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New book shares ideas to engage Asian Catholics

Zita B. Fletcher | Catholic Herald multimedia journalist

Our Lady of LaVang Catholic Mission youth dancers celebrate the 16th Annual Asian and Pacific Island Catholics Marian Pilgrimage in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington last May. BRIAN SEARBY | CNS

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The cover of the book, Encountering Christ in Harmony: A Pastoral Response to Our Asian and Pacific Island Brothers and Sisters.

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The diocesan Office of Multicultural Ministries is ramping up
outreach to the Asian and Pacific Island (API) Catholic community through a new
book, Encountering Christ in Harmony: A Pastoral
Response to Our Asian and Pacific Island Brothers and Sisters
, published
by the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops.  

“The bishops wanted this to be a pastoral response, so that it
could be a living document to hopefully stimulate and generate ideas of how to
engage API Catholics and bring them more into the full body of the church,”
said Corinne Monogue, director of the Office of Multicultural Ministries, who
was part of an advisory committee that helped shape the document from concept
to completion. “This really is a great tool for chancery offices, dioceses and
parishes.” 

The Diocese of Arlington features
in the book as one of the top 15 U.S. dioceses with the most Asian and Pacific
Island (API) Catholics, with 53,477 in a list topped by Los Angeles and
Brooklyn. The diverse countries represented by Catholics in the diocese include
Vietnam, Korea, China, Japan, India and the Pacific Islands.

The document is aimed primarily at non-Asian Catholics to promote
understanding of Asian cultures and encourage dialogue between East and West.
According to the first chapter of the book, many Asian Catholics are overlooked
within their parish communities and feel invisible or excluded. This is
something that the Office of Multicultural Ministries hopes to change.

“What makes this book unique is that we view our Asian and
Pacific Islander brothers and sisters in the light of how their faith expressed
through their culture can be engaged as a gift in parishes and on the national
and diocesan levels,” said Monogue. “We talk about recognizing their gifts and
how we can welcome them into the church.”

This pastoral guide begins with insights from Pope Francis’
Apostolic Exhortation “Evangelii Gaudium,” including the statement: “In the
diversity of peoples who experience the gift of God, each in accordance with
its own culture, the Church expresses her genuine catholicity.”

The chapters identify four main pillars relevant to API Catholic
communities ­­­— identity, generations, leadership and cultural encounters in
faith. The work examines how racism affects them; cultural celebrations, such
as Lunar New Year; emphasis on family relationships and filial piety; and
devotions to Mary and the saints.

“It was really critical that we added a component about Mary and
the saints,” Monogue said. “One thing we found through all of our surveying,
data and communication with our small and large focus groups is that all API
Catholic communities have a strong devotion to Mary. She is a thread that
weaves between all of these groups.”

Monogue said a wide spectrum of people collaborated to make the
book a reality, including sociologists, community leaders from API Catholic
faith groups, focus groups on local and national levels, and API students on
college campuses. Surveys and studies necessary to complete the work took more
than a year.

Monogue said that several good ways to engage Asian Catholics in
communities and ministries is to reach out directly to them, encourage cultural
celebrations and encounters, and to modify programs and activities to invite
them to participate.

“So many times we automatically think that we need to translate
everything into English and Spanish. However, many times, including small lines
in a different language, such as Korean or Vietnamese, to reach your brothers
and sisters from the API community will really make them feel welcome and bring
them engaged into your activity or ministry,” she said.

“My supreme hope would be that parish leaders are asked to read
and absorb this. Then, hopefully, they’ll start to see API Catholic diversity
within their parish through a different lens and ways to invite them to a
fuller participation in parish life and ministries.” 

Fletcher can be reached at
[email protected] or on Twitter @zbfletcherACH.

 

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