Raíces y Alas: Thinking and Walking with Their Shepherds

This week the Hispanic national congress “Raíces y Alas 2010” will be held in Chicago. The organizers are the National Catholic Council for Hispanic Ministry (NCCHM), an umbrella organization of more than fifty Hispanic Catholic national and regional structures and movements, with an ambitious agenda: “to recreate and reconstruct the vision for national Hispanic ministry.” The congress was convened in collaboration with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church.

Although this Congress is directed toward leaders in Hispanic ministry, there will be representatives from colleges, universities, religious congregations and U.S. Catholic institutions and movements “recognizing that any aspect of the Church’s ministry affects the Hispanic population. In the same manner, [that] any activity of the Hispanic Catholic community is understood as an activity of the Catholic Church.”

Overall more than 500 participants are expected.

The gathering has been planned as one of “celebration,” theological and pastoral “reflection on the current reality of Hispanic Ministry in the United States,” and “a look toward the future with concrete projections for ministerial actions.”

Notable is that the agenda for the meeting — the reflections on the reality of Hispanics Catholics in the U.S. — will be based on the five priorities of the U.S. Catholic Bishops:

• Marriage (though in pure Latino fashion, they’ve broaden it up to “Family”)
• Faith formation and sacramental practice
• Young people and vocations
• Life and dignity of the human person
• Diversity with special emphasis on Hispanics

To our knowledge, this is the first national Catholic organization representing such diversity and scope in ministries and professional interests, with or without an ethnic or cultural focus, that has so plainly and openly stated that it intends to walk with the bishops and make the bishops’ priorities theirs. In fact, they are challenging themselves to reflect on how the structures, ministries, pastoral focus do or do not address those priorities.

Participants will also challenge the diocesan, regional and national structures (including those of the USCCB) and other Catholic associations on how to promote and empower Hispanic leadership on all those areas. This is a sincere effort to think and walk with their shepherds; to step up to the plate and exercise the leadership called by their pastores, el pueblo, and just the sheer numbers.

Against what some viewed, and derided, as “political correctness” on the part of the U.S. bishops —who set cultural diversity with an emphasis on Hispanics as one of their five priorities in their current five-year plan—, the bishops’ efforts to understand, affirm, guide and walk with their diverse flock may just be paying off.

To say that a convening of the Hispanic Catholic leadership at this level is overdue is an understatement. Organizers affirm their “desire to revive the spirit of the Encuentros and celebrate the 10th anniversary of Encuentro 2000.”

The process of the Encuentros guided and provided a national vision for Hispanic pastoral ministry in the last quarter of the 20th century. Fruits of them — there were three— were the National Pastoral Plan for Hispanic Ministry and the creation of numerous, parish, diocesan, regional and national structures, many local pastoral plans, and associations for the advancement of Hispanic ministry.

As Hispanic Catholics were readying themselves to convene their would-be ‘fourth Encuentro’ in 2000, they were asked to sacrifice — for this one time — the inward cultural/ethnic focus of their Encuentro process and to share it and to transform the Encuentro into a multicultural celebration of the Jubilee. In the end, Encuentro 2000 was a magnificent, massive expression of the Church’s catholicity, of its unity in diversity. It is right, then to celebrate its tenth anniversary.

But Hispanic Catholics and Hispanic ministry also need nurturing and focus. Today’s pastoral realities are not the same as they were 30 and 40 years ago. Neither are the actors — ministers and people alike — or their needs. Thus the structures that serve them, as well as their participation and leadership in the wider Church, need to be reexamined in that light.

The last Encuentro de Pastoral Hispana happened 25 years ago. After 2000, sensing the urgency to address the need to further develop ministry among Hispanics, a leadership consultation was held by the U.S. bishops. This “2001 Symposium” in Colorado Springs, Colorado, led to “Encuentro and Mission: A Renewed Pastoral Framework for Hispanic Ministry,” issued by the U.S. Catholic Bishops as an addendum to the 1987 National Pastoral Plan for Hispanic Ministry.

Raíces y Alas 2010 promises to be a serious step in the right direction; ambitious indeed but so necessary.

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Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, USCCB president will be leading participants in prayer on Friday morning. Representing the U.S. bishops in the dialogue will be Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento, president of the bishops’ Committee on Cultural Diversity; Coadjutor Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles; Bishop Jerry Barnes of San Bernardino; Auxiliary Bishop Francisco González of Washington; Auxiliary Bishop Gustavo García Siller of Chicago, and Auxiliary Bishop Felipe Estevez of Miami. Also, representing the bishops of Puerto Rico will be Bishop Félix Lázaro of Ponce.

Other benefactors and supporters include Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, Archdiocese of Military Services, USA; Archbishop Robert J. Carlson of St. Louis; Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver; Bishop Walter A. Hurley of Grand Rapids, Michigan; Bishop Edward U. Kmiec of Buffalo; Bishop Roger P. Morin of Biloxi, Mississippi; Bishop Richard E. Pates of Des Moines, Iowa; Bishop Joseph A. Pepe of Las Vegas, Nevada; and Bishop Joe S. Vazquez of Austin, Texas.

Welcome, Father Sands!

Father Maurice Henry Sands joins the Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops September 1, as a “consultant” on Native American Affairs.

Father Sands will provide consultation to the U.S. Catholic bishops and staff, diocesan staff and pastoral ministers on issues concerning Native Americans. He will also assist in the development of web-based resources and workshops for bishops and others on ministry to Native Americans.

The appointment responds to requests by Native American Catholics to have representation in the Cultural Diversity Secretariat created in January of 2008. The Bishops’ Subcommittee on Native Americans has been operational since then but it will be the first time the subcommittee is staffed by a Native American.

Father Sands is a full-blooded Native American belonging to the Ojibway, Ottawa and Potawatomi tribes. He grew up on Walpole Island (Bkejwanong First Nation), which is an Indian reservation located in the St. Clair River between Michigan and Ontario.

An accountant by training, he holds an MBA from the University of Toronto, Ontario, and a BBA from Eastern Michigan University. He worked in corporate banking before joining the diocesan priesthood.

Father Sands was ordained a priest on May 14, 2005 for the Archdiocese of Detroit. He currently is pastor of St. Alfred Parish in Taylor, Michigan. While still in the seminary, he worked for the Archdiocese’s Department of Parish Life and Services in the area of Native American and Hispanic Ministries. He continues to be heavily involved in Hispanic Ministry as a priest and pastor.

From 2006 to 2009, Father Sands served as a board member of the Tekakwitha Conference, a national Native American Catholic organization. He also has served as a consultant to the Bishops’ Sub-Committee on Native American Affairs since 2008. Father Sands will continue to be based in Michigan while providing consulting services to the U.S. Bishops.

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver, chairman of the subcommittee and a member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Tribe, welcomed Fr. Sands’ incorporation to the U.S. bishops’ Cultural Diversity team.

"The Native American Catholic Community in the United States rejoices in the appointment of our brother, Father Henry Sands, as a consultant on Native American concerns for the USCCB. Father Sands is extraordinarily prepared for this service and will represent well the views and needs of the Native American people of the Church. Our prayers and support will accompany him in his service," Archbishop Chaput said.

There are approximately 2,383,500 Native Americans Catholics in the United States, representing roughly 3.5% of all Catholics in the U.S. Approximately 20% of all Native Americans residing in the United States consider themselves Roman Catholics.

At the recent Catholic Cultural Diversity Network Convocation, celebrated last May at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, Native American Catholic representatives noted that “a face was still missing in the picture of the Cultural Diversity Secretariat. Beginning September 1, that picture is now even more inclusive, especially if one looks at the diversity of native peoples Father Sands represents.

Welcome on board, Father Sands!

Welcoming messages

Bishop Jaime Soto, chairman, Committee on Cultural diversity in the Church, USCCB:

The recent Catholic Cultural Diversity Convocation held at Notre Dame University in May, 2010 was a splendid experience of the vast cultural faith expressions that enliven the Catholic Church in the United States. A significant part of the Convocation's reflection, prayer, and celebration came from the members of the Native American Catholic community. The appointment of Father Henry Sands as a consultant is a welcomed development for the work of the Subcommittee of Native American Affairs as well as the overall pastoral endeavors of the Bishops' Committee for Cultural Diversity in the Church. He will become part of a capable team dedicated to building up the diverse members of Christ's One Body, the Church.

Father Allan F. Deck, SJ, executive director, Secretariat for Cultural Diversity in the Church, USCCB:

The appointment of Father Sands as consultant to the Subcommittee on Native American Affairs helps complete the team of staff and consultants that make it possible for the Cultural Diversity Secretariat to accomplish its mission. Attention to the opportunities and challenges faced by millions of Native American Catholics is a major concern of the bishops. We are particularly fortunate to have the services of a Native American priest who is knowledgeable and has demonstrated both skill and zeal in the service of his people.

Sister Kateri Mitchell, Executive Director of the Tekakwitha Conference:

Congratulations, Father Henry Sands! On behalf of the Native American Catholic community we extend to you our best wishes in this first time appointment of a "Native face" at the USCCB Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church.

Number of Hispanics Entering Ministry Continues to Grow

Our office has received inquiries regarding the number and percentage of Hispanic seminarians being ordained in the United States, as well as efforts to recruit seminarians from the Hispanic community. This year’s ordination numbers came to us from Mary Gautier, Ph.D., senior research associate for the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University. She reported that for the class of 2009, 12 percent of men being ordained to the priesthood listed Hispanic/Latino as their primary race or ethnicity. This breaks down to 13 percent among priests ordained in dioceses and 9 percent among priests from religious institutes.

She adds that “approximately 14 percent of seminarians in theology are Hispanic/Latino. Overall, the ethnic distribution of seminarians in theology is gradually becoming more diverse. In 1993, the first year CARA collected racial and ethnic data on seminarians, 11 percent were Hispanic/Latino.”

Jesuit Father Allan Deck, executive director of the Secretariat of Cultural Diversity at the USCCB, added that despite this movement of Hispanics into ministry in the United States, “it still doesn’t come close to the percentage of Latino Catholics which is in excess of 35 percent and moving up all the time.”

According to Father Deck, of the many seminaries in the U.S., the most Hispanic is Assumption Seminary in San Antonio (where most of the actual courses are taken at Oblate School of Theology).

He added that there are also many programs that set out to recruit Hispanics, noting, “One of the longest-standing programs is in the Archdiocese of Chicago where Hispanics are provided with a residence where they can live and study English and get the educational background necessary to succeed in the seminary. It is called Casa Jesús. Many Hispanic priests have gone on to the priesthood from here.”

Mary Gautier noted that one seminary program in Mexico City accepts only seminarians sent by U.S. and Canadian bishops.

“It is called the Seminario Hispano de Santa Maria de Guadalupe,” she said. “The seminary sees itself as helping to promote priestly vocations among Hispanics in the United States and Canada arising out of the need that exists for priests to minister to these groups of Catholics that are increasingly found in those countries.”

According to Father Deck, one of the most frustrating aspects of recruiting Hispanic seminarians is that “some good prospects come forward but lack legal immigration status. It becomes increasingly difficult if not impossible to gets visas and/or regularize these prospects,” he said. This is due in part to laws put in place after September 11, 2001, and it puts a strain on candidates born outside the United States. These candidates constitute the largest group of Hispanic seminarians.

“The other story is the rise of Hispanic permanent deacons,” Father Deck added. “Of the approximately 16,000, some 3,000 are Hispanic. They are pounding to get into programs. This is a much under-reported success story.”