SILVER SPRING, Maryland — On Nov. 5, 2022, the National Religious Vocation Conference, or NRVC, awarded the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., or CLINIC, and Miguel Naranjo, director of Religious Immigration Services at CLINIC, the Harvest Award for their many years of service to hundreds of religious institutes and their members.  

“It is an honor to receive this award,” said Naranjo, who has worked in Religious Immigration Services at CLINIC for over 16 years. “CLINIC was founded to spread the gospel through welcoming the stranger, and that includes through helping foreign-born religious and clergy gain visas so they can fulfil their mission among U.S. communities. We know how essential their contributions to our communities are, and it is a privilege to help them continue their service.”  

The Harvest Award is given biennially to recognize outstanding service to vocation ministry. Many NRVC members have worked with Naranjo during the admissions process of international candidates. CLINIC is one of the few organizations to specialize in this area of law. 

“We thank NRVC for this wonderful award,” said Anna Gallagher, executive director at CLINIC. “CLINIC remains deeply committed to the work of assisting foreign-born clergy and religious with their immigration needs. Beyond directly assisting our religious worker clients with their immigration cases, we continue our advocacy work to address the backlogs and delays in visa processing that can prevent religious workers from carrying out their work in the U.S. Their pastoral care and other contributions are vital for our communities.” 

“The theme of this year’s Conference, ‘Called Beyond Borders,’ is very fitting for CLINIC’s work,” continued Naranjo. “This theme expresses the call felt by many foreign-born clergy to serve in the U.S. who become our clients. We at CLINIC are dedicated to supporting that call and mission.”