In Basque the words for priest are “Apeza” (Iparralde or northern Basque Country) and “Abadia” in the Bizkaian dialect.  Until recently, the Basque-American Catholic community benefited from the ministry of various Basque priests.  That era came to an end when the last Basque chaplain, Aita Martxel Tillous, passed away a few years ago. [See Era of the Basque Chaplains]

Since then two Basque priests have continued to minister to Basques on the side of their regular assignments.  They are:

 Aita Javier ALTUNA, S.J.  Ministering to the Basque community of southern California

 Fr. Mike Lastiri, Diocese of Fresno  Ministering to central & northern California Basque-Catholic communities

 Joining them is our newest arrival, Fr. Antton Egiguren, a Basque Franciscan, to the Diocese of Boise in Idaho. To find out more about him CLICK HERE