The Rev. Cristina Rathbone (She/her) was a journalist and author prior to being ordained priest in the Episcopal Church. As Canon Missioner of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, she founded
MANNA (Many Angels Needed Now and Always) which remains a thriving ministry with and for unhoused people in Boston. 

The daughter of Cuban refugees on her mother’s side, Cristina went on to develop The Bridge Chaplaincy for the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande, helping them find ways to serve migrants and asylum seekers along the international border with Mexico. Following the onset of COVID, she partnered with Episcopal Migration Ministries to launch Neighbor to Neighbor, a national network designed to connect, support and train congregations
seeking to work with newly arrived asylum seekers in their local contexts. 

Following COVID, she served as Rector of Grace Church: An Episcopal Community in the
Southern Berkshires, a parish which sold their building in order to focus more deeply on
God’s mission in the world. Most recently she served the Massachusetts Council of
Churches as their Congregational Coordinator for Immigration.
Cristina’s third book, The Asylum Seekers: A Chronicle of Life, Death and Community at
the Border, was published by Broadleaf Books in March 2025. She is grateful beyond measure to have returned to the common cathedral community in the Fall of 2025