Extension’s Spirit of Francis Award recipient honored for advancing community health

CHICAGO (OSV News) — Mario J. Paredes, CEO of SOMOS Community Care in New York, is the recipient of Catholic Extension Society’s 2025 New York Spirit of Francis Award in recognition of his yearslong commitment to “safeguarding the health and well-being of countless families in need.”

“The late Pope Francis was a vocal and tireless advocate for the marginalized. Mario’s extensive efforts as an inspirational leader demonstrates similar devotion,” said Father Jack Wall, president of Chicago-based Catholic Extension.

He presented the award to Paredes alongside Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, retired archbishop of Boston, at an Oct. 23 dinner in New York. Catholic Extension said proceeds from the dinner will support the ministries and education of Latina religious sisters.

Since 2015, Paredes has served as director of SOMOS Community Care, New York’s only provider-led, nonprofit, community-based integrated health care network with over 2,500 primary care providers and 800 practices of private physicians.

He has overseen grants worth more than $700 million from the state of New York for reforming the Medicaid health system and was a key facilitator during the discussions between the respondents to the COVID-19 pandemic and health authorities in the state and the city of New York, Catholic Extension said in its announcement on the award.

“As we honor Mario this evening and celebrate his accomplishments, I’m grateful for the inspiration his work lends us as we continue to build up vibrant and transformative Catholic faith communities in the poorest regions of our country,” Father Wall added.

“There is no other layman in the United States who has made the kinds of contributions to the ministry to our immigrants than Mario Paredes,” Cardinal O’Malley said.

The Spirit of Francis Award is named for three “Francis figures”: Pope Francis, St. Francis of Assisi and Father Francis Clement Kelley, the founder of Catholic Extension, which is based in Chicago. All three are known for embracing and helping the poor.

In accepting the award, Paredes said he was grateful for the honor and received it “as an assignment of a commitment to continue the vow in my life and my best efforts to the sowing of the good news of Jesus Christ.”

A native of Chile and a naturalized U.S. citizen, the Jesuit-educated Paredes has over 20 years of experience as an executive in health care administration and has extensive experience as a leader in business development. He has worked extensively with nonprofits, governmental organizations and religious entities, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the American Bible Society.

He is the co-founder of the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders and today is chairman emeritus of its board. He helped organize the first three Encuentros (encounters) — national gatherings with a focus on fully engaging Hispanics in the U.S. Catholic Church — in 1972, 1977 and 1985.

In 1974, he founded the Northeast Hispanic Catholic Center in New York and was its executive director for 30 years.

The mission of Catholic Extension Society, founded in 1905, is to build up the Catholic faith communities in underserved regions.

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