On March 2, 2025, a sending blessing was held at the Maryknoll Parish in El Salvador for Jackeline Gabriela Hernández de Vásquez (Gaby), Wilber Ernesto Montoya Díaz (Wilber), and Ana Adela Morales Rodriguez (Ana).
Maryknoll Lay Missioners has expanded to include international membership. Historically, MKLM membership has been limited to U.S. citizens or residents. The 2022 Mission Assembly initiated a process to remove these restrictions and to welcome lay missioners from around the world responding to the call to mission.
By 2023, MKLM approved a three-year timeline to implement this pilot program, selecting El Salvador as the first country for recruitment.
This decision marked a shift towards a more globally diverse community of missioners, better reflecting the universal nature of the church and the mission it serves.
Now, in 2025, three candidates from El Salvador have successfully completed the admissions process.
On March 2, 2025, a sending blessing was held at the Maryknoll Parish in El Salvador for Jackeline Gabriela Hernández de Vásquez (Gaby), Wilber Ernesto Montoya Díaz (Wilber), and Ana Adela Morales Rodriguez (Ana). On March 14, these three candidates departed for Cochabamba, Bolivia, where they will be engaged in the orientation and formation program. Upon completion, they will remain in mission in Bolivia.
ABOUT MARYKNOLL LAY MISSIONERS
Maryknoll Lay Missioners is a Catholic mission-sending community committed to nonviolence through prevention, intervention, reconciliation, and restoration of all creation. We are long-term missioners and missioner families in nine African, Asian, and American countries. Striving to create an inclusive and anti-racist world, we live with those most excluded in society to transform unjust structures together. Learn more at mklm.org.
Jennifer Tomshack was Maryknoll Lay Missioners' communications manager from August, 2024-January, 2026.
