Members of the Chuukese Catholic community in Ottumwa celebrate St. Elizabeth of Portugal’s feast day last year.
By Lindsay Steele
The Catholic Messenger
(This is the first part of a series on Catholics originally from Asia who have settled in the Diocese of Davenport. May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.)
OTTUMWA — AnnaMaria Billy’s faith journey began on a small island in the western Pacific Ocean, 6,000 miles from Iowa. “I was taught to always remember my roots,” said Billy, director of evangelization for St. Joseph Parish in Ottumwa. “You can take the girl out of the island, but you can’t take the island out of the girl.
Billy and a growing number of Catholics from Chuuk — one of four states of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) — now call Ottumwa home. They enjoy sharing Chuukese faith, food and culture with their newfound faith community at St. Joseph Parish. They’ve been “a very visible reminder of the universality of the Church, coming from so far away,” said their pastor, Father Joseph Sia.
Arriving in Ottumwa
Once a U.S. territory, FSM is now independent and sovereign. However, the two countries maintain a close relationship. Micronesian citizens can work and live in the U.S. as nonimmigrants for an unlimited length of time, and its citizens can serve in the U.S. Armed Forces (doi.gov).
Billy said the JBS pork processing facility in Ottumwa heavily recruited Chuukese workers between 2017-2020 by offering good pay and benefits, and a growing number are calling the south-central Iowa community home. The latest census data shows about 550 Chuukese living in the Ottumwa area — a little more than 1% of the total population.
A warm welcome
Father Jim Betzen, pastor of St. Mary of the Visitation Parish in Ottumwa from 2014-2023, noticed the growing number of new Mass goers clad in floral dresses and tropical-print shirts. “From my conversations with them, I learned that they come from the island(s) of Chuuk and their first language is Chuukese,” he recalled in a 2022 Catholic Messenger column. “Like all immigrant communities, the Micronesians have some bilingual leaders. I look to these leaders to get to know the Chuuk community and to interpret.”
Father Betzen wanted the Chuukese to feel at home and to engage in parish life. “We feel seen and heard,” Billy said. “He was always involving us, always inviting us to have translations, come to events and have a strong presence… In the beginning, we just wanted to be good Catholics and come to church, but they were always like, ‘You can do more, we know you are capable of more.’” Billy admits she would not have considered applying for the director of evangelization role without encouragement from Father Betzen and Ana de la Torre, the parish’s director of religious education.
Father Sia, who later became pastor of St. Mary of the Visitation, recalls Father Betzen speaking enthusiastically about the Chuukese community during diocesan Hispanic ministry meetings. “I was inspired by him,” Father Sia said. He continued the priest’s work with the Chuukese community after being assigned to St. Mary and St. Patrick parishes in Ottumwa in 2023, following Father Betzen’s retirement. The Chuukese were on hand to celebrate the merger of the two parishes last year.
“Our parish has been blessed with wonderful priests,” Billy said. “Father Sia echoes (Father Betzen’s) enthusiasm and desire that we all need to play a part in our parish despite nationalities, language, regardless of backgrounds. He does a wonderful job of reminding us that we are all children of God and that we should be working together.”
Working through challenges
The Chuukese are eager to receive the sacraments, and clergy are eager to administer them, Billy said. However, tracking down baptismal records necessary for first Communion, confirmation and sacramental marriage can be challenging due to the multi-island structure of Chuuk. It takes time for documents to be found and sent to Ottumwa.
In cases where records are believed to have been destroyed by flooding, typhoons or other disasters, eye witnesses may offer testimony in place of official documents. “Thank goodness we have living members who can testify they were there,” Billy said.
A special bond
A majority of Chuukese parishioners — though many in the younger generation speak English — attend Spanish Masses on Sundays due to cultural similarities and shared experiences. “Certain words felt familiar, and the style of the songs are kind of similar to ours,” Billy explained. Hispanics and Chuukese also share strong family bonds. “The success of one means the success of all.”
In late 2025, the parish began incorporating Chuukese readings, music and traditions into the fourth Spanish Mass of the month. “It’s actually trilingual” because Father Sia gives homilies in English and Spanish, Billy explained. It was a major milestone for the community — one that Father Betzen had long hoped for — but he passed away shortly before he could see that dream come to fruition. “I wish he (had been) still alive to witness that first Mass.”
About Chuuk
Chuuk is a complex of 98 islands, 14 of which are volcanic, surrounded by a barrier reef (pacioos.hawaii.edu). Residents fish, raise pigs and poultry, and grow a variety of crops including taro, breadfruit, yams, bananas and coconuts. The islands are popular with scuba divers who come to explore the Chuuk lagoon’s shipwrecks, many of which have become foundations for new reef growth
(brittanica.com).
Missionary groups from Spain, Germany and the United States helped establish Christianity in Micronesia. Capuchin missionaries from Germany established the first Catholic church in Chuuk in 1911, according to Micronesian Seminar, a Church-sponsored organization engaged in social research and community education work. In the 2010 census, 55% of Chuukese residents identified as Catholic.
A ‘wonderful addition’
The Chuukese community at St. Patrick has grown to include about 100 people, Billy said. One of their favorite traditions is celebrating the feast days of their home islands’ patron saints. Last year, they celebrated the feasts of St. Joseph and St. Elizabeth of Portugal with Masses and receptions, sharing their culture and cuisine with Anglo and Hispanic parishioners. “We go all out — food is our love language in anything, whether a small event or a wedding,” Billy said. “Food always tastes better with good company!”
During major liturgical celebrations, the Chuukese lead a Bible procession at the start of Mass to celebrate the Word of God, and place leis around the necks of the priests, altar servers and readers while bringing up the gifts. Several readings during the Easter Mass this year were in Chuukese, Billy said.
“They’ve just been a wonderful addition to the parish,” Father Sia said of the Chuukese community.
