FAQs About
Many Faces in God's House:
Encuentro 2000Revised: 1/20/2000
- What is Many Faces in God's House: Encuentro 2000?
Many Faces in God's House: Encuentro 2000 marks the first national gathering to recognize the richness of the Church's racial, ethnic and cultural diversity in the United States. The event will gather representatives from all parts of the family of faith—the African, African-American, Asian and Pacific Islander, Latin American, Caribbean, Hispanic, Native-American, European, Middle Eastern and other communities that form Catholicism in the United States. Amidst prayer, celebration and multi-cultural awareness, parish and diocesan leaders will identify ways to utilize the Church's diversity to fulfill its mission. The event will be vibrant in color and voice and stand as a living portrait of the Catholic Church at the launching of the Third Millennium.
- What is an "encuentro" and what is "Encuentro 2000" ?
Encuentro is a deliberate attempt to bring people together with the intention of building up the Body of Christ. It involves sharing their lived experience, understanding those experiences in light of Gospel values, and taking action to advance the common good. Leaders seek new perspectives, experience community building, and acquire a deeper understanding of their own faith and Catholic teaching. Encuentro 2000 builds on the previous encuentros of the Hispanic community and expands the experience to include Catholics of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
Encuentro 2000 involves the convening of peoples from different racial/ethnic groups and cultures, through a structured process, in order to:
By their participation in Encuentro, new community leaders are formed and are empowered to seek new perspectives, engage in community building, and arrive at a deeper understanding of Catholic teaching and of their own journey in faith.
- share the rich and unique gifts of their respective backgrounds and life experiences,
- understand those experiences in the light of Gospel values,
- take action together in promoting the common good.
- How does this relate to the Jubilee Year 2000?
As a Jubilee Year, the year 2000 marks a time to pursue reconciliation and to examine where we now are as individuals and how we can better ourselves. It also is a time for the Church to examine where it needs reconciliation, what comprises its racial, cultural and ethnic make-up going into the Third Millennium and where change is necessary.
- What is the Jubilee Day for Ethnic Diversity?
For the year 2000, the Church has designated several jubilee days to highlight its many gifts. Among those being honored are health care workers, women, scientists and media, for example. The Church also wishes to highlight cultural diversity and in the United States will celebrate a Jubilee Day for Ethnic Diversity on July 8.
- What will happen at Many Faces in God's House: Encuentro 2000?
Participants will celebrate the Church's rich cultural heritage and develop strategies that advance the common mission of worship, evangelization, service and acting for justice.
Participants will
- Encounter the living Jesus Christ through the racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity of the Church.
- Examine and seek reconciliation for earlier failures to recognize and celebrate the Church's racial, ethnic and cultural richness
- Develop strategies for making parishes and ministries more affirming of all people's gifts and more hospitable to those who are poor, vulnerable, and newcomers to our communities.
- Learn to advocate effectively with and for those who thirst for justice.
- Work, celebrate, and pray with people of many cultures and ethnic communities.
- Who is expected to attend?
The target audience is parish and diocesan leadership and leaders from schools, campus ministry centers, social service and social action agencies, national or regional Catholic organizations, and other faith communities. This includes parish staff, teachers, hospital workers, volunteers and others who seek to help shape the inculturated vision of their parish or faith community. The program for the gathering will be geared towards adults, with a special track for teenagers. We want to welcome all leaders from high school on up to come to the national gathering to share their stories, learn from others across the country and return to their faith communities and implement the new vision for our Church in the new millennium.
- How does this relate to previous Encuentro meetings?
The previous Encuentros of 1972, 1977, and 1985 were gatherings of the Hispanic Catholic community to celebrate their faith and cultural heritage and to develop plans for the growing role of Hispanics within the Church. Encuentro 2000 is different. This time the Hispanic Catholic community is inviting Catholics from every racial, culture and ethnic community to work together to develop a plan for building a more inculturated Church. Encuentro 2000 is a local process leading to a national event. It consists of a pastoral experience, theological reflection, and pastoral action. Encuentro 2000, like the previous Encuentros, is being convoked by the Catholic bishops of the United States.
- Where did this meeting originate?
Encuentro 2000 was proposed by the Bishops’ Committee on Hispanic Affairs and approved by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops in November, 1997 as a way to celebrate the Jubilee Year 2000. It builds on the previous three Encuentros and reflects the pastoral challenges and demographic realities of today. It builds upon a process to encourage dialogue, mutual understanding, and common pastoral action within parishes and dioceses.
- Why are Hispanic Catholics promoting an event for all people?
For three reasons:
- So that U.S. Catholics will become more aware of the cultural diversity of the Church and its richness.
- So that participants in the Encuentro process will return with motivation and ideas to reinvigorate parishes and dioceses so they will celebrate and utilize the diversity in service of the Church's mission.
- So that participants at the local and national levels will develop a richer sense of how the Church's sacramental life gives birth to and fosters mission, reconciliation, communion and solidarity.
- What is the number of Catholics in the United States?
In the United States, according to the Official Catholic Directory (The Kenedy Directory), there are an estimated 59.2 million Catholics, comprising an estimated 23 percent of the U.S. population. According to 1999 estimates from the Population Estimate Program of the U.S. Census Bureau, there are approximately 273,136,000 people in the United States,
- How many U.S. Catholics are Hispanic/Latin American/Caribbean?
According to 1999 estimates from the Population Estimate Program of the U.S. Census Bureau, there are approximately 31,469,000 people of Hispanic origin (of any race) in the United States, making them 11.5 percent of the U.S. population. In the 1990 National Survey of Religious Identification, conducted by the Graduate School of the City of New York, 65.8 percent of Hispanics identified themselves as Catholic.
- In what dioceses are their largest numbers?
The largest Hispanic communities in the United States are in the (arch)dioceses of Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Galveston-Houston, San Antonio, San Bernardino, Brooklyn, Chicago, Fresno, and San Diego.
- How many U.S. Catholics are Asian/Pacific Islander?
According to 1999 estimates from the Population Estimate Program of the U.S. Census Bureau, there are approximately 10,286,000 Asian/Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic, people in the United States, making them 3.8 percent of the U.S. population. In the 1990 National Survey of Religious Identification, conducted by the Graduate School of the City of New York, 27.1 percent of Asians identified themselves as Catholic.
- Where are most Asian Americans located?
Large numbers of Asian-Americans live in the (arch)dioceses of Honolulu, San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Brooklyn, Metuchen, Arlington, Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Sacramento, Fresno and Stockton.
- What percentage of Native Americans in the United States are Catholic?
According to 1999 estimates from the Population Estimate Program of the U.S. Census Bureau, there are approximately 2,026,000 Native American, Eskimo, Aleuts, non- Hispanic people in the United States, making them 0.7 percent of the U.S. population. According to One Nation Under God, by Barry Kosmin and Seymour P. Lachman (Harmony Books, 1993), 21 percent of Native Americans are Catholic.
- Where are most Native Americans located?
Large numbers of Native Americans are found in the states of Arizona, New Mexico, California, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington State, Maine, New York, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
- What percentage of African Americans in the United States are Catholic?
According to 1999 estimates from the Population Estimate Program of the U.S. Census Bureau, there are approximately 33,164,000 Black, non-Hispanic persons in the United States, making them 12.1 percent of the U.S. population. According to the 1990 National Survey of Religious Identification, conducted by the Graduate School of the City of New York, 9.2 percent of Blacks identified themselves as Catholic. Catholics also can be found among the 2.5 to 3 million Africans who have recently emigrated to the United States, especially from Nigeria and French-speaking African nations.
- Where are most African American Catholics located?
(Arch)dioceses with largest number of African American Catholics include New Orleans, Brooklyn, Chicago, Washington, Lafayette in Louisiana, Baltimore, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Houston, and Louisville.
- What percentage of Caucasian Americans, who are not Hispanic, are Catholic?
According to 1999 estimates from the Population Estimate Program of the U.S. Census Bureau, there are approximately 196,191,000 White, Not Hispanic persons in the United States, making them 71.8 percent of the United States. According to the 1990 National Survey of Religious Identification, conducted by the Graduate School of the City of New York, 26.5 of White Non-Hispanics persons identified themselves as Catholic.
- How will immigration trends affect the Church?
According to the U.S. Immigration Service, during fiscal years 1995-1998, in 1998, the top 20 nations which currently are sources of immigrants to the United States are: Mexico, China, India, Philippines, Dominican Republic, Vietnam, Cuba, Jamaica, El Salvador, Korea, Haiti, Pakistan, Colombia, Russia, Canada, Peru, United Kingdom, Bangladesh, Poland and Iran. Of these, the countries, eight have a strong Catholic tradition: Mexico, Philippines, Dominican Republic, Poland, El Salvador, Haiti, Colombia and Peru. It is estimated that about 300,000 Catholics enter the United States annually. That's about the equivalent of a mid-size diocese.
- How many people can a diocese send to Encuentro 2000?
A diocese may send as many people as it wishes to Los Angeles for the national celebration of Encuentro 2000. The goal is to have a broad participation of cultures at the national celebration.
- May a parish send participants to Encuentro 2000 or must they be sent by the diocese?
Pastors are urged to bring representative members of the people in their parishes to learn together at this ground-breaking national event. This will help to build the solid nucleus of leadership needed to build welcoming, inclusive communities at the parish level. These pastors and parish participants are in addition to any people being sent by their dioceses.
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Encuentro 2000
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
3211 4th Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20017-1194 (202) 541-3413