimentel recalled her work with migrant families in 2014 when she helped Border Patrol respond to large groups of families arriving in poor conditions, mostly from El Salvador. She highlighted the community’s response at Sacred Heart Parish Hall and discussed the impact of Pope Francis’ support.
“I visited Rome and wrote him letters and he sent a video message,” Pimentel told ABC News. “After that, I was invited to the Vatican a couple of times to speak and I met the Holy Father as well.”
Pimentel noted the pope’s personal connection to migrants’ struggles and his constant push for empathy when dealing with refugees.
Her response to the 2014 influx is what caught the pope’s eye — and he singled her out during a 2015 ABC News virtual audience to praise her work.
“I want to thank you,” the pope said via an interpreter. “And through you to thank all the sisters of religious orders in the U.S. for the work that you have done and that you do in the United States. It’s great. I congratulate you. Be courageous. Move forward.”
From that moment on, the two stayed in touch and she was invited to visit the Vatican several times.
Sister Norma Pimental is shown during an interview with ABC News.
ABC News
Pimentel pointed to Pope Francis’ family history — the son of Italian citizens who immigrated to Argentina.
“He connected with immigrants,” Pimentel said.
Not long after being elected as the leader of the Catholic Church in 2013, Pope Francis visited Lampedusa, Italy, along the dangerous route many migrants traveled to reach Europe.
During his visit, he met with migrants and condemned the “globalization of indifference.” He urged the world to recognize these individuals as people and human beings, not merely as refugees.
The pontiff also recognized Pimentel’s work with immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, where she helped provide shelter, food and comfort to thousands of migrants in crisis.
Pimentel acknowledged her sadness and grief at the pope’s passing, noting that she unexpectedly got the chance to attend his funeral on Saturday. Within 12 hours of his death on Monday, a stranger called her office and asked to sponsor her journey to the ceremony. A journalist that traveled with the pope has also offered her a place to stay.
“So, I’m going representing all of us. You know, I’m going because I want to be there as one of us that is going to be next to him in this moment,” she said. “And so I bring all the love and the tears of everybody from the (Rio Grande Valley) from here, from the valley.”
