Alex (Chavez) Rich ’08 has taken her faith formed during theology classes at St. Pius X High School, built upon it and followed it to places she never expected. 

Rich traveled to Rome in June 2021 as a member of a pilot program of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication called Faith Communication in the Digital World. The communications department of the Holy See gathered 16 “young potentials” from across the globe for a year-long program to discuss how the Church can and must be present online through digital media to respond adequately to the spiritual needs of God’s people. During their week in Rome, the group presented the projects its members developed over Zoom classes and phone calls in the spring seeking best practices for the proper use of digital media in the communication of the faith. 

While in Rome, they also became pilgrims, visiting the four papal basilicas and living a spiritually rich experience to be shared digitally with the pilgrims of today and tomorrow. The highlight of the Rome experience: meeting Pope Francis. 

“It was an incredible moment to meet the Pope,” Rich said. “He is as beautiful and wonderful as everyone says. He welcomed us and said he was praying for us. He knew of our program and of the importance of our ministry and communication. It was a meaningful thing to us, that he knew we were working toward communicating faith, goodness, love and unity.”

Rich’s project for the program involved developing a detailed communications proposal for the Vatican Apostolic Library to increase Twitter engagement, which she presented at the library to its leaders and which she saw implemented.

“It was really humbling, I had to pinch myself often in Rome and found myself crying tears of appreciation and gratitude,” she said. “The trust that they have in us and in the program shows that the church is listening.”

Now the group is developing best practices proposals for communication and social media for the four papal basilicas, determining the best way to share the importance of them and the importance of pilgrimage.

“My biggest takeaway from the whole experience was to trust God,” Rich said. “(Reflecting on) the whole week, the whole program, I would have never dreamed of this in my wildest dreams, it just felt too big. But trusting God to guide my footsteps, led me to this beautiful journey that I couldn’t have dreamed or planned on my own.”

Rich graduated from the University of New Mexico in 2012 with bachelors’ degrees in psychology and family studies, and then earned a master’s degree in nonprofit management from Our Lady of the Lake University. The mission of nonprofits appealed to her. She has worked in development for UNM Children’s Hospital and currently serves as development director for Make-A-Wish New Mexico.

Lay ministry and evangelization also are very important to Rich, and she has been a pilgrim of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe’s Lay Ecclesial formation program, Emmaus Journey, for the past three and half years.

“Through (Emmaus Journey) I really wanted to be intentional, to live my life for my faith and to use my time and talent for the Church,” Rich says. “I’ve spent these three years discerning my vocation, and trying to answer, ‘How is God calling me to live out my faith?’”

The answer for Rich is, “As a communicator.” She has spent her time assisting parishes and the Franciscan Friars of Our Lady of Guadalupe with communications. It was the Franciscan Friars who heard about the Vatican program and encouraged Rich to apply. Currently she’s using her ministry time to assist the National Association of Lay Ministry with their digital communication efforts. 

Rich says her commitment to her faith and to service began at St. Pius X High School.

“I credit St. Pius for laying the foundation of my faith,” Rich said. “I grew up in a culturally Catholic home, but I really learned the beauty of Catholicism at St. Pius. After learning about the faith and the Church, I made the active decision to be Catholic and my life has been transformed since. If not for my theology classes I wouldn’t have experienced the Catholic faith and likely wouldn’t have made the decision to be Catholic. The Catholic identity of St. Pius changed my life and helped give me my most cherished gift, my faith.”

Rich also found the culture of giving back at St. Pius to be very formative for her. She took community service seriously and earned a community service letter her junior year. 

“It became second nature to live my life for others,” she said. “It became ingrained in me that this is just what we do. We strive to serve others and better our community.”