PADRES is the acronym by which Padres Asociados para Derechos Religiosos, Educativos, y Sociales (Spanish for "Priests Associated for Religious, Education, and Social Rights"), a Chicano Catholic priest's organization, was known. Founded in October of 1979, the group of Mexican-American priests pushed for an end to discrimination towards Mexican Americans within the church hierarchy and in American society in general. PADRES effectively ceased to function in 1989, after accomplishing its primary objectives.