Some people might be skeptical of a priest who reaches out to teenagers online, but the thousands of young people who log onto his Web site seem to think that “El Padrecito” and his 2-inch-tall alter ego are doing a good thing.

Father Masseo Gonzalez, a Franciscan Catholic priest based in Arroyo Grande, is the brother of “Homies” creator David Gonzalez. A series of collectible figurines that depict residents of the fictional L.A. barrio of “Quien Sabe,” (“Who knows” in Spanish), Homies grew from a comic strip in Lowrider magazine into a fad among Latino youth that continues today.

Since its start in 1998, the hobby continues to gain momentum, attracting more and more fans with each set of new releases.

As others did with Beanie Babies, some people try to amass collections of all the Homies. The 150-plus characters include “Hollywood,” a flamboyant zoot-suit wearing ladies' man, and “Pelon,” who sells stolen merchandise out of the back of his lowrider.

Since 1999, they have also included “El Padrecito,” or “The Little Priest.”

“(My brother) was trying to make a barrio,” said Gonzalez. “Somewhere you need a priest.”

Sending a series of drawings back and forth, Gonzalez and his brother eventually agreed on a design that coupled the traditional Franciscan robes Gonzalez wears with a pair of tinted sunglasses and wispy facial hair.

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The character also helped launch Masseo Gonzalez's online ministry at www.elpadrecito.com, which today receives about 200 unique visitors every day, he said.

That year, Gonzalez's brother had launched a Web site to promote the Homies line. Responding to criticism that his figurines played to negative Chicano stereotypes, David Gonzalez hoped to use the site to promote increased understanding of many issues that plague the Latino community.

For example, said Gonzalez, a biography page for a wheelchair-bound character named “Willie G” was intended to have links to anti-gang-violence Web sites. Another, for “La Chula,” was supposed to have links for organizations that fight domestic violence.

For “El Padrecito,” the association was natural, Gonzalez said.

The priest put together a site using some freely distributed software and began answering the questions that Homies fans would send to him. Most of his visitors come from California and Texas, said Gonzalez, and most of the messages are composed in a mish-mash of English, Spanish and Internet slang.

Some of the questions Gonzalez gets are typical teenage fare, such as requests for relationship advice.

However, Gonzalez also gets a rare glimpse into some of the problems affecting Latino youth.

“I got a 16-year-old girl that ran away from home and was living with her older boyfriend,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez also described situations of girls living with men who beat them or use their homes to sell drugs. Kids logging on to his site have also asked the priest about subjects like drugs and gangs.

“(The kids) trust my brother and they trust the Homies,” Gonzalez said. “These kids are hurting.”

Growing up in a Latino neighborhood in Richmond, Gonzalez said, his early life was less than pious.

The middle child of eight children, Gonzalez said, he spent the majority of his teenage years either under the hood of a lowrider or underneath a bottle. He was kicked out his Catholic high school and ended up in Nevada with the Job Corps.

In 1980, when Gonzalez was 19 years old, he got into a large fight that ended with him being hit by a car. As a result of his injuries, a portion of his right leg was amputated.

Gonzalez returned to his parents' home in the Bay Area and began studying computers. He got a job in a bank, but soon fell back into his old ways.

“There was lots of partying and lowriding,” he said. “I started realizing it wasn't a part of me.”

At that time, a Franciscan order had taken over his parish. These examples of pious and educated Mexican-Americans inspired him. Eventually, Gonzalez made the decision to join the priesthood, a path that led to his being ordained in 1996 and that has taken him all over California.

In September, Gonzalez arrived at the St. Joseph of Cupertino Franciscan retreat in Arroyo Grande to follow a vision.

While in Riverside about three years ago, he had become attracted to the writings of St. Maximilian Kolbe.

Kolbe, a Polish Catholic priest who was killed by the Nazis during World War II, is the creator of the Militia Immaculata, or “Army of the Immaculate,” a Catholic order that places heavy emphasis on the intercession of the Virgin Mary into the lives of sinners. One of Kolbe's ideas was to create large monasteries as centers for spreading the gospel, Gonzalez said.

“I read his writings and insights and that did it,” he said. “I was sold.”

He said he received a vision at that time to come to Guadalupe.

“It was a calling from the Blessed Mother,” he said.

Guadalupe's central location in California, as well as its namesake, also played a part in his decision, he said.

Right now, Gonzalez is raising money for the construction of a youth center for Guadalupe by selling the Homies at Anna Marie's, a downtown Guadalupe flower and decoration shop.

He receives the figurines at a large discount and has floor space at the store donated by owner Anna Marie Michaud.

Michaud said the Homies are selling like hotcakes and that people young and old have been coming to her store in search of them.

“They like buying them here because they can pick (specific ones),” she said.

So far, Gonzalez estimated he has raised about $1,000, far short of the $500,000 he estimates the center will cost.

“Right now, I'm hoping a donor will come through,” Gonzalez said.

Despite the obstacles, Gonzalez has faith the center will eventually be more than just a dream.

“I'm 100 percent sure it'll happen, he said, “though exactly how I'm not sure.”

For now, Gonzalez has plans for staying in Guadalupe for the long haul. The town has enormous potential, he said, but if its youth are allowed to go astray, that could all change.

“Now is the time to do something,” he said.

“Don't wait until you have 35 murders a year.”

Stan Oklobdzija can be reached at

739-2159 or at soklobdzija@santamariatimes.com.

January 19, 2006