Chapter 11

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Military Families

San Diego is blessed by a large military presence. The Diocese of San Diego welcomes all recently relocated families and hopes that your transition into our diocesan and parish communities will be a source of Christ’s light in your family life.

 

Addressing the diverse needs of Catholic military families requires programs and interventions in collaboration between military authorities and civilian communities. There are unique challenges that military families may face stemming from frequent moves, deployments, and the struggle to maintain community. Military families often need support in areas such as spousal employment, childcare, mental health, and evangelization. 

Resources for the Military Families

  • Military OneSource is an official Defense Department website that provides 24/7 access to free and confidential help. This assistance includes confidential counseling, relationship support, parenting resources, spouse education and career opportunities, financial and legal support and relocation services.
  • Navy- Marine Corps Relief Society provides several programs and services to assist active duty and retired Sailors, Marines and their families in financial need. This includes financial assistance with everyday living expenses, emergency travel funds upon illness or death of an immediate family member, and disaster relief assistance.
  • Support the Enlisted Project (STEP) works to improve financial wellness to combat food insecurity, homelessness, mental health conditions, suicide and other crises through counseling, education and financial support for enlisted service member, veterans and their families.
  • Fleet & Family Support Centers (San Diego Metro) provides services such as relocation assistance, new parent support, deployment services, clinical counseling, financial counseling, family employment services, family advocacy and transition assistance programs.
  • VA San Diego health care provides a comprehensive behavioral health program that specializes in Veteran-focused mental health care. Also, see the diocesan Mental Health webpage for additional resources.
  • Find a Parish: The Diocese of San Diego has 96 parishes and 13 missions across 9,000 square miles of San Diego and Imperial Counties. Find your new home in a community ready to walk with your family throughout your faith journey.
  • Kids’ Turn San Diego offers a Military Family parenting course that teaches resilience skills for children. The Peak Performance Military Family Group instructs parents in crucial strategies that help their children navigate the challenges and impact of military deployment.
  • Our Military Kids offers extracurricular activity grants to children and teens of deployed National Guard, deployed Reserve or post-9/11 combat wounded, or ill and injured Veterans. Activity grants serve to build self-confidence, enhance family wellness and strengthen community.

Archdiocese of Military Service, U.S.A.

  • The Archdiocese for the Military Services was created by Saint John Paul II to provide the Catholic Church’s full range of pastoral ministries and spiritual services to those in the United States Armed Forces. This includes more than 220 installations in 29 countries, patients in 153 V.A. Medical Centers, and federal employees serving outside the United States in 134 countries.
  • Catholic Military Apostolate of the United States is a lay apostolate of Catholic service members, veterans, families and military supporters. Their mission is to promote Catholic culture within the ranks of the U.S. military and support Catholic service members in the sanctification of military life.

Pastoral Resources

Contact Information

Staff

  • Director: John Prust
  • Associate Director: Janelle Peregoy
  • Associate Director: Wendy Baez

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About the Coat of Arms

Bishop Pulido’s coat of arms is divided into four quarters with wavy horizontal lines from top to bottom. The blue and white lines represent the Blessed Virgin Mary. They also suggest water, which alludes to Jesus washing the feet of His disciples and to the waters of baptism. The red and gold lines represent the Holy Spirit and fire. The colors also can be seen as referring to the Blood that (along with water) poured from Jesus’ side at His crucifixion, as well as to the bread (gold) and wine (red) transformed into the Eucharist. At the center is a roundel featuring a symbolic representation of the “mandatum” (washing of the feet), which he believes exemplifies service to all humanity. The roundel’s outer edge is a line composed of small humps; it is borrowed from the coat of arms of the Diocese of Yakima, where Bishop Pulido served as a priest before being named a bishop.

About the Coat of Arms

Bishop Pham’s coat of arms combines the Diocese of San Diego’s coat of arms on the left side, and his on the right. On his, a red boat on a blue ocean sits on diagonal lines suggesting a fisherman’s net. This symbolizes his ministry as a “fisher of men,” as well as how his own father had been a fisherman. The boat is also a symbol of the Church, which is referred to as the “barque of Peter.” At the center of the sail is a red beehive (a symbol of the bishop’s baptismal patron saint, St. John Chrysostom, known as a “honey-tongued” preacher). The beehive is surrounded by two green palm branches (an ancient symbol of martyrdom; the bishop’s ancestors were among Vietnam’s first martyrs). The eight red tongues of fire around the boat are a symbol of the Holy Spirit and a representation of the diversity of ethnic communities.

About the Coat of Arms

The coat of arms combines symbols that reflect Bishop Bejarano’s spiritual life and priestly ministry. The main part of the shield shows four wavy vertical lines on a gold background. These represent flowing waters. This alludes to his chosen motto and also symbolizes the graces that come from the Divine life to quench our thirst for God. The upper third of the shield is red because it is borrowed from the coat of arms of the Order of Mercy, of which the Bishop’s patron saint, Raymond Nonnatus, was a member. The central symbol resembles a monstrance because St. Raymond is often depicted holding one. The Eucharist is Bishop Bejarano’s inspiration for his vocation. It was through the Eucharist that he received his call to the priesthood at age seven and which keeps his faith and his ministry going. It represents the call to offer oneself as a living sacrifice. The monstrance is flanked on either side by an image of the Sacred Heart, alluding to the mercy of God and echoing the idea of a sacrificial offering of oneself united to the sacrifice of Christ, and of a rose for Our Lady. It is an allusion to Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas, and highlights the bishop’s Hispanic heritage.

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