Family offers support for absconded Zuni priest

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Gallup Independent
November 17, 2014

http://gallupindependent.com/

ZUNI — Not much is clear about the circumstances surrounding the sudden departure of the Rev. Ravi Kiran from St. Anthony’s Mission in the Pueblo of Zuni.

One thing, however, is very clear. Kiran left a mostly Native American congregation very deeply divided, with parishioners on both sides feeling hurt and upset.

For those parishioners who continue to attend Mass at St. Anthony’s, most are either supporters of Kiran or they are simply Catholics trying to stay neutral while they wait for answers from their church leaders.

For those who do not support Kiran, they have expressed their displeasure with their feet — about a dozen left the Zuni parish and now attend St. Patrick’s Catholic Mission in Vanderwagen, another church under the leadership of a priest from India. Most of those who left were not merely warming the pews each Sunday. They were active church volunteers who helped with religious education programs and served as Eucharistic ministers, lectors, and ushers.

And while many individuals on both sides have talked to the media about their concerns, few have been willing to be quoted publicly.

Close friendship

However, two members of one prominent Zuni family were willing to speak out in support of their former parish priest. Siblings Claire and Ken Seowtewa, children of the late Zuni mural­ist Alex Seowtewa, became friends with Kiran and believe he was a good parish priest.

During Mass at St. Anthony’s Nov. 2, Claire Seowtewa spoke up during the service and offered a prayer for Kiran’s return to St. Anthony’s.

In a telephone interview later that evening, Seowtewa said that during Kiran’s time in Zuni, he became a frequent visitor to her parents’ home, and he often ate dinner with her family. Kiran and her father became very good friends, she said.

“They got really close,” she said. “It was just a good relationship that had blossomed.”

Seowtewa said her family was happy with the renovations Kiran had made around St. Anthony’s Mission.

Although the murals Alex Seowtewa painted on the walls of the Old Zuni Mission brought him fame and brought countless visitors to the pueblo, Claire Seowtewa said her father did not have a good relationship with recent Franciscan Friars.

It was through her father’s friendship with Kiran, she said, that her father attended — for the first time in years — Midnight Mass last Christmas at St. Anthony’s.

Kiran went on to officiate at Alex Seowtewa’s funeral Mass at the Old Zuni Mission.

“I was so heartbroken to hear he had left,” Seowtewa said of Kiran’s sudden departure, adding she viewed Kiran as a part of her family.

Displeasure and frustration

A week after his sister’s interview, Ken Seowtewa and his wife attended Mass at St. Anthony’s.

At the end of the service, while the Rev. Kevin Finnegan, the diocesan chancellor, was still offering his promises to provide future answers to parishioners, the couple left the church.

Clearly frustrated, Seowtewa blamed Kiran’s problems at St. Anthony’s on the “small group” in the parish who had disagreements with Kiran. Seowtewa also expressed displeasure with the wording of the Diocese of Gallup’s announcement about Kiran’s departure and frustration that the announcement didn’t answer his questions. “He’s not here to defend himself,” Seowtewa said of Kiran.

Naming off important family milestones of church baptisms and marriages, Seowtewa said his family has had a close association with the Catholic Church in the Pueblo of Zuni for five generations.

Seowtewa, also an artist, said he spent years working alongside his father on the murals in the Old Zuni Mission.

“Dad wouldn’t have agreed with this,” he said.

Seowtewa, quoting something that his father used to say frequently, said, “I don’t have anything against God, it’s just the messengers he sends.”

“I love the fact that Father Ravi appreciated our culture, our heritage,” Seowtewa said as he walked away. “I love Fr. Ravi.”

Tomorrow: More unanswered questions