“With every recognition I receive there is another chance to spread the word that immigrants in our midst deserve dignity and respect and our support.”
On Sunday, April 12, Sister Janice Vanderneck, founder of Casa San José, was recognized alongside Frontline Dignity founder Jamie Martinez for their work to welcome, support, and protect the Latino community in our region. The two were selected as the 2026 recipients of the Ketteler Award, named for Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler, Bishop of Mainz, Germany, who co-founded the Congregation of the Sisters of Divine Providence. Bishop Ketteler was a tireless fighter for the rights of the working class, known in Germany as the “social justice bishop,” where he served from 1850 until his death in 1877, at the age of 65.
“The life that immigrants are enduring at this time is filled with fear and insecurity,” Sister Janice explains. “I know of people literally dragged from their bed while sleeping. Detainees languish in ‘processing centers’ while the mothers and children left behind struggle to survive while trying to find ways to pay for legal fees for their loved one.”
With a Masters’ Degree in Theology from Duquesne University, Sister Janice worked for decades as a religion teacher and principal at Catholic elementary and high schools in Pittsburgh. She carries the Sisters’ mission – ‘love of God and neighbor without distinction’ – as inspiration for her work with the Latino community, seeing “all people in this world as well as the earth itself as my neighbor.”
The Sisters of St. Joseph opened Casa San José (House of St. Joseph), a resource center for Latino immigrants in 2013, guided by Gospel values and Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 25 to welcome the stranger and care for those on the margins. Casa offers a range of social services to help immigrants find housing, health care, education, and legal support to build a safe and dignified life for their families in our region.
Seeing every immigrant and refugee as a neighbor who is worthy of love, safety, and respect, Sister Janice hopes that our government will work in a bipartisan way to treat immigrants who came to this country seeking a better life with dignity and respect for their rights.
She sees “signs of hope” in the faces of those who faithfully show up every Friday morning outside the ICE office in Pittsburgh to pray for an end to the inhumane actions of immigration enforcement in our country.
There, as they did during the awards’ ceremony, those gathered sang this song, a prayer for all those on the immigrant’s journey –
Mientras recorres la vida; Tú nunca solo estás. Contigo por el camino, Santa María, va. You are never alone in life; Mary is with you on your journey.
Ven con nosoros al caminar Santa Maria, ven; Ven con nosotros al caminar Santa Maria ven. Come with us as we journey, Holy Mary, come; Come with us as we journey, Holy Mary, come.
Aunque te digan algunos que nada puede cambiar; Luncha por un mundo nuevo, luncha por la verdad. Even if some tell you that nothing can change; Fight for a new world; fight for the truth.
Si por el mundo los homres sin conocerse van; Mo niegues nunca tu mano al que contingo esta. Even if others in the world don’t recognize you; Still, reach out to those who are with you.
Aunque parezcan tus pass inutil caminar; Tu vas haciendo caminos, otros los seguiran. Even when it seems useless to keep going; Stay the course, and others will follow you.
– Santa Maria del Camino by Juan Espinosa