2007 encuentro

Two Days of Deep Faith, Celebration at DC Armory

By Alfonso Aguilar
HERALD Staff Writer
(From the Issue of 3/15/07)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As expected, thousands of Hispanic gathered to celebrate the Third Catholic Encounter at the D.C. Armory in Washington last weekend.
“It was a good event. It is not easy to organize such a big celebration,” said Father José Eugenio Hoyos, director of the diocesan Spanish Apostolate and one of the masters of ceremony.
Father Hoyos and other diocesan priests, including Fathers Tuck Grinnell, pastor of St. Anthony Parish in Falls Church, and Richard Mullins, director for the Office of Multicultural Ministries, assisted Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde in the Sunday Mass. Bishop Francisco González from the Archdiocese of Washington also concelebrated.
“Dear brothers and sisters, the Church is with you. Do not be afraid,” said Bishop Loverde in Spanish. “There is always hope,” he said in reference to the predicament of many people without legal documents to study and work.
“Be sowers of faith and love,” he said. “Pray for vocations. Our diocese needs more priests and consecrated brothers and sisters to serve our Spanish-speaking community.”
The annual event is coordinated by the youth ministry at St. Anthony of Padua Parish with the participation of the Archdiocese of Washington, and the Dioceses of Richmond and Baltimore. Organizers estimated that more than 10,000 people attended the event.
“Thanks to God we had a great experience, enhancing our faith and unity,” said Manuel Avilés, one of the event coordinators. “Maybe the most beautiful moment occurred at the end of the event when Father Pedro Núñez from Cuba and Sister Eloina Alvarez from Poor Sisters of St. Joseph in Alexandria asked those who felt the call from God to a religious vocation to stand up. “We were expecting 50, but nearly 300 youngsters stood up. They received a big applause,” said Avilés.
Beatriz Morales, a teenager from Bowie, Md., and a parishioner of St. Anthony of Padua, said she particularly enjoyed the speeches. “I cried many times. The speeches touched my soul,” said Morales, who attended the two-day event with her whole family.
The event included numerous activities such as preaching, healing, liturgical dances, comedies, concerts, theatre, prizes and several booths with religious information.
After the Mass, Bishop Loverde received a plaque in recognition of his efforts to serve and reach out to the Hispanic congregation.
“We just follow your leadership. You are a great pastor,” said Father Grinnell.
Then the bishop was invited to draw from a box a piece of paper with the name of the Latin American country to receive part of the event’s profits.
“It reads Honduras,” said the bishop.
Although the Honduran community in the region is not as large as the Salvadorean or Peruvian, the crowd stood up to applaud the winning country, one of the poorest in the Western Hemisphere.
Since its inception, the encounter has allocated a portion of the profits to help a poor community in Latin America. Avilés said a delegation from St. Anthony of Padua will travel to deliver medicine, food and clothes to a remote village, probably in August.
Antonio Pérez-Alcalá, director of youth ministry at the Spanish Apostolate, said the event was like seeing the “happiness of faith. The people were very attentive to speeches. I witnessed a group of very well-organized coordinators and volunteers.”

Alfonso Aguilar can be reached at aaguilar@catholicherald.com.