En Marcha: Fall 2004/Winter 2005
Another year comes to an end and the struggle to maintain the Hispanic ministry infrastructure, established by the US Bishops over the last 35 years, becomes a more difficult task with each passing year. This occurs at a time when the Church sees the continued increase in the Hispanic/Latino population, which is surpassing US Census Bureau’s predictions. According to the latest US Census Bureau’s reports, the Latino population in the United States is at about forty-five million people. I recently heard that the number of undocumented Latinos could be as high as eleven million people, which would add a considerable increase to the Census Bureau’s numbers. The point is that the numbers are quite large and that the pastoral and economic resources required to minister among Hispanics are increasingly difficult to obtain.
Hispanics ministry faces a particularly difficult challenge, as Hispanics are now more than forty percent of the Catholic population in this country. Sadly, less than six percent have a four-year college degree. Their education attainment levels are quite low in comparison to other ethnic and language groups. The number of Latinos with a college degree is increasing, but because of the population growth the percentage stays about the same. As a response, Hispanic ministry is developing strategies that will help the Church prepare Hispanic Catholics to become leaders and to take responsibility for pastoral priorities and stewardship, as well as to assure they have their rightful place in the administration of the Church’s resources.
The current financial situation calls the Church to assess how it carries out its ministries and administers its resources in a more effective and efficient manner. It has become quite clear that all ministries will be called to adjust and to adapt to new realities. Already local parishes are responding to the pastoral and social needs of many more people in new and challenging pastoral approaches. Diocesan offices are doing much more with less, particularly in their support of parishes and of the special ministries offered cultural and language groups. The national offices at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops are also affected. National staff are being called to be better stewards and to provide additional support and resources to diocesan ministry offices, within their respective plans, programs, budgets, staff support available, and time constraints.
The US Bishops’ Committee and the Secretariat on Hispanic Affairs are also affected by these challenges and are carefully looking at how to best respond to the Hispanic/Latino community, in context of the general concerns facing the Church today. The following are a few of the activities and projects the USCCB Committee on Hispanic Affairs, through the Secretariat, is implementing to respond to the challenges facing the Church and Hispanic ministry.
- Co-sponsorship of the First National Encuentro for Hispanic Youth and Young Adult Ministry: Higher education and vocations to the priesthood, religious and consecrated life will be special tracks the Bishops’ Committee will focus on during the local and national process; the event is being convened by La Red with the co-sponsorship of the USCCB Bishops’ Committee on Hispanic Affairs and the University of Notre Dame.
- National Consultation on Hispanic/Latino Education Attainment Levels: A report is being prepared to share with the US Bishops, the Hispanic ministry network and with national Catholic organizations; strategies will have to be developed and funding will have to be obtained to implement recommendations made to increase the education attainment levels among Latinos through parish and school partnership programs.
- Vocations: Vocations to the priesthood, as well as to religious and consecrated life, is of great interest; the Bishops ’ Committee is looking at collaborating with the Committee on Vocations in developing strategies with renewed vigor, methods and approaches to vocations, particularly among Hispanics.
- Best Practices of Hispanic ministry research: Given the need to strengthen the Hispanic ministry structures, a proposal has been approved by the Bishops’ Committee to assess best practices of Hispanic ministry; a plan was developed by the National Regional Directors Conference, the National Catholic Association of Diocesan Directors for Hispanic Ministry and Secretariat for Hispanic Affairs staff; the research, to take place in 2005, will look at a variety of variables that indicate success in fifteen dioceses in the eight Hispanic ministry regions; a final report will be submitted to the Bishops Committee by November 2005
- National Symposium on Pastoral de Conjunto: The Bishops’ Committee will convene a symposium of Hispanic ministry leaders, in 2005; the goal is to affirm and to continue to develop relationships and community building, a common vision of Hispanic ministry, a common language, proactive collaboration, communion in the mission of the Church (pastoral de conjunto), assure a continued mística in ministry, and to assess pastoral activities and priorities.
- Translation and Development of Spanish language resource materials: Collaborating with Our Sunday Visitor, the Mexican American Cultural Center, USCCB Publishing, and JM Productions in convening a national conference in the fall of 2005 to assess the Hispanic market, the production of resource materials, and the need of catechists and other users of resource materials; the invitation only conference will include publishers, creators of materials, ministers, and users of the materials
On a final note, I want to thank and give special recognition to the
USCCB Catholic Home Missions Collection. You will find an ad in this issue of ¡En Marcha! on their up-coming collection. Most Catholics are not aware that for the past thirty years Hispanic ministry has received well over one hundred million dollars ($100 million) from the CHMC and its predecessor, the American Board of Catholic Missions (ABCM) collection. Please be generous, as this collection is the life line of Hispanic ministry in many of our parishes and dioceses and among our regional and national offices serving Hispanic Catholics.
May your Christmas be joyous and the New Year healthy and prosperous. God bless.
Ron Cruz
According to the official projections of the U. S. Census Bureau for 2004, the number of Hispanics living in the United States has reached 44.5 million.
The Hispanic Catholic population under the age of twenty five is estimated to be 17 million, which constitutes almost half of the total Catholic population under that age. Unfortunately, Hispanic young people have only benefited marginally from the impressive growth of Hispanic ministry and Youth ministry over the past thirty years. Today, there is a great need to develop ministry models that engage Hispanic youth and young adults in the context of their cultural reality and lived experience.
It is in light of this challenge that I am pleased to share with you the exciting news of a pastoral initiative aimed at promoting the active participation of millions of Hispanic Catholic young people in their faith communities.
At our November 2004 meeting, the Bishops’ Committee on Hispanic Affairs agreed to co-sponsor the
First National Encuentro for Hispanic Youth and Young Adult Ministry.
The First Encuentro, which was proposed by the National Catholic Network de Pastoral Juvenil Hispana (La Red), is a highly collaborative effort that brings together the Hispanic and youth and young adult ministry network under a common goal: To bring Hispanic Catholic youth and young adults to a more active, enthusiastic and influential participation in the life and mission of the Church in the United States.
The First Encuentro is a local process leading to a national event. The local process will start at the parishes in the first part of 2005. The national event will take place in June 8-11, 2006 at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. The First Encuentro is a pastoral process that can help parishes engage Hispanic Catholic young people with ‘new ardor, expressions and methods’ in order to:
- strengthen their Catholic identity and sense of belonging to the Church
- foster their integration in parishes and Catholic organizations and institutions
- deepen their commitment to stewardship as disciples of Christ
The central theme of the First Encuentro is
Weaving the Future Together. It uses the biblical image of the fisherman’s net as it takes to heart the challenging invitation to “put out into the deep” for a catch—Duc in altum—made by Jesus to His disciples and echoed by John Paul II in the Apostolic Letter
Novo Millennio Ineunte (NMI).
The net is also a symbol of communion in mission as we strive to model a shared ministry that makes the Church
the home and the school of communion (NMI).
The process of the First Encuentro is based on the vision and message of the Synod for America, in which the Holy Father invites us to “encounter the living Jesus Christ as the way to conversion, communion, solidarity” and mission. Along with an evangelizing and a catechetical dimension, the First Encuentro has a consultative dimension that gives Hispanic youth and young adults the opportunity to share their experiences, perspectives and recommendations regarding their participation in the life and mission of the Church
We encourage the participation of every diocese in this vibrant pastoral process. This issue on
¡En Marcha! contains detailed information on the First National Encuentro for Hispanic Youth and Young Adult Ministry. Collaboration between the diocesan offices for Hispanic ministry and youth and young adult ministry, and for Pastoral Juvenil Hispana, is essential. Equally essential is the commitment on the part of pastors, parish staff and leadership to respond to the needs and aspirations of Hispanic young people living in their midst.
If you have any questions regarding the First Encuentro please feel free to contact Mr. Alejandro Aguilera-Titus, Associate Director of the Secretariat for Hispanic Affairs.
Be assured of my prayers and support for all you do in bringing Hispanic Catholic young people into a more enthusiastic participation in the life and mission of the Church in your parish and diocesan ministry.
In Christ,
+ James A. Tamayo
Bishop of the Diocese of Laredo
Chairman of the Bishops’ Committee on Hispanic Affairs
The Holy Father has accepted the resignation of Archbishop Patrick F. Flores of San Antonio and has appointed Auxiliary Bishop José H. Gomez of Denver as his successor.
Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States made the announcement December 29, 2004.
The Archdiocese of San Antonio has a Catholic population of about 667,000 in a total population of 1.9 million.
The date of the installation of the new Archbishop of San Antonio is February 15, 2005.
(CNS) To meet the needs of the growing number of Spanish-speaking Catholics in the United States, the U.S. bishops unanimously approved Spanish-language liturgical texts that formally incorporate important Latin American rituals in U.S. worship services.
These include a blessing ceremony for the "
quinceañera," a popular celebration among Hispanics that takes place when a girl is 15 to mark her passage from childhood to adolescence. The blessing can take place within a Mass or as a separate ceremony.
Other Spanish-language liturgical texts approved Nov. 17 were for an infant baptismal rite and for additions to the marriage liturgy that incorporate traditions popular mostly in Mexico, Central America and Puerto Rico.
The Nov. 17 votes on the "
quinceañera" and the additions to the marriage liturgy were unanimous, while the baptismal rite passed by a 208-1 vote.
Bishop Ricardo Ramirez of Las Cruces, N.M., in a floor comment, noted that the "
quinceañera" and marriage traditions already are ingrained in Hispanic Catholic communities and approving the texts formalizes long-standing practices. The additions related to marriage include:
- The exchange of "arras," special coins symbolizing the couple's pledge to be good stewards in the new household.
- The placing of the "lazo," a double-looped rope or large rosary or garland, over the bride and groom symbolizing the unity of the marriage.
- The "velacion," in which a large veil or shawl is placed completely over the bride and over the shoulders of the groom to symbolize that the bride is the center of the new home the couple is about to establish.
These rituals have been used by Hispanics in U.S. liturgical services but without standardized texts. Spanish-language texts were often borrowed from Latin American countries where these rituals are officially incorporated into liturgical services.
In an interview in late October with Catholic News Service, Father Juan Sosa said that including these Hispanic traditions in the U.S. liturgy recognizes what is already happening in the Hispanic Catholic community. The priest is a member of the bishops' subcommittee on Hispanic liturgy, which helped draft the texts.
"The bishops of the United States are filling the virtual needs of people who want to express their traditions that have come down from the centuries," said Father Sosa, who is also president of the National Hispanic Institute of the Liturgy.
These traditions symbolize important Christian concepts, he added. "The '
arras' symbolize an exchanging of equality between the spouses in household stewardship. It is the first offering of the newlywed couple to God," said Father Sosa.
The "
lazo" and the "
velacion" symbolize the "binding together of what God has joined," he said.
The approved texts are part of a long-term project by the bishops to translate into Spanish all the English-language liturgical books approved for use in the United States.
The project involves bilingual editions of the books with Spanish on one side of the page and English on the other. The purpose of bilingual editions is to facilitate their use by English-speaking priests who have a limited command of Spanish and Spanish-speaking priests who have a limited use of English, said Chicago Cardinal Francis E. George in an explanatory note sent to the bishops on the liturgical texts. The cardinal was chairman of the U.S. bishops' liturgy committee, which is supervising the translations.
Father Sosa said that the bilingual books also will make it easier to perform bilingual services in increasingly multicultural U.S. parishes. The "
quinceañera" texts provide for blessing ceremonies that can be performed within the Mass or as a separate ceremony.
Cardinal George's explanatory note said that Hispanic tradition calls for a girl's 15th birthday to be celebrated by going to church and asking for God's blessing as she enters a new stage of life.
It provides a special time for the girl's family and the entire parish "to prayerfully join with youth in making a commitment to God and the church," the cardinal's note said.
The blessing ceremony includes the 15-year-old girl making a commitment to God and Mary to live her life according to Christ's teachings. It also has the assembly join her in reciting a renewal of baptismal vows.
The "
lazo," "
arras" and "
velacion" texts include marriage services performed during Mass, outside of Mass and when only one of the couple is Catholic.?
The U.S. celebration of the World Day for Consecrated Life will be held Sunday, Feb. 6, across the nation. The Vatican-sponsored event is marked on Feb. 2 in Rome. Pope John Paul II instituted this annual event in 1997.
Kits to assist parishes and dioceses in commemorating this event are available for purchase from the
National Coalition for Church Vocations (NCCV) in Chicago. The kit includes a Liturgy Planning Guide, Music Suggestions, Homily Guide, General Intercessions, Prayer Service, Prayer Card Master, Bulletin Announcements, Clip Art, Poster and Suggested Resources & Activities. Kits are available in English and Spanish for $14.00 each, plus shipping/handling.
For more information contact the National Coalition for Church Vocations:
NCCV
5420 S. Cornell Ave., #105
Chicago, IL 60615
(800) 671-6228 / (773) 955-5453
FAX: (773) 363-5530
(CNS) The formation of Hispanic youths is critical to the future of the Catholic Church, an official of the U.S. bishops' Secretariat for Hispanic Affairs told a Denver audience.
Alejandro Aguilera-Titus, associate director of the secretariat, said there must be more outreach to Hispanic youths, who need to play an active role in a church that has a growing Hispanic membership.
Hispanics are expected to make up more than half of all Catholics in the next several decades, underscoring the importance of preparing Hispanics to assume leadership and other roles, he said.
Aguilera-Titus made the comments during a meeting of the National Catholic Network de Pastoral Juvenil Hispana in late October. The organization is a network of church-based organizations and pastoral ministers committed to the development and formation of Hispanic youths.
"The only institution in the United States that naturally welcomes Hispanics is the Catholic Church," Aguilera said, referring to the fact that so many Hispanics coming into this country are baptized Catholics.
Participants in the network's Denver meeting gathered to exchange ideas and to plan a national encuentro -- Spanish for encounter -- scheduled for June 2006 at the University of Notre Dame, IN. The encuentro will be preceded by similar events at the parish, diocesan and regional level.
"The Catholic community as a whole has to be receptive to the importance of accepting Hispanic youth," said Rey Malavé, president of the National Catholic Network de Pastoral Juvenil Hispana.
Aguilera-Titus and Malavé said Hispanic youth ministries are needed outside of what they called mainstream youth ministry programs at parishes because language, traditions and cultural values have to be acknowledged and respected to make Hispanic youths feel comfortable and welcome.
"The church exists to evangelize, not to Americanize," said Malavé.
Aguilera-Titus said that many people in the church have assumed—wrongly—that Hispanic youths, particularly children of recent immigrants, will simply join a parish's mainstream youth ministry program. But the church needs to be fully aware "that we need to meet them where they are," he added.
Aguilera-Titus said the overall goal is the integration of Hispanic youths within the overall church as opposed to assimilation, forcing young people to give up their values, language and traditions.
Hispanic and mainstream youth ministries can work together on fund raising, planning liturgies and other activities to promote a sense of the universal church among all young parishioners, he added.
Nearly half of all Hispanics in the United States are under 25, and only 11 percent of Hispanic children attend Catholic schools.
Such statistics, Aguilera-Titus said, illustrate the need for the church to nurture and promote a youth ministry that is tailored specifically to Hispanic youths around the country.
"In 30 years they'll be in a position to provide leadership to the church," he said.?
A dynamic pastoral process
leading to a national event
Engages Hispanic Catholic youth and
young adults in parishes, dioceses and regions.
June 8-11, 2006, at the University of Notre Dame
Registration is $ 275.00 (includes lodging/meals)
Empower Hispanic Catholic young people to a more active, enthusiastic and influential participation in the life and mission of the Church in the United States by:
- identifying their needs, aspirations and contributions to Church and society
- fostering their formation and leadership development
- promoting best practices and ministry models among Hispanic young people
- developing a common vision and pastoral principles for ministry among them
- developing strategies and assigning resources for collaborative and effective ministry
Bishops’ Committee on Hispanic Affairs, USCCB
National Catholic Network de Pastoral Juvenil Hispana (La Red)
University of Notre Dame
Asociación Nacional de Sacerdotes Hispanos (ANSH)
Catholic Leadership Institute (CLI)
Center for Ministry Development
Conference of Regional Directors/Coordinators for Hispanic Ministry
Instituto Fe y Vida
National Catholic Association of Diocesan Directors for Hispanic Ministry (NCADDHM)
National Catholic Council for Hispanic Ministry (NCCHM)
National Catholic Young Adult Ministers Association (NCYAMA)
National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry (NFCYM)
National Federation for Pastoral Institutes (FIP)
National Organization of Catechists among Hispanics (NOCH)
Mexican American Cultural Center (MACC)
Oregon Catholic Press (OCP)
South East Pastoral Institute (SEPI)
The local process will encourage participation by parishes, dioceses and regions, spearheaded by diocesan coordinators for
pastoral juvenil, Hispanic ministry and youth and young adult ministry as co-lead agents, or by whom the Bishop appoints to perform this task.
- Parish Encuentro: Spring - Summer 2005
- Diocesan Encuentro: Summer - Fall 2005
- Regional Encuentro: Spring 2006
- National Encuentro: June 8-11, 2006
The national event will take place in June 8-11, 2006 at the University of Notre Dame, in South Bend, Indiana. Participants will include Bishops, Hispanic youth and young adults, diocesan coordinators for
pastoral juvenil, Hispanic Ministry, Youth and Young Adult Ministry, Vocations and parish ministers working with young people. Diocesan Directors for Catechesis, Education, Evangelization and Social Concerns are encouraged to participate. The cost for the national event will be $ 275.00 including lodging, meals and all materials (scholarships available for young people).
The central goal of the
First Encuentro is to engage Hispanic young people and the professional leadership in Hispanic and Youth and Young Adult ministry in a process of encounter-conversion-communion-solidarity and mission that can empower Hispanic young people to a more active, enthusiastic and influential participation in the life and mission of the Church in the United States.
Co-sponsored by:
The Bishops’ Committee on Hispanic Affairs, The National Catholic Network de Pastoral Juvenil Hispana (La Red) and The University of Notre Dame.
Collaborating organizations:
National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry (NFCYM), National Catholic Young Adult Ministers Association (NCYAMA), National Organization of Catechists among Hispanics (NOCH),
Asociación Nacional de Sacerdotes Hispanos (ANSH), National Catholic Association of Diocesan Directors for Hispanic Ministry (NCADDHM), National Catholic Council for Hispanic Ministry (NCCHM), Mexican American Cultural Center (MACC), South East Pastoral Institute (SEPI), National Federation for Pastoral Institutes (FIP), Regional Directors/Coordinators for Hispanic Ministry,
Instituto Fe y Vida, Center for Ministry Development, and Oregon Catholic Press (OCP), Catholic Leadership Institute (CLI), among others.
The content for the
First Encuentro process and national event will be framed by the dimensions of Hispanic ministry as per
The National Pastoral Plan for Hispanic Ministry, Encuentro & Mission, the components of youth ministry as per
Renewing the Vision for Youth Ministry, the objectives for youth and young adult ministry as per
Sons and Daughters of the Light, and the
Ecclesia in America’s call for an encounter with the living Jesus Christ as the way to promote conversion, communion and solidarity.
Specific objectives:
- Through a consultation process, identify and reflect on the needs, aspirations and contributions of Hispanic Catholic young people within the Church and in society.
- Through a formation in action process, foster the leadership and skills development of Hispanic Catholic young people already involved in ministry, while reaching out to those who do not yet participate in the life of the Church
- Through a discernment process, develop a common vision and pastoral principles that will guide ministry TO, WITH and FROM Hispanic youth and young adults in parishes, dioceses and Catholic institutions and organizations.
- Through an assessment process, identify and promote best practices and ministry models that effectively help Hispanic young people mature as disciples of Christ.
- Through a communion in mission process, develop strategies and provide the resources necessary to equip parishes, dioceses and catholic organizations and institutions for ministry among Hispanic young people.
The diversity in the life experience of Hispanic youth and young adults is taken into account:
- Foreign-born and U.S.-born Hispanics with roots in the various Latin American countries and Spain, including Latin American Indians
- Migrant workers, urban and suburban residents, high school and college students, professionals and military personnel
- The local process will include an outreach effort to involve Hispanic young people at risk and those who are incarcerated.
(CNS) Archbishop John C. Favalora of Miami said he and 15 others who traveled to Cuba Nov. 27-29 for the 200th anniversary of the Archdiocese of Santiago de Cuba experienced on the trip the true meaning of Advent: hope.
"It's always Advent in Cuba. The fact that the Cuban people hold on, put up with, endure, it's like waiting for the Messiah, and the hope that a better day is coming," said the archbishop, who made his fourth visit to Cuba -- his first since Pope John Paul II's visit to Cuba in 1998.
Archbishop Favalora, Archbishop Roberto Gonzalez of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and priests from the Archdiocese of Miami, including Msgr. Tomas Marin and Fathers Carlos Miyares, Fernando Heria and Daniel Kubala -- together with their mothers -- visited Cuba for 48 hours.
The U.S. visitors found the church in Cuba "surviving and thriving," and noted that in recent years Cuban Catholics have felt freer to express their faith.
However, the group also came up against the numerous restrictions that exist in the country -- they had brought donated medicines and religious articles but they were not allowed to take them to the Cuban people. So, they returned home with the items.
There are historically important connections between the archdioceses of Miami and Santiago de Cuba that stretch beyond the 90-mile distance between the Cuban communities on the island and those in exile in Florida.
Prior to the creation of the Diocese of Louisiana and the Florida in 1793, these Spanish territories came under the jurisdiction of the then-Diocese of Santiago de Cuba, which was created in 1522 and later became the principal archdiocese of Cuba in 1804.
Archbishop Favalora celebrated Mass Nov. 27 at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Charity at El Cobre, Cuba; the congregation included 12 Cuban bishops. In his homily, which he delivered in Spanish, he expressed his solidarity with the people of Cuba.
At a press conference upon his return to Miami International Airport Nov. 29, the archbishop stated that he had prayed before the image of Our Lady of Charity, Cuba's patroness, prior to the Mass for "the needs of Cuban people, both there on the island and in the diaspora."
"It was a religious experience to be able to go to Cobre and pray at such a holy place," said Archbishop Favalora. "Devotion to Our Lady is part of what it means to be Cuban."
As the sun set behind the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption in Santiago de Cuba Nov. 28, Archbishop Pedro Meurice Estiu, head of the Archdiocese of Santiago de Cuba, celebrated the 200th anniversary Mass, which marked the close of a yearlong celebration.
"The cathedral had a seating capacity of about 1,500, but the church was overflowing with people singing with joy and fervor. Everyone, both young and old, was responding with a penetrating voice. The church in Cuba is surviving and thriving," said Msgr. Marin at the press conference.
Archbishop Gonzalez said he noticed a big change since his first visit to Cuba 15 years ago.
"When I first visited in 1989, the churches were empty," he said in Spanish. "Today, the people don't fit in the churches. The fear of celebrating their faith has begun to diminish. Hundreds of thousands of Cubans are celebrating their faith openly. The church in Cuba is an example for all the church."
Despite a greater ability to worship more freely, restrictions still abound in Cuba.
The visitors brought with them 21 suitcases filled with medicine -- antibiotics, insulin and vitamins -- donated by doctors and pharmaceutical companies, as well as religious articles, such as rosaries and images of Our Lady of Charity.
The items, however, were not allowed inside the country but could either be left at the airport, and eventually be given to the Cuban government, or could be taken back to Miami.
Archbishop Favalora decided it would be best to bring them back to the United States, vowing to attempt other means of getting these much needed items to the Cuban people.
The archbishop said that despite the suffering and oppression of the Cuban people under a communist regime the church of Cuba is alive and grace-filled.
"Were it not for the church, the Cuban people wouldn't have the enthusiasm and hope that they have," he said. "They are waiting to meet Christ daily, and they understand the journey of being in the desert. They don't have the material distractions that we have.
"They don't have anything but they're satisfied, even though they hope for better as they wait for the Lord to come liberate them. We should all be living Advent believing that another time is coming," he added.
The archbishop closed with a message for all Cuban people, saying "nothing and no one should interfere with the unity that exists among Cubans on the island and elsewhere."
"The faith binds us together and makes us one," he said. "They have common blood and heritage. That is a natural bond that shouldn't allow them to be separated. They're one family, one people, and family should always be family."?
CNS - Behind the high walls of a seminary in southern Mexico City, a group of future priests prepares to take a little of Latin America and spread it around the churches of the United States. The men spend their weekends working in traditional Mexican churches and in English-speaking congregations filled with Americans living in Mexico.
As a painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe -- patroness of the Americas -- looks on, the Masses celebrated within the seminary shift fluidly from Spanish to English. Even hallway chatter is bilingual.
Founded in 1999 by Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera of Mexico City, the Hispanic Seminary of Our Lady of Guadalupe is the only seminary in Latin America that exclusively trains priests for service in Hispanic communities in the United States. Currently, the seminary's priests teach philosophy and theology to 27 students, who each spend three or four years at the school. Most will finish their studies in the United States.
It's all part of a plan by U.S. and Mexican bishops to better meet the spiritual demands of America's fast-growing -- and predominantly Catholic -- Hispanic population.
While hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans arrive in the United States every year, the church has struggled to recruit priests familiar with the Catholic traditions of migrants' homelands.
For example, many U.S. priests are not familiar with the "
quinceañera” Mass held before coming-of-age parties for Mexican girls when they turn 15, said Father Rodrigo Benitez, seminary rector.
Also, many Mexican Catholics attend church to sing happy birthday to the Virgin of Guadalupe Dec. 11, the night before her feast day.
Father Benitez related the story of a group of Mexican faithful banging on the doors of St. Patrick's
Cathedral in New York one Dec. 11 just before midnight. "One of the priests got scared and almost called the police," Father Benitez said with a chuckle.
Since the seminary opened its doors, five of its students -- all Mexicans -- have gone on to be ordained in churches in Tucson, Ariz., and Yakima, Wash.
Most of the seminary's students are Mexicans who had migrated to the United States before opting for a life as a priest. Others originally came from the Caribbean or from Central or South America.
Gabriel Barragán, a first-year student, left a poor hamlet in the southern Mexican state of Michoacán to search for work in Washington state.
Always drawn to the church, Barragán approached diocesan authorities in Spokane over his interest in becoming a priest. "The Mexican community in Spokane is growing, and there aren't many Hispanic priests," Barragán said.
Father Benitez said the Hispanic seminary only accepts students who have the support of an American or Canadian diocese.
Members of the current student body lived in -- and will return to -- communities from 19 U.S. dioceses, which pay for their seminarians' tuition, room and board.
Students are also prepared for the relatively greater roles that lay people play in U.S. churches, said Father Benitez.
"We're in constant contact with the U.S. dioceses, and that's something they ask us to do," Father Benitez said.
For the few students who arrived in the United States as children and speak less-than-perfect Spanish, classes are offered to improve their vocabulary and writing skills.
And while many of the students speak English quite well, they still take similar English classes.
"After all," said seminarian Arturo Serratos, who lived in Los Angeles for seven years, "I'll be serving both Spanish-speaking and English-speaking communities." ?
(CNS) Archbishop Patrick F. Flores of San Antonio Oct. 28 pledged $1 million to Las Misiones capital campaign to restore four Spanish colonial-era missions in the city of San Antonio.
He called the missions "the only links we have to the times and culture of our ancestors."
The donation came from the Archbishop's Appeal, which Catholics throughout the archdiocese support annually.
"Because of their generosity," the archbishop said, the churches at Mission San Jose, Mission Espada, Mission San Juan and Mission Concepcion "will continue to serve the San Antonio community for many generations."
During a press conference at the chancery, Archbishop Flores and San Antonio Auxiliary Bishop Patrick J. Zurek said the donation -- to be paid in $100,000 increments over the next 10 years -- would go for restoration and preservation of the four mission churches.
The Archbishop's Appeal underwrites a wide range of priestly ministries, social ministries, pastoral outreach, evangelization outreach and educational causes throughout the San Antonio community. The goal for the 2004-2005 Archbishop's Appeal is $1.75 million.
This year, the appeal added several organizations to the nearly two dozen entities it has supported in the past. The new groups include the Border Organization, Catholic Charities, San Antonio Food Bank, St. Peter-St. Joseph Children's Home, Seton Home, Pilgrim Center of Hope, Assumption Seminary, the Priests' Pension Fund and Las Misiones.
Las Misiones is seeking to raise $15 million to preserve and restore the church structures of the four missions. Urgent improvements over the next 10 years are estimated to cost $8 million, while the additional $7 million would establish an endowment fund for future maintenance and repairs.
To date, Las Misiones has raised more than $3 million from individuals, corporate donors and foundation grants.
Church buildings at the missions -- all active Catholic parishes built in the 1720s by Spanish Franciscan missionaries -- are operated and maintained by the Archdiocese of San Antonio, while the National Park Service maintains the grounds. According to Las Misiones' Web site, the missions draw nearly 1.5 million visitors from around the world each year.
NOTE: Donations can be made and more information is available on the Web at: www.lasmisiones.org.
(CNS) The decline in priestly vocations in the United States presents a "stark challenge" that American church leadership needs to address now, Pope John Paul II told U.S. bishops meeting at the Vatican.
Bishops also should give particular attention to seminary training and the formation of priests who are capable of "prudent leadership," the pope told some 20 bishops from Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska who came to Rome for their "ad limina" visits, required of heads of dioceses every five years.
In his Nov. 26 audience with the bishops, the pope did not make direct reference to the scandal revolving around priestly sexual abuse of children and young people that has rocked the U.S. church for the past three years.
Speaking about the American church's future, he said, "No one can deny that the decline in priestly vocations represents a stark challenge for the church in the United States."
That challenge, he said, "cannot be ignored or put off" and should be met with "insistent prayer" and a "program of vocational promotion which branches out to every aspect of ecclesial life."?
(CNS) Although Scalabrinian Father Ildo Griz's office is in the heart of Argentina's bustling capital, a colorful map of Peru hangs in a prominent place on the wall. As executive secretary of the Argentine Catholic Church's migration ministry office, the Brazilian priest has been tracking the flow of people from other South American countries into Buenos Aires.
While migration from Latin America to the United States attracts the most attention, the flow of migrants and refugees within Latin America is also changing the face of the region.
Over the past four years, an estimated 350,000 Colombians have poured into neighboring Ecuador, a country of 11 million people, according to Luis Tupac Yupanqui, who heads the Jesuit Refugee
Service office in Quito. While many of them have been fleeing Colombia's political violence, other migrants are trying to escape high unemployment in places like Peru and Bolivia, where more than 50 percent of the population lives in poverty.
With its reputation for economic growth and stability, throughout the 1990s Argentina was a magnet for thousands of people seeking employment. But the economic crisis of 2001, which brought down the government of President Fernando de la Rua and sent poverty rates skyrocketing, hit the migrants hard.
Many returned to their home countries, but they are trickling back, a sign of Argentina's economic recovery and persistent poverty elsewhere in the region.
For newcomers, the adjustment is not easy. "The first three years are a matter of survival," said Father Griz. "Those years can be terrible. They work 12 or 13 or sometimes 18 hours a day under poor conditions in order to learn a trade."
Laboring in textile mills or as plasterers on construction sites, migrant workers in Buenos Aires might earn as much as $80 a month, although they often work just in exchange for food and housing. In some cases, Father Griz said, working conditions amount to indentured servitude or virtual slavery.
Some migrants arrive from neighboring countries that belong, like Argentina, to the Southern Common Market. They enter Argentina on tourist visas, but once the visas expire, their situation becomes more precarious. Others, including Peruvians and migrants from as far away as the Dominican Republic, cross into Argentina at places where the border is not patrolled.
Father Griz estimated that there are about 800,000 Bolivian migrants in Argentina, making them the largest group. They are followed by Paraguayans, Chileans, Brazilians, Uruguayans and Peruvians, as well as smaller numbers of workers from Colombia and the Dominican Republic.
The migration ministry, formally called the Argentine Catholic Migration Commission Foundation, helps in cases of labor abuse and provides assistance in obtaining legal residency.
Abuse can take many forms. In early November, police raided a house in which dozens of Paraguayan women and girls were being held, apparently victims of a sex-trafficking ring. Father Griz's office found a religious congregation to provide shelter for the girls. "The church plays an important role," Father Griz said. "It's a bridge between the migrants and the local community and state institutions."
Many migrants marry and have children in Argentina. That makes them eligible to apply for residency, although the process is complicated by the need to obtain official documents, such as birth certificates, from their home countries and pay about $70 in fees. Until a few years ago, the migration ministry often defended migrants against discrimination directed at Bolivians, Peruvians and Paraguayans of indigenous descent. The economic crisis eased the discrimination, as an estimated 250,000 to 300,000 Argentines found themselves forced to emigrate in search of jobs between 2001 and 2002.
"Argentina had never experienced emigration," said Father Griz, whose pastoral workers held workshops for emigrants' families. Hearing their relatives' stories about being migrants in foreign lands made Argentines more tolerant of the foreigners in their own country, Father Griz said.
The migration ministry tries to address more specific needs, as well. A microcredit program that began providing loans of about $150 to refugees seeking political asylum has helped some 1,000 families so far.
Father Griz's office also establishes ties with the church in the migrants' home countries. A group of Paraguayan missionaries were to visit migrants from that country in five Argentine dioceses in November.
A constant challenge for the migration ministry is the need for better legislation for migrants. Argentina's law is one of the best in the region, Father Griz said, but lawmakers have not yet passed the enabling regulations that will put it into effect.
Ultimately, however, slowing migration in the region depends on solving underlying problems in the migrants' home countries.
"It's necessary to address economic, cultural and social development issues in the countries of origin," Father Griz said. "People are fleeing poverty. Working with migrants only in the destination country only attacks one leg of the problem."?
Catholics in the United States have a new opportunity to support the work of mission parishes at home. At their June 1997 meeting, the bishops of the United States designated the last Sunday in April as the date on which Catholics can participate in the Catholic Home Missions Appeal.
Coordinated by the USCCB Committee on the Home Missions, the Appeal will extend and strengthen the presence of the Church by helping provide basic pastoral services. Such assistance is essential to the scattered and isolated churches of the Appalachian mountains, west Texas, the deep South and the islands of the Caribbean and the Pacific.
The Catholic Home Missions Appeal will help fund diocesan evangelization efforts, parish religious education programs, seminarian education, lay ministry training and the pastoral care of growing ethnic and migrant communities on both diocesan and national levels.
For over 70 years, the Committee on the Home Missions, under its former title "American Board of Catholic Missions," has given grants to mission dioceses in the United States and its dependencies, and has supported other missionary efforts in this country. Historically, its funding source has been a percentage of the Mission Sunday Collection. However, this portion has been decreasing over the past three years; the entire collection will eventually go to aid the missions overseas.
The Catholic Home Missions Appeal will guarantee continued funding for local communities where Catholics are few and the Church is fragile.
Catholic Home Missions Appeal: Sunday, April 24, 2005
Catholic Social Ministry Gathering
February 20-23, 2005 - Washington, DC
The fourteen national Catholic organizations that co-sponsor the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering (including the Secretariat for Hispanic Affairs) extend a special invitation to you to join us. The meeting includes prayer and celebration, challenging speakers, and social ministry skill workshops. In addition participants receive detailed briefings on priority social and economic justice issues concerning the poor and vulnerable, and carry a common Catholic message to Senators and Representatives on Capitol Hill.
Focus on Gaudium et Spes
Catholics throughout the country will come to Washington, DC to speak on behalf of the poor and forgotten at home and around the world. As the Church celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Vatican II document, The Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes), we ask you to add your voice to the chorus and to demonstrate how the values of our faith can transform society. Join us in Washington to reaffirm this commitment in community, and to explore further how the social teachings of the Church are to be applied in this time of uncertainty and hope.
Highlights for this year include:
- The energizing and inspiring St. Camillus Choir helping us to celebrate God’s love for us in our liturgies and prayer times.
- Policy sessions on Capitol Hill and opportunities to urge members of the new 109th Congress to remember the poor and the forsaken as they begin their first session.
- Fabulous networking opportunities and time to renew friendships.
- Plenary presentations by leaders from around the world and from our nation’s Capital.
- First rate issue sessions and skills workshops.
- “In-house” entertainment (you really don’t want to miss this!)
Register today!
For more information and to register go to:
http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/2005asmg.htm
Openings
Associate Director for Ministerial Formation
Diocese of Oakland, CA
Position Summary: The associate director for Spanish programming is a collaborative partner with the Director and department staff in the planning, implementation, supervision and evaluation of adult educational and formational programming especially to, but not exclusively for Spanish speaking participants.
Responsibilities:
A. Leadership. To implement the goals and objectives of the Department of Faith and Ministry Formation, especially in regard to lay ministry formation and training for the Latino communities. To utilize the wide range of efforts already underway in ministry among Latino communities, incorporating the strategic plan of the Diocese and the National Pastoral Plan for Hispanic Ministry.
B. Administrative: To collaborate with pastors, deans and parish staffs in marketing, recruiting for and implementing specific programming in Spanish. To monitor the implementation of programming in Spanish. To assist the Director of the Department in the preparation and monitoring of the annual operational budget for programming in Spanish.
Qualifications: Supports life-long faith formation. excellent relational skills, ability to work with people of all cultures and ability to work flexible hours. The candidate can communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, can organize, implement, supervise and evaluate programming and staff. He/she holds an advanced degree in theology, religious education, liturgy or spirituality or has equivalent pastoral experience.
Experience: A minimum of five years of pastoral experience, demonstrating a history of on-going faith formation.
For more information, please contact:
Mr. Héctor D. Medina
Director of Latino Ministry
(510)496-7224
Fax (510)273-4982
www.oakdiocese.org/latino
TO OUR READERS:
We invite you to visit other sections of our web site to learn more about us, Hispanic ministry and all the resources available to you in English and in Spanish.
If you are a diocesan director or coordinator for Hispanic ministry, please review the information we have for your diocese (click on “
About Us” and then “
diocesan directors”) and send any changes to:
lcastro@usccb.org
Thank you!