l a e t i t i a i n c a r i t a s e t g r a t i a
castleofsaints
MINISTRIES AND MISSIONS
Fr. SUNNY CASTILLO
Wheaton, IL
Lord, grant me courage, Lord, grant me strength, grant me compassion
THAT I MAY BE YOUR HEART TODAY...
SUPPORT GROUP FOR FILIPINO SEMINARIANS - USA
Founded in 1999, the SGFS-USA's goal and mission was to help seminarians from the Philippines to be well integrated into their host diocese in the USA, where they eventually serve as priests. Their primary area of mission are the Filipino seminarians of Mundelein Seminary in the Chicago Archdiocese.
While the financial support is minimal, their most important apostolate is to provide moral support, prayers and resource for the seminarians. Over the years, they have also launched a few mission initiatives in the Philippines, raised some funds through cultural programs and married couples renewal of vows dinner.
In 2024, the organization celebrated 25 years of actively fostering seminarians, twenty-seven of whom are now priests serving the dioceses of Chicago, Joliet, Tucson (AZ), Las Vegas (NV), Metuchen (NJ), San Diego (CA) and Portland (OR) and Davenport (IA), Kansas (KS) and the SVD Chicago Province.
Two of the organization's faounders, Wilma and Jun Salgado, have recently received a Lifetime Achievement Award for Religious Service. For more info, visit the SGFS facebook page.
Mission Sucre, Bolivia
Mission Bago City, Philippines
Joliet Medical Mission Team
Mission Sucre, Bolivia
Philippine Mission
Fr. Sunny Castillo has been the spiritual director for the Support Group for Filipino Seminarians and the Santacruzan Cultural Group of Greater Chicago (SCGGC) based in the Diocese of Joliet. Through these organizations, Fr. Sunny is able to continue his missionary platforms by serving the needs of youth, the seminarians, outreach to calamity stricken places, and doing other mission initiatives under the organization. For more information, click the link below for the Facebook Page of SGFS:
Collaborative Missionary and Outreach Efforts
Outreach to Leyte Typhoon Victims
SGFS Towels and Linens Drive
Fr. Sunny Castillo organizes or participates in outreach initiatives, missions and mission trips for various causes, within the United States and other countries. Participating in missions is an enriching aspect of his priestly ministry and keeps every participant missionary grounded in prayer and works of charity. While he generally keeps his personal outreach private, the following efforts are made public for purposes of accountability to the organizations and other people involved:
Read Fr. Sunny's narrative of the outreach mission to the garbage site and charcoal making communities in Manila in collaboration with Project Pearls and the Support Group for Filipino Seminrians - USA.
TYPHOON RELIEF EFFORTS. Through the Diocese of Joliet Filipino Ministry, the First Diocesan Santo Nino Festival was held at St. Elizabeth seton in Naperville and raised funds to help the victims of Typhoon Odette in Southern Leyte, in early 2022.
SUPPORT TO THE AR EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION. Through his US concert in the summer of 2022, Filipino celebrity Alden Richards was able to raise funds to establish AR Foundation to help students go to school in the Philippines. The SGFS Community and Fr. Sunny Castillo was able to procure a support fund for the Alden Richards concert and help the cause of his foundation.
In recent years, Fr. Sunny has focused on supporting the efforts of SGFS, and in his parishes, he has managed to accomplish simple toy drives for the poor children, support the college education of some indigent youth, and supported some poor families during the COVID years.
MISSION WORK
PRIESTLY MINISTRY & RESPONSIBILITIES FOR FY 2024-2025
Pastor, Saint Michael Parish, Wheaton, IL
Coordinator, Joliet Diocese, Ongoing Formation of Priests
Pastoral Letter Team
Member, Joliet Diocese Board of Consultors
Spiritual Director, World Apostolate of Fatima Joliet Chapter
Spiritual Director, El Shaddai Charismatic Community, Joliet Diocese Chapter
Core Team Member, Support Group for Filipino Seminarians – USA
Priest Member, Joliet Diocese Focolare Community
Spiritual Director, Santacruzan Cultural Group of Greater Chicago
Co-Chaplain – Pilgrimage of Hope to Italy
Chaplain - Pilgrimage of Hope, Lourdes to Rome
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WORLD
APOSTOLATE
OF FATIMA
Joliet Chapter
El Shaddai
Catholic
Charismatic Community
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FOCOLARE - USA
fr. sunny's history of parish & ministry assignments
2002 - parish internship, St. Mary of Gostyn (Downers Grove, IL)
2003 - hospital chaplaincy, Good Samaritan Hospital (Downers Grove, IL)
2003 - 2004 - transitional diaconate, St. Isidore (Bloomingdale, IL)
2004 - 2007 - parochial vicar, St. Mary Immaculate (Plainfield, IL)
2008 - 2011 - secretary, Joliet Diocese Presbyteral Council
2007 - 2010 - parochial vicar, St. Michael (Wheaton, IL)
2010 - 2011 - parochial vicar, St. Isidore (Bolingbrook, IL)
2011 - 2017 - pastor, St. Teresa (Kankakee, IL)
2015 - 2017 - pastor, St. Rose of Lima (Kankakee, IL)
2015 - 2017 - pastor, St. Martin of Tours (Kankakee, IL)
2017 - 2020 - pastor, St. John Paul II (Kankakee, IL)
2021 - present - member, Joliet Diocese Board of Consultors
2020 - 2024 - pastor, Mary Queen of Heaven (Elmhurst, IL)
2022 - 2024 Member, Joliet Diocese 75th Anniversary Planning Committee
2022 - 2023 - chairperson, Joliet Diocese Presbyteral Council
2024 - present - pastor, St. Michael (Wheaton, IL)
