Priest Honored With Lumen Christi Award
El Paso's Monsignor Arturo Bañuelas receives the Catholic Extension Society's highest honor, sharing $100,000 with his ministry and the diocese.
Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in Catholicism
Monsignor Arturo Bañuelas of El Paso received the Lumen Christi Award from the Catholic Extension Society, the organization's highest honor. He will split the $100,000 award between his ministry and the Diocese of El Paso.
Why it matters
The award recognizes five decades of priestly service and Bañuelas's founding work in Catholic education and Hispanic theology. For El Paso's Catholic community, it highlights local leadership in lay formation and border-area ministry.
The award carries $100,000 and was chosen from eight finalists. Bañuelas's Tepeyac Institute has educated and led more than 80,000 lay leaders since its founding in 1988, though the exact division of the award money remains unspecified.
The players
Monsignor Arturo Bañuelas
An El Paso priest who founded the Tepeyac Institute and serves as founding chair of the Hope and Border Institute, with 50 years in the priesthood.
Catholic Extension Society
A Catholic organization that bestows the Lumen Christi Award, its highest honor, to recognize outstanding ministry.
Bishop Mark Seitz
The bishop of the Diocese of El Paso, who attended the award presentation at St. Mark Catholic Church.
The details
The award was presented Wednesday at St. Mark Catholic Church in the presence of Bishop Mark Seitz and hundreds of parishioners and friends. Bañuelas, who founded the Tepeyac Institute in 1988, also co-founded the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the U.S. in 1989.
Timeline
1988: Bañuelas founds the Tepeyac Institute and begins his St. Pius X Parish pastorate.
1989: Bañuelas co-founds the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the U.S.
2014: Bañuelas's service at St. Pius X Parish ends.
2015: Bañuelas begins serving as pastor of St. Mark Parish.
2022: Bañuelas retires from St. Mark Parish.
Legacy
The Lumen Christi Award honors work rooted in the Tepeyac Institute, founded in 1988 to train lay leaders for Hispanic and border ministries. Its more than 80,000 graduates and leaders extend the institute's model of lay formation across the Catholic Church in the United States.
Readers in El Paso and across the diocese may be able to participate in programs offered through the Tepeyac Institute, which plans to offer scholarships for them. Specific enrollment details were not provided in the source.
The takeaway
Long-term community leadership often happens quietly, through formation programs that train others to serve. Recognizing that work can encourage readers to support local lay ministries and education efforts in their own communities.
Further reading
Explore more Catholicism coverage to see how Catholic leaders across the country are shaping parish life and lay ministry.
Source note: This article includes information reported by KVIA.
