Worthington’s ‘Padre Jim’ Callahan, who founded clinic for all, dies at 74

WORTHINGTON, MINN. – Prayers, in both English and Spanish, emanated from the pews of St. Mary’s Catholic Church as mourners honored the church’s leader of more than a decade, the Rev. James Callahan.

Callahan died at age 74 on Monday at his home in Worthington. Known as a fierce advocate for refugees and immigrants, his death on the day of President Donald Trump’s inauguration hit hard in this agricultural city, where many fear the president’s promises of deportations and raids.

“For him, nobody was different,” said Maria Barrera, 44, a mourner who worked with Callahan. “For him, we are all immigrants; all people were the same, no titles, no money, no green cards, no nothing.”

Mourners in the crowd wiped away tears as hymns in Spanish alternated with those in English. A choir sang, “Love one another as I have loved for you/Care for each other as I have cared for you.”

Callahan is best known for his work co-founding the Our Lady of Guadalupe Free Clinic in Worthington, which since its beginnings in the basement of St. Mary’s in 2011 has helped thousands of patients, many of whom lack insurance.

“He advocated for the whole community, for everyone,” said Eligio Ramirez, one of the mourners at Friday’s service.

Callahan, known as Padre Jim, was a true example of a leader protecting his flock, said Ramirez, 41, who once lived as a shepherd in the mountains of Guatemala before coming to America. Callahan helped find medical care six years ago for Ramirez’s son, Bradley, who had an issue with the nerves in his leg and could not walk.

“He opened the doors,” Ramirez said, adding that Callahan also encouraged him in his college education and helped his family after their house was robbed.

Known for wearing sandals even in the winter and his ability to connect with people from all walks of life, Callahan arrived in Worthington in 2010, a few years after immigration officers raided a meatpacking plant in the city, in the largest one-day mass raid in U.S. history.

Callahan said he soon fell in love with his new home. “You really see the jewel that this community is,” he said in an interview in 2023 with Studio 3, a cable station operated by the local school district and the city of Worthington.

Still, he was shocked by divisions within the city, Callahan said in the Studio 3 interview. In his time as the head of St. Mary’s, he sought to bring people from the English- and Spanish-speaking communities together, hosting bilingual celebrations and festivals. Guests were always welcome at his table, with dinners for four becoming fellowships of 10.

In 2017, Callahan led efforts at St. Mary’s to promise sanctuary for undocumented workers. Many parishioners feared raids during Trump’s first term by immigration officers. The church quietly led efforts to provide homes as shelters if necessary, and to act as guardians for detainees’ children.

Not everyone supported his decision to make St. Mary’s a sanctuary church, Callahan told the Minnesota Star Tribune, with donations from some longtime parishioners declining.

But Callahan said in these instances he would be direct in defending what he believed was right, he said in the interview with Studio 3. This is when he would drop the “Minnesota Nice,” and let his “East Coast” come out, he said.

His East Coast directness came from his childhood in Waltham, Mass., near Boston. In interviews, he credited his parents, a clinical psychologist and an attorney, who volunteered in a soup kitchen for 30 years, and his grandfather for instilling in him a desire to help people.

As a young priest, he worked as a missionary in several African and Central American countries.

Bryan Hagen, board president at Our Lady of Guadalupe Free Clinic, said the work at the clinic will continue. “His patients were his family,” Hagen said, adding that even after retiring from his post at St. Mary’s in 2023, Callahan continued to work at clinic.

Ramirez, who said his son Bradley, now 8, is mobile with the help of a walker, said he hopes to live up to Callahan’s teachings.

“We feel sad to lose him,” Ramirez said. “But now it’s on us. It’s our job now to continue his legacy.”