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By Rhina Guidos Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON -- In Spanish , the word “ encuentro ” means encounter and in the modern church in the U . S ., it refers to a series of meetings that will take place over the next four years aimed at getting to know Latinos and producing more involvement in the church of its second – largest and fastest – growing community .
“ The intent is for Latinos to have an encounter with the entire church and for the church to have an encounter with Latinos , understanding who they are , how they think , how they live their faith , so we can work together and move together and build a church together ,” said Mar Munoz-Visoso , executive director of the Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church for the U . S . Conference of Catholic Bishops .
A recent report by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University commissioned by the U . S . bishops shows that more than half of millennial-generation Catholics born in 1982 or later are Hispanic or Latino . Those numbers alone call for the church to have a plan of how it will bring Latinos in the U . S . into the church ’ s leaderships roles , its vocations and their role in society , Munoz-Visoso said .
“ You cannot plan the future of the church without having an important conversation about this population ,” she told Catholic News Service . “ This effort is very important .”
While the numbers of Latinos in the church are growing , “ there is a gap between the numbers of Latinos in the pews , and the numbers of Latinos in leadership , and the numbers of vocations , or ( Latino students ) in Catholic schools ,” Munoz-Visoso said .
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Leaders in ministry to U . S . Hispanic Catholics stand in Saint Peter ’ s Basilica at the Vatican in 2016 with the Encuentro cross . From left : Alejandro Aguilera-Titus , national coordinator of the Fifth Encuentro ; Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller of San Antonio , chairman of the U . S . bishops ’ Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church ; Archbishop Jose H . Gomez of Los Angeles ; and Mar Munoz-Visoso , executive director of the U . S . Bishops ’ Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church . ( CNS photo / Robert Duncan )
The first part of encuentro , as the process is called , started in early 2017 and it ’ s the fifth such process of its kind . Encuentros in the U . S . church took place in 1972 , 1977 , 1985 and 2000 , but the Fifth National Encuentro , also known as “ V Encuentro ,” is expected to be the biggest one of its kind in terms of attendance .
Participants first meet in small Christian communities at the local level to discern , dialogue , reflect about faith and the baptismal call , Munoz-Visoso said . Later in the year , parishes will hold parish encuentros of their own , which will later lead to diocesan , regional and finally a nationwide encuentro , set for Sept . 20-23 , 2018 , in Grapevine , Texas , in the Diocese of Fort Worth . The final part is a “ post-national encuentro ” that will include publishing a national working document about ways to implement what was learned during the process .
Encuentro organizers hope the process will yield an increase in vocations of Latinos to the priesthood , religious life , permanent diaconate , an increase
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“ The intent is for Latinos to have an encounter with the entire church and for the church to have an encounter with Latinos , understanding who they are , how they think , how they live their faith , so we can work together and move together and build a church together .”
in the percentage of Latino students enrolling at Catholic schools , and create a group of Latino leaders for the church , as well as an increase Latinos ’ sense of belonging and stewardship in the U . S . church .
At the fall 2016 meeting of U . S . bishops in Baltimore , Boston Cardinal Sean P . O ’ Malley expressed concern that the younger generations of Latinos “ is a demographic that is slipping away from the church and I think we have a window of opportunity and the window of opportunity is closing .”
Many Latinos are “ joining the ranks of ‘ nones ,’” said Cardinal O ’ Malley , referring to the growing number of Americans who are choosing to be unaffiliated with any organized religion .
“ We have very few , relatively , Hispanics in our Catholic schools . They ’ re underrepresented in our religious education programs , and I ’ m hoping that the outreach that is going to be done as part of the preparation for this ‘ encuentro ’ will make a difference ,” he said .
Munoz-Visoso said Latinos are being courted by all kinds of groups , not just other church denominations .
“ And we are at this juncture in history where we have this dilemma , where the majority of the Catholic Church in the country is becoming Latino , but at
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the same time , more Latinos than ever are leaving the church ,” she said . “ So , we have to address this situation because we have to really engage them , re-enamor them , their faith and make sure they ’ re committed to their faith .”
For those wanting to become involved , they can contact their local parish to see if the parish is involved in the process . More than 5,000 parishes have signed up to participate , said Munoz- Visoso .
Parish-level encuentros take place this May and June . Diocesan encuentros will take place in the fall in more than 150 dioceses with a total of 200,000 participants . The regional encuentros are slated for March-June 2018 , with 10,000 delegates expected to attend . The regions conform to the U . S . bishops ’ 14 episcopal regions . Then comes the Fifth National Encuentro in Texas , which will have as its theme “ Missionary Disciples : Witnesses of God ’ s Love .” This is then followed by the post-encuentro working document .
Alejandro Aquilera-Titus , assistant director of Hispanic affairs in the diversity secretariat , is national coordinator of the Fifth National Encuentro .
The materials for the encuentro meetings were designed so they could be used by small and large groups , Munoz- Visoso told CNS , and there are dioceses that plan to use them with migrant workers in the fields , among prison populations , on university campuses , in prison ministry and in military services so that U . S . service men and women who want to participate can do so anywhere in the world .
“ The intent is for Latinos ... but we ’ re inviting everybody ( to participate ), if they want to have it in their community ,” Munoz-Visoso said , adding that the website www . vencuentro . org has information about getting started .
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More stories , photos , and information can be found on our website at tvc . dsj . org . |
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Additional information regarding the Diocese of San Jose can be found at www . dsj . org . |