VATICAN CITY — A delegation of U.S. bishops and laypeople came to
Rome to share with Pope Francis and Vatican officials the joyful experiences
and valuable recommendations that came out of last year's Fifth National
Encuentro.
Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles, vice president of the
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told Catholic News Service that he was
looking forward to announcing "the good news" about what they've
learned and how the process has been unfolding.
"When we talked to the Holy Father" as they were still
preparing for the September 2018 event, the archbishop said forming and
inspiring missionary disciples across the nation "was our dream, and now
we can share with him that it is happening."
Archbishop Gomez along with Bishop Nelson J. Perez of Cleveland,
chairman of the USCCB committee on cultural diversity in the church, and
Auxiliary Bishop Arturo Cepeda of Detroit, chairman of the subcommittee on
Hispanic affairs, led a delegation to the Vatican Sept. 13-18. They were
presenting the "Proceedings and Conclusions of the Fifth National
Encuentro of Hispanic/Latino Ministry."
The materials they have been sharing offer a summary of the
challenges, opportunities, recommendations and successful practices when it
comes to pastoral care and accompaniment of Hispanic and Latino communities in
the United States and their call to be missionary disciples.
The national gathering of V Encuentro in Grapevine, Texas, was a
historic gathering of Hispanic/Latino leaders in ministry, delegates from
dioceses, church movements, schools and Catholic organizations from across the
United States. The bishops estimated more than 1 million Catholics had
participated in parish, diocesan and regional encuentros in the two years prior
to the Grapevine meeting.
One of the things they are telling the Vatican, Archbishop Gomez
said, is that "Latinos in the United States are excited about their
faith."
"The church in the United States is alive, it's a young
church" with an estimated 50 percent of Catholics who are 18 or younger
being of Hispanic or Latino origin, Bishop Cepeda said.
"It is wonderful," he said. "They are bringing in
the future of the church, but at the same time, they are the 'now' of the
church," which brings "a lot of joy and hope."
Bishop Perez said he's telling Vatican officials how excited
people are to "actually be missionary disciples" going to places Pope
Francis has called "the peripheries." People have been going "to
places where the church isn't always present," he said, like prisons and
street corners, and to those who may feel disenfranchised, like young people
and undocumented workers.
"The political climate in the United States with immigration
and our undocumented brothers and sisters has been very challenging, in fact,
very painful," Bishop Perez said.
But the encuentro process, which began at the grassroots level in
1972, "providentially created the space, the forum, for people to come
together and share their uncertainty, their fear and feel the support, the
warmth of a Christian community," he said.
Bishop Cepeda said this moment has prompted the church to be
"the voice of the voiceless. It's a moment for us to bring them out of the
shadows, to be able to work for a reform, an immigration reform that is
integral and that does not separate families."
"We want to be the voice of a nation that welcomes
immigrants and we will be the ones transforming our church and our nation if we
do so," he said.
Archbishop Gomez said the increasing presence of Hispanic and
Latino Catholics and the work and visibility of the encuentros is "helping
Latinos to understand they are an integral part of the life of the church and
the life of society in the United States and it's calling them for
leadership."
"I hope that helps everybody in the United States see that
Latinos really want to participate in the life of society and that brings real
immigration reform in our country," the archbishop said.