Good Shepherd Parish Hosts Town Hall Meeting
By Jose Carnevali
HERALD Staff Writer
This, according to the director of the diocesan Spanish Apostolate Father Ovidio Pecharromán, is a brave and bold step Bishop Loverde is taking. It is also unique, Father said, "it has never been done" in the diocese.
Encuentro 2000 is, by nature, the most relevant and important event the Catholic Church in America has prepared in celebration of the Jubilee Year 2000. In essence, Encuentro 2000 is the American bishops saying we need help in building what some have called the ‘New American Church’ resulting from the booming reality of today’s diversity in America. Most importantly, the Catholic leadership in United States is admitting that much more needs to be done, at all levels, to make newcomers feel welcomed, loved and part of the Church.
Encuentro 2000 will open wide the doors of dialogue and reflection following the vision of Pope John Paul I.
The first diocesan town hall series meeting was held April 3 at Good Shepherd Church in Alexandria. Representatives from the Korean, Filipino, Black, Hispanic, Chinese and Anglo diocesan communities presented brief testimonies on their thoughts and observations on their first experiences in getting connected with individual parishes in the diocese.
When Korean-American Moon Kim arrived in America in 1964 he didn’t understand or speak English. He was Catholic, however, and started looking for a home parish.
"I knew what they (Anglos) were doing but I didn’t understand," Kim said. The non-understanding for him was expected. But he encountered something he did not count on: lack of friendliness, coolness and a not very welcoming atmosphere.
"At that time there were 11 Korean families in the Washington metropolitan area," Kim said.
Today, Kim is a parishioner of St. Paul Chung Church in Fairfax, with more than 3,000 registered Korean members.
Despite the arrival of thousands of Koreans to the United States since 1964, St. Paul Chung is one of only three Catholic churches directly serving Catholic Koreans from Baltimore to Richmond, according to Kim.
"Today there are more than 300 Korean Protestant churches located in Northern Virginia alone," Kim said. "My hope is that we Catholics become more welcoming to newcomers."
Edgard Tiong, a Filipino parishioner at St. Timothy Church in Chantilly, had a conversion of heart and mind and joined the Catholic Church in 1993. For Tiong it was not an easy task to search for a Catholic Bible study group and finally opted to found it himself with a few friends.
At the Encuentro 2000 diocesan town hall meeting, Tiong said, "the Protestant churches in the United States show much more enthusiasm for newcomers and minorities." Tiong’s concern today is for the second generation of Filipino immigrants and for the youths, given the non-existent tools in the diocese, he said, to reach out to them.
"I think the Church has to recognize it’s universal identity," said Thelma Lucas, an advocate for black Catholics and parishioner of St. Joseph Church in Alexandria.
Lucas extended her concern saying that "nothing is out there" in the diocese for the black population between ages 18 to 25.
Guatemalan immigrant Daely Castillo, a parishioner at St. Michael Church in Annandale, argued that language and a lack of enough Spanish-speaking deacons and priests are "barriers" Hispanic Catholics face once they establish their residence in the diocese.
According to Castillo, having a priest to regularly meet and listen to Hispanics, mingle with them, and giving liturgical space for traditional Hispanic celebrations and devotions as well as Spanish-written sections of the parish bulletins are all signs of recognition essential in nurturing a reach-out, "we want you here" attitude.
Castillo said it would be a good idea to establish satellite offices of the Spanish Apostolate in predominantly Hispanic areas, given the vast geography of the diocese and its overwhelming Hispanic presence.
"When a foreigner comes to Mass in Arlington, you feel lost, like a stranger," said Mona O’Connor, a Chinese-American parishioner at the Church of the Nativity in Burke.
"You see but you don’t see," O’Connor said. "A get-to-know-you-policy should be implemented in every parish."
O’Connor converted to Catholicism in 1998. She still feels much more welcomed, loved and embraced every time she goes to events organized by her friends at the Unification Church of Rev. Sun Myung Moon.
The new American demographic profile is a real challenge facing the Catholic Church, according to Frank McInerney, an Irish-American Catholic present at the Encuentro 2000 diocesan meeting.
"It’s the old Church versus the new Church," McInerney said.
Encuentro 2000, "Many Faces in God’s House," in Los Angeles will take place July 6-9 and is sponsored by the Catholic bishops of the United States.
In preparation for this Jubilee celebration, four more town hall meetings will take place in the Arlington Diocese: April 12 at All Saints Church in Manassas; April 19 at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Winchester; April 24 at St. Anthony Parish in Falls Church, and May 10 at Christ the Redeemer Church in Sterling.
Copyright ©2000 Arlington Catholic Herald. All rights reserved.
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