Harold Rahm

Harold Joseph Rahm (February 22, 1919 – November 30, 2019) was a Catholic priest and Jesuit, who became well known for his work with gangs and inner-city youth in El Paso, Texas, US.

Assignment "Haroldo" took as his motto "It is necessary to live life with joy." He shared with his Jesuit superior his desire to make life a little fairer, a little more filled with joy for those born into trying circumstances. Soon after ordination, in 1952, he was appointed assistant pastor at the large, Spanish-speaking parish of Sacred Heart in El Paso, covering the Chihuahuita district and Segundo Barrio. Along with him at Sacred Heart were four elderly priests to cover confessions and funerals and another young priest who served as pastor and covered the rectory duties. This neighborhood was one of the poorest in the nation.

Gang warfare He traveled on a bicycle to deliver breakfast to the elderly, and to quickly reach places where the youth hung out. He immersed himself in the life of the people, visiting, having block Masses in their back yards, and accepting their advice. and in the City Parks and Recreations Department.

At one point he heard of a gang fight scheduled for midnight, and found two gang leaders with knives drawn ready to go at each other. He impulsively grabbed one by the arm and flipped him on the ground, leaving the other youth gawking that a priest could do this. His being down to earth gained him the respect of the gangs and much help from the people. an all-district football center who would join the Jesuits and later become Rahm's provincial superior. Guadalupano Club held parties, weekend retreats, picnics, and spiritual meetings. As club membership spread among the youth, gangs were frustrated by their recruiting. But more important was his sports program which recruited young boys to play basketball, baseball, and other sports with the help of athletes from the El Paso College of Mines, now University of Texas in El Paso. Thomas Browne, Deputy Director of the Office of Anticrime Programs in the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, asked who his greatest role model was, replied,

Office in the Alley tells the story of Our Lady's Youth Center, which Rahm built up out of an old building owned by the Knights of Columbus. It gradually developed into a complete sports and activities center, handling 600 youth a day. and the renamed "Father Rahm Avenue" runs through Segundo Barrio.

Reassignment Pope John XXIII had asked the Jesuits in the USA to send more men to Latin America. Rahm's Jesuit superior, knowing that his projects in El Paso had able helpers, asked him to go to Brazil, and allowed him to choose his successor. Rahm persuaded Jesuit priest Richard Thomas, a former student of his in Tampa, to follow him at Sacred Heart.

Brazil

Spirituality and training In Texas Rahm had honed his skills at organizing, fundraising, and emphasizing the spiritual component, letting others run the programs he began. These skills served him well in Brazil.

Archbishop Dom Paulo de Tarso welcomed him to the Archdiocese of Campinas where Rahm organized parishioners to construct San Pedro Apostle church building, while he got to work on studying Portuguese. He also began working with the Cursillo movement which had just come to Brazil in 1962, and became its spiritual director. In 1967 he and lay collaborators created a kind of cursillo for youth.

In 1965 he founded the President Kennedy Social Center to train people for professional certification as typists, seamstresses, bricklayers, and electricians. Later, nursing, computer, and graphics were added, along with separate laboratories for the various courses, and a library. Today courses are offered, free of charge, in administrative assistant, accounting assistant, entrepreneurship, English, Spanish, Portuguese, CorelDRAW, PhotoShop, basic & advanced theater, free dance, and street dance.

In 1967 he and Mary Lamego founded Christian Leadership Training (TLC) at the Big House of Brandina Villa, working with a team of lay people to train youth to be Christian leaders, on mission. Today the movement is present in more than 80 places covering 38 dioceses throughout Brazil. Rahm asked Jesuit priest Casimiro Irala to teach liturgical songs to young people, and thus TLM was born (Musical Leadership Training). Irala later took off on his own and founded OPA, Prayer for Art, a movement that still exists, uniting art and spirituality by teaching songs to youth. Also, it was while he was in TLM that Jonas Abib was inspired to carry liturgical song to new heights.

In 1972 Rahm co-founded the movement Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Brazil. In 1975 he created "Prayer Experiences" as a part of this renewal.

Campaign against drugs In 1978 Rahm, along with Professor Osvaldo Candido Ferreira and Nubia França, founded Promotional Association for Prayer and Work (APOT), Each program has a component to impart a sense of responsibility and technical skills, a spiritual component to create a sense of transcendence, and a support program like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Narcotics Anonymous (NA), and Tough Love (AE). Tough Love was initiated by Rahm in 1984, adapted from the American movement, for parents and family of drug addicts. founded in 1978, accommodates 70 men for a four-month program; Jimmy Hendricks House (1993) accommodates 40 youth for a six-months program; São José House accommodates 48 men for a 20-month program; Guadalupe House has since 1996 accommodated 17 women ages 14 to 45. In 2009, after Rahm's retirement as its president, APOT was renamed Padre Haroldo Institute. It had by then served 70,000 persons.

In 1987, Rahm founded Our Lady of Guadalupe Prevention and Assistance Center for the treatment of female drug addicts. Open House Shelter is open 24 hours a day to conduct interviews and referral for these children. Middle House is located at the Lord Jesus Farm and can accommodate 50 boys 6-17. and in 1992 the Latin American Federation of Therapeutic Communities (FLACT). In 1998 APOT opened a clinic and began offering outpatient services. Rahm also cofounded Pastoral Sobriety that relates the search for sobriety to the Christian way of life.

In 2000, Rahm led Fraternity Campaign: For a World Without Drugs, drawing attention to the drug addiction problem both nationally and within religious communities.

In 2006 he began the campaign Faith in Prevention, an ecumenical movement, and produced a guidance booklet published by SENAD (National Policy on Drugs). In 2007 Rahm began Christian Yoga courses, bringing this practice to several cities in Brazil, with the theme of living in harmony with God, with nature. and within oneself. In 2013 Rahm helped found Early Circolando Project, a program which includes social education, prevention, care, and research, with a psychosocial team, educators, and art educators who circulate through highly vulnerable neighborhoods.

Awards Rahm received numerous awards from the city of Campinas. Some of his other awards are: Tough Love International: International Media Award (1984) & Tiffany Pelayo Award (1998). Anchieta Medal and Gratitude Diploma of the City of São Paulo (1987). Dom Quixote Award of Lulac National (1990). Benefactor of Humankind, awarded by the Grand Orient of Brazil Masons (1999). Cruz do Merito do Descobridor do Brasil Pedro Alvarez Cabral awarded by the Sociedade Brasileira de Heraldica Medalhistica, Cultural e Educational (2000). Ordem do Merito "Grande Oficial" awarded by Cruzada Bandeirante de Assistencia Medico Social dos Camilianos (2000). Merit Certificate for Valorization of Life awarded by the National Secretariat Against Drugs-SENAD and conferred by the President of Brazil (2002). Segundo Barrio Award, El Paso (2015).

Selected writings Office in the Alley, with J. Weber. University of Texas, Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, 1958. Am I Not Here. Washington: Ave Maria Institute, 1963. E bom ser Padre!. São Paulo: Paulinas, 1975. A Mae das Americas. São Paulo: Loyola, 1992. Treinamento de Lideranga Crista. São Paulo: Loyola, 1998. 0 caminho da sobriedade – Fazenda do Senhor. São Paulo: Loyola, 2001.