David Sanders / arizona daily star

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A local Catholic priest will put his flair for drama and music to use Wednesday when he directs and acts in a play about Arizona's border crisis.

The Rev. Joe Rodrigues will portray a rancher in the 60-minute production, titled "Line in the Sand," which features a cast of 11 others.

The play will be performed for Catholics from across the Southwest who are expected in Tucson this week for a conference. Registration is still open.

More than 500 people are expected to attend the 46th annual Southwest Liturgical Conference Study Week, which is being held in Tucson for the first time. The theme is "Eucharist and Justice: Walking in Charity and Peace."

Speakers at the gathering will include Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas, Archbishop of Atlanta Wilton Gregory and the Rev. Maxwell E. Johnson, a professor of liturgical studies at the University of Notre Dame.

"Line in the Sand" was written by the national Catholic Relief Services group based on interviews with players on all sides of the border debate, including a Border Patrol agent, Pima County's medical examiner and border-crossers.

One undocumented migrant is featured in the play: a young woman named Christina who dies while making the illegal trek from Mexico into the United States across Arizona's punishing borderlands by foot.

Rodrigues said Christina is based on a real migrant who died while attempting to come to the United States. In the play she's portrayed by Lupita Parra, the youth director at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church on the West Side.

"The point we're trying to make in this whole thing is that Christ continues to be crucified on all sides of the border issue, and that we really need comprehensive immigration reform," said the Rev. Bill Remmel, pastor at Most Holy Trinity, where the play was first performed on Good Friday last year.

"The first production went over extremely well. Many people were in tears — for some of them it was their experience. It does not blatantly take any side," he said.

Remmel said Rodrigues, a member and former national leader of the Society of Divine Savior religious order, known as the Salvatorians, was a natural choice to head up the encore presentation of the play.

"He's had acting experience, and he put on a concert for our church that raised $16,000 for our building fund in one night," Remmel said. "The show could go to Vegas. It's very professionally done — he has a gorgeous voice."

The financial results of his concerts are a testament to that. Rodrigues has raised nearly $100,000 for various Salvatorian ministries in the last few years. He's released two CDs and has a third recording expected this summer. His most requested songs include "You Raise Me Up" and "The Prayer."

Rodrigues, 52, is a former advertising executive who once considered a career in theater. He said the priesthood is where he's supposed to be, but he enjoys mixing it up through his passion for arts and music.

A member of local Jordan Ministries, a Catholic education team, Rodrigues is known for incorporating theater into his teachings and for integrating his singing talent when celebrating Masses, in homilies and at weddings and at retreats.

"What is going on at the border affects all of us. A part of each of us dies when someone dies in the desert — we are all connected," said Rodrigues, who moved to Tucson from Milwaukee about a year ago.

"The larger picture is what makes people do this. What is causing the desperation? It is not just a Mexican issue."

Rodrigues said his character, the rancher, is torn. He has compassion for the undocumented migrants walking across his property but at the same time they are having a negative impact on his land, his livestock and his family's daily life.

"It's thought-provoking," Rodrigues said. "Where is Christ in this situation? Where is the notion of compassion today in light of the reality? It is a difficult, polarizing topic."

Listen to a song performed by Rodrigues at go.azstarnet.com/starnetblog