CHARLOTTE — Newly appointed as director of the Hispanic Ministry Office for the Diocese of Charlotte, Steven Samol is bringing to the role a lifelong journey of faith and service shaped by years of ministry within the Hispanic Catholic community. Named to the position in April, Samol became the first layperson to lead the office, which was previously been headed by priests or religious. He will coordinate diocesan Hispanic ministry efforts, working alongside pastors and parish leaders to support pastoral needs, foster fuller participation in parish life, and help implement the National Pastoral Plan for Hispanic Ministry.
The son of immigrants and shaped through experiences of pain, conversion and mission, Samol speaks about how a personal encounter with God transformed his story and led him to serve the Church with passion, especially by accompanying the Hispanic community in the United States.
CNH: Could you tell us a little about your personal story and what has shaped you up to this point in your life?
Samol: I am the son of immigrants, and for many years I carried a deep feeling that I didn’t belong, that I was neither from here nor from there. To make that experience even harder, my parents divorced, and I also did not know whether I belonged to one family or the other. I hated being asked, “Where are you from?” because it made me aware of my doubts and the shame of feeling out of place.
But God had a plan. I had a very powerful personal encounter with Him. At age 14, during a retreat that my mother practically forced me to attend, on the third day, during a prayer for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the Lord gave me a deep and undeniable peace. In that moment, something changed in and gave me a new certainty: I belong to God. I am His son. And I have a home in His Church. Since then, my path has been to respond to that love, allowing Him to form me and following Him wherever He has called me, in different countries and situations, always as a missionary disciple.
CNH: How did your faith journey begin and how has it evolved over the years?
Samol: My faith journey began when I was little, living with my grandmother, who taught me to pray and read the Bible. However, my true conversion happened at age 14 during that retreat.
Since then, I have continued growing in my relationship with the Lord, discovering more and more my identity as a beloved son of God. My faith has matured into the desire to follow Christ, imitate Him and allow Him to transform me so that I may belong completely to Him. Today I can say with conviction: God is my Father.
CNH: When did you begin to feel that God was calling you to ministry or service in the Church in a more specific way?
Samol: Very early in my conversion I began serving. I remember that at only 15 years old, I was invited to give a talk at an adult retreat. I loved the experience of serving.
The encounter with God not only transformed my life but also awakened in me the desire that others might experience it, too. Over time I understood that my calling was to be a missionary disciple: not only to believe, but to share – with my life and my words – what God has done in me. Throughout the years, that calling has taken shape in different opportunities for service, always with the certainty that it is the Lord who guides the way.
CNH: Looking back, how do you see the path that led you to this new role in the Diocese of Charlotte?
Samol: Looking back, I clearly see God’s faithfulness in every stage of my life. He has guided our journey – my wife’s and mine – through different countries, always calling us to serve.
In recent years I strongly felt God’s love for Hispanics in the United States, but I never imagined that would become this mission.
Today I see my arrival in the Diocese of Charlotte as part of God’s plan: an invitation from the Father to continue serving with passion and openness.
CNH: How do you understand this new role in the Diocese of Charlotte, and how would you like to lead Hispanic ministry at this stage?
Samol: I understand this role as a call from God to serve, helping more people experience that the Church is their home, the family of God.
The vision of Bishop Michael Martin deeply resonates in my heart — a pastoral ministry that proclaims the Gospel while also demonstrating God’s love by making it visible in people’s lives.
My desire is to accompany, listen and create spaces where Hispanics can encounter Christ and discover that they are not foreigners or strangers, but members of God’s family: a pastoral ministry where the Gospel is proclaimed with words and demonstrated with concrete love.
CNH: What part of your faith experience would you like people to know or better understand about you?
Samol: I would like people to understand that my life is marked by a very concrete experience: going from feeling like someone who did not belong to discovering that I am the Father’s son and part of His family.
God has also given me the gift of marriage. The best thing that has happened to me in my life is marrying my wife, Saylí. She and I have experienced moments of joy, but also moments of the cross – including the loss of two unborn children, who are now in heaven – and even so we have experienced that God is faithful and never stops sustaining us.
If anything defines my journey, it is that certainty born at that retreat: God is my Father, His family is where I belong. And together with my wife, I have found my home.
And from there, I want to invite others: If you have ever felt out of place or like you don’t belong, I want you to know this: in God the Father, there is a home for you. The Church is the house of God, and it can also be your home.
— Brian Segovia