As priest and bishop, he ‘was there for the ministry,’ not for himself
When then-Father Andrew Cozzens was assigned in 2000 as parochial vicar of Divine Mercy in Faribault (then named the Faribault Catholic Community), which included a Spanish-speaking population, he was determined to learn the language. He not only learned the language but the culture as well, said Dora Mata, its Latino ministry coordinator, who has served the parish since 1997.
“That’s what we really liked about him, because you get close to the families when you understand the culture,” Mata said. He enjoyed interacting with and getting to know the Hispanic people, she said, and conducting blessings for families, including their homes. He also loved the community’s Our Lady of Guadalupe celebrations, Mata said, so he became “one of us.”
Mata recalled the time Bishop Cozzens spent with and supported parish youth. One parish family still remembers how he helped them after a teenage family member was killed in an accident, including working with a funeral home on the family’s behalf, she said.
No matter how tired he was, he made time for people, Mata said. “And he did it with heart,” she said.
After two years, Bishop Cozzens was sent to Rome for studies. His former parishioners knew then that their associate pastor was meant for something bigger, Mata said.
“He’s like, ‘no, not me,’ but I said, ‘yes, you will see,’” she said. “It’s because of the kind of man he is, and he is very intelligent.” Mata said seeing those qualities in a priest lets people know he will “get far in life because they’re there for the ministry, not for themselves.”
Estela Villagran Manancero met Bishop Cozzens when he served at Divine Mercy, and started meeting with him regularly at archdiocesan offices in St. Paul in 2014, where she serves today as director of the Office of Latino Ministry.
Bishop Cozzens has often advocated for immigrants in government policy and pastoral care.
At a Minnesota House Transportation Policy and Finance Committee hearing in March 2015, he said immigrants without legal status should be able to obtain provisional driver’s licenses or state-issued identification, calling it a moral imperative to help those living in the U.S.
In a homily in English and Spanish at a Dec. 9, 2017, Mass of Solidarity at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis, Bishop Cozzens said the Church is a family and “in God’s kingdom, there are no borders.” Every human being, “no matter their race or origin, no matter where they were born, has the same dignity and the same inherent human rights,” he said.
At a 2018 news conference with faith leaders and state officials, he spoke at the State Capitol in St. Paul about the need to reunite immigrant families and prevent future separations of children from parents when families illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border.
She recalled the bishop’s participation in an annual Latino Family Day that included Mass and learning which parish with a large number of Latino parishioners brought “the best tamales.” When Bishop Cozzens moved the event from the Cathedral of St. Paul to Como Park a few miles away in 2013, 2,000 people participated, Villagran Manancero said. “I think from there, people were close to him,” she said.
When the crowd outgrew the space in Como Park, the event was moved in 2015 to St. Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights, but was suspended in 2017 and 2018 for the national V Encuentro (“fifth encounter”) gathering, a nationwide faith-building process for Latino Catholics. Because of Bishop Cozzens’ Spanish-speaking abilities “and his gifts,” Villagran Manancero recommended him and he served as the Encuentro’s lead bishop for region eight, which included the six dioceses in Minnesota and the four in North and South Dakota.
Every Dec. 11, Villagran Manancero said, Bishop Cozzens visited Our Lady of Guadalupe in St. Paul and on Dec. 12, visited other parishes on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Her office held a Latina Catholic Women’s night, alternating months with a men’s night, “so we can support the family,” Villagran Manancero said. Bishop Cozzens offered confessions when help was needed.
Latinos saw him as a priest accompanying the people, Villagran Manancero said, and they have been impressed by how he has remained “close to the people” after becoming a bishop. She recalled how Bishop Cozzens was always present for the archdiocese’s annual Mass of Solidarity, attended graduations for the Office of Latino Ministry’s five formation institutes (pastoral leadership, biblical, catechetical, basic theology, liturgy) and participated in Advent and Lenten retreats. He celebrated bilingual Masses for confirmation — in 2020, three Masses, where 668 people from 12 parishes were confirmed.
When Bishop Cozzens celebrated Mass at parishes with a large Hispanic population, he stayed afterward to mingle with people, Villagran Manancero said. “He goes table to table,” she said, giving blessings when requested.
As Bishop Cozzens begins serving as bishop of the Diocese of Crookston, Villagran Manancero said she hopes he will restore the office for Latino ministry that was once in place in that diocese, so the Spanish-speaking community can be better served and integrated with those who speak English.
“We are one community that happens to be living there with different languages, but as a Church, we are one,” she said.
