Zulma “Zully” Tellez is a Hispanic Mexican-American woman with Sephardic roots.

She is a certified Spiritual Director by Mercy Center and Master Catechist from the Archdiocese of San Francisco. TheArchdiocese has recognized her for over 15 years of catechetical service to adults. Currently, Zulma is a DRE leading RCIA, Bible study, and prayer groups at St. Boniface Parish in San Francisco's Tenderloin district.

Her ministries are rooted in Franciscan spirituality and focus on working alongside the Franciscan Friars in St. Boniface Church— a multicultural parish where she provides Pastoral Care for the Hispanic Community. Learn more about the community here.

Zulma’s volunteering experience as a chaplain, facilitator for liturgical training, leading retreats, and healing prayer forthe sick and the terminally ill continues to bring her immense joy and love for the scriptures.

Zulma earned a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Design and has accumulated numerous certificates in theology includingCatholic Restorative Justice at the Graduate Program in Pastoral Ministries from Santa Clara University. She studied Exorcism and Prayer of Liberation in the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome.

A significant part of her ministry involves serving marginalized communities. In 2017, the City of San Francisco granted her a Certificate of Honor for serving people experiencing homelessness.

She was appointed delegate of the “V Encuentro” in San Francisco and recently appointed delegate of the DiscerningDecans pilgrimage to Rome for the opening week of the Global Synod on Communion, Participation and Mission 2024. Discerning Deacons is an organization aimed at engaging Catholics in the active discernment about expanding women’s leadership roles in the Church, specifically restoring women to the diaconate.

Zulma joined Fr. Emiliano Tardif’s ministries in Mexico in 1998 recalling, “I remember chatting with Fr. Emiliano,saying, ‘I just want to see how a saint works.’ He replied, ‘Oh no, no! Jesus does all that!’” Now, Fr. Tardif is in the process of canonization.

Zulma introduced the Rosary of Liberation to the Hispanic Community of St. Peter’s Parish in San Francisco in 2004 (written by Fr. Moises Larraga Medellin). Her video praying the “Rosario de Liberación” in Spanish has garnered over a million views and hundreds of testimonies on a non-profit channel.

Her passion lies in evangelization, providing Holy Communion to the sick and the homebound, and cherishes her ministry for the homeless, nonbelievers, and atheists. Her goal is to support and appreciate women’s leadership, to inviteall to the table, caring for God’s creation as a whole, and to fulfill the cosmic mission of the church.