BY SUSAN STEVENOT SULLIVAN

Staff Writer

ATLANTA -- Patrick Flores, born the seventh of nine children in 1929, grew up in a household based on shared responsibility. As his parents directed, he and his brothers learned to cook and do household chores as well as work in the fields and his sisters learned the full range of tasks also.

Patrick Flores became Father Flores in 1956 and the first Mexican-American bishop in the United States in 1970. As archbishop of San Antonio he still loves to cook and he hasn't lost touch with the challenges faced in finding work, securing an education and having roots in more than one culture.

Issues of culture, nationality and unity are part of the character of his archdiocese. The first diocesan office for Hispanic ministry was opened in San Antonio 50 years ago this year.

The questions raised by the presence of newcomers and strangers and the treatment they receive are not new, he said. "Joseph and Mary were undocumenteds in Egypt to save their lives," Archbishop Flores said in an interview on the drive from the airport to Immaculate Heart of Mary Church Oct. 6.

"How many people have come to the United States to preserve their lives, because of economic reasons or repression? Who reports them (to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service)? Other people who came for the same reasons."

"How can someone who calls themselves a Christian report them?" he wondered.

Archbishop Flores said whatever the perspective on immigration, the problems are complex, the answers difficult.

"I wish the countries these people are from would be more creative about making changes to keep people there," he said.

"The undocumented do not come here on vacation. They come because they have no job back home and a family to support," he continued.

"We are called to share our home, our bread, our water," Archbishop Flores said. "If people come here because they are needy we have an obligation to lend them a helping hand."

"We need to look at ways that employers can hire the undocumented or recent arrivals who come here because they want to work. Employers are afraid to be caught," he said, adding that the situation of people who want to work and people who need workers should be solved in everyone's favor.

The archdiocese of San Antonio is engaged in a year- long celebration of the 800th birthday of its patron saint, Saint Anthony. At all of the events, including the two which followed his return flight to Texas Oct. 7, Archbishop Flores said he is speaking to his diverse flock about family and unity.

"We are praying to San Antonio to help us find harmony and peace and the graces necessary for healthy families and more priests," he said.

"We are talking about enriching your culture by sharing it with others and allowing them to share theirs with you," he said. "Don't be afraid. We have a fear that if we get too close to others they will contaminate us. No! They will enrich us. Filipino, Vietnamese, Cambodian, German, Irish, each has a beauty. When you experience it you enrich yourself."

Archbishop Flores said the problem of prejudice is not solved by talking about the skin tones that differentiate people. Prejudice exists within those groups as well, he said.

"We must try to see the beauty and value of each other," he stated. "If you do not appreciate yourself, you can't appreciate others. If you can't love yourself, you can't love others. Our greatness is not what we have, but who we are, children of God."

"Jesus was great, not for what he had, but for who he is," he said. "He told us, 'Whatever you do unto others, you do unto me.'"