Building Hispanic leadership in the church

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By Carol Baass Sowa
Today’s Catholic

SAN ANTONIO ā€¢ Hispanic and other Catholic leaders from across the nation came together on June 25 for a highly participatory national symposium on Hispanic leadership and philanthropy in the 21st century church. Making this first-of-its-kind symposium possible was the joint support of Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities (FADICA), the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management (The Leadership Roundtable), the Mexican American Catholic College (MACC) and the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW), host for the event.

Kerry Robinson, executive director of the National Leadership Roundtable, expressed the hope that the day would provide a space for dialogue and engagement among the many church leaders present, bringing hope for the future through commitments made in the days that followed. She reported 23 states and 37 different dioceses were represented at the landmark symposium.

Alexia Kelley, president and CEO of FADICA, announced that the day was dedicated in memory of the late Sister Dorothy ā€œDotā€ Ettling, CCVI, founder of the Ettling Center for Civic Leadership at UIW, who with Arturo ChĆ”vez, president and CEO of MACC, provided the initial spark for the symposium. ā€œWe come together to share the challenges and opportunities of Hispanic ministry and leadership in our church,ā€ she related, ā€œand especially to dialogue about ways to help that ministry and leadership for the good of our church.ā€

Welcoming attendees to ā€œour beloved city named for the great St. Anthony,ā€ Archbishop Gustavo GarcĆ­a-Siller, MSpS, prayed that God would guide them in being open to the prompting of the Holy Spirit in discussing ā€œhow best to support and enrich the faith lives of the faithful in the Hispanic cultures of our country.ā€

Prefacing the panels and group discussions that followed was a keynote presentation given by MACCā€™s Arturo ChĆ”vez (also a founder of The Leadership Roundtable) and Hossfman Ospino of the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, who served as principal investigator for a significant study by the college on Catholic parishes with Hispanic ministry.

ChĆ”vez laid forth the challenges and opportunities of Hispanic ministry today. ā€œOne of the most critical and perhaps dramatic signs of our times,ā€ he related, ā€œis the tremendous growth of the Hispanic population.ā€ It is estimated that there are 54 million Hispanics in this country, though the actual figure is much higher, he noted, and more than half of these are under the age of 30. This population is growing not only in San Antonio, but in little towns in Kentucky, Arkansas and other communities where parishes are struggling with ways to respond. ā€œThree-fourths of the church that is under the age of 25 is already Hispanic and this continues,ā€ he added.

Noting the term Hispanics only exists in the United States, he explained that elsewhere people are differentiated as being Cubans, Ecuadorians, etc., and that the terms Hispanic and Latino would be used interchangeably during the symposium. ā€œThe stereotype is that weā€™re this monolithic group,ā€ he observed, ā€œwhen in fact, we are a very culturally and racially diverse group of people, loosely bound together by some common elements of our history and our culture.ā€

The Catholic Church, which has held an important place in U.S. society, has always been an immigrant church, he said, and while the new wave of immigrants today are Hispanic, there is a long and rich history of Hispanics here for over 500 years.

Referring to a recent Pew Research Study, he noted he was struck by the finding that while younger Catholics are more likely to be Hispanic, younger Hispanics are less likely to be Catholic. Hispanic Catholics were found to leave the church for two reasons. First, they are drawn to other expressions of Christianity which offer a more direct and personal connection with God in lively and welcoming services in which they feel more comfortable.

The second influence is attraction to the inspiration or outreach of a pastor or pastoral leader ā€” something the church is now being called to do by Pope Francis who says we cannot wait for people to come to us, but must go to them. ā€œThis makes a tremendous difference to anyone,ā€ said ChĆ”vez, ā€œbut especially Latinos. This is very core and central to Latino cultures.ā€

He went on to explain the broad cultural patterns that bind Latinos, according to sociologists. They are a high context culture, he said, meaning one in which a personā€™s identity is connected with the people around them. They are family oriented. High context cultures are oriented time-wise to the past, history and tradition, while low context cultures are oriented to the future. In addition, intrinsic to Latino culture is the Catholic culture. ā€œLatino cultures are embedded, if you will, by Catholicism,ā€ said ChĆ”vez, ā€œpre-Trent Catholicism.ā€ And this Catholicism came in the context of colonization and mestizaje.

While Hispanics have the commonality of language and the Catholic faith, they also have differences, ChĆ”vez related, and one of the primary differences is generational ā€” not only age differences, but length of time they have been in our country. This has created class differences that are very acute. The result is cultural clashes which often occur on an unseen level, much like two ice bergs colliding, as was evident in recent racial shooting tragedies. ā€œWe are still dealing,ā€ he said, ā€œwith tremendous after-effects of the apartheid that was a part of this countryā€™s history.ā€

The stance of immigrants in this country has always been one of assimilation, he continued, in which people leave behind their language and culture and seek to blend in, and this is internalized, especially in children. ā€œThe tragedy of this is that when it comes to Latino culture,ā€ said ChĆ”vez, ā€œwhen we leave behind our language, when we leave behind our culture, we leave behind our faith.ā€

Specific topics covered in panels and break-out sessions that day included: ā€œLeadership Formation and Organizational Capacity,ā€ ā€œYouth/Young Adult Leadership and Educationā€ and ā€œPhilanthropic Leadership,ā€ the latter including Archbishop JosĆ© H. Gomez, Archbishop of Los Angeles, formerly archbishop of San Antonio. A separate presentation focused on ā€œLatinos, Hope for the Church in America andā€ President Louis Agnese of UIW also addressed the gathering.

Dr. Hossfman Ospinoā€™s presentation will be covered in the Aug. 7 issue of Todayā€™s Catholic.