2025 New York Spirit of Francis Award Dinner

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• Mr. Paredes served as personal advisor to John Cardinal O’Connor, Archbishop of New York. He has served as a consultant to the Justice and Peace Commission of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops and the Vatican Commission for Latin American. Mr. Paredes was also the founder and first director of the Regional Center established by the Catholic Bishops of the Northeast to care for Spanish-speaking immigrants. Mr. Paredes served in this capacity under Cardinals O’Connor, Law, Hickey, Bevilacqua, and O’Malley. He is a published editor of scholarly scriptures, and his writings and videos have been shared on the world’s most critical Catholic media platforms.

  Mr. Paredes has also coordinated relief programs for hurricane victims in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Haiti, and Honduras. Also, he has collaborated with Caritas Dominicana in the health field and created a co-management to administer the children’s hospital Robert Reid Cabral known as La Angelita. For years, he has supported this entity in collaboration with Saint Claire Hospital of the New York Archdiocese and developed plans to build a new children’s hospital with Mr. Oscar de la Renta and Cardinal John O’Connor.
  Mr. Paredes is a co-founder with Archbishop José Gómez and Chairman of the Board for Catholic Association of Latino Leaders (CALL) and is today its Chairman Emeritus. He is founder of the national weekly El Visitante Dominical in USA and El Visitante de Puerto Rico. Mario has served as an Editorial Board Member of El Diario-La Prensa, Catholic New York, The Tablet and El Pregonero. He continues his affiliation with American Bible Society (ABS) as a member of the Board of Trustees after serving for seven years as its Presidential Liaison to Roman Catholic Ministry from which he retired in 2015.

  In 2018 he was awarded by the Government of Chile the Order of Merit Gabriela Mistral. He is Treasurer and former Vice President of the Gabriela Mistral Foundation, Inc. In 2017, he received a “Doctor of Liberal Arts” degree from The Catholic University of America. Mr. Paredes was created Knight Grand Cross of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem (K.G.C.H.S.) in 2012. He is also President of the International Academy of Catholic Leaders and a member of the Board of Directors of America Media. He is a Director and former President of the North American-Chilean Chamber of Commerce of New York, a Director of En Familia Radio and Notes for Growth.
  Mr. Paredes earned his Master of Philosophy at the Catholic University of Argentina, his Masters in Religious Education at Loyola University Chicago, and his postgraduate studies at Georgetown University.
  Among his many honors and commendations, he received the Catholic Press Association Award, the Archbishop Patricio Flores Medal from the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB), the Fr. Joseph Fitzpatrick, SJ Award from Fordham University, The Pierre Toussaint Medallion by the Archdioceses of New York in New York, and the 2024 Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Award by the Support Our Aging Religious (SOAR!) organization. The Holy See awarded him the highest decoration for a layman, the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice (“For Church and Pope) an honour awarded by the Pope to members of the clergy and laity for service to the Catholic Church.