Evangelizing youth, accompanying Hispanic families the focus at regional V Encuentro in Detroit

Topics covered at the meeting varied from the need to evangelize Hispanic neighborhoods and encourage more vocations, to making parishes more inclusive and encouraging Hispanic participation, to ensuring the Catholic Church is a leading voice in speaking up for the rights of migrants and immigrants. All topics encompassed two key priorities: evangelizing the youth and young adults, and the church accompanying Hispanic families in the United States who want to preserve their culture and their faith.

“Accompanying is about the invitation to go out to all men, women and children — if they are Christian or not, Catholic or not — and go out and walk with the people,” said Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit Arturo Cepeda, who serves as national cochair of V Encuentro. “For Hispanic families, what they are looking for is a church that is ‘alive,’ a church that is bringing people together and is celebrating together.”

The gathering was part of a four-year process initiated by the bishops of the United States, to discern ways in which the Church in the United States can better respond to the Hispanic and Latino presence, and to strengthen ways in which Hispanics and Latinos respond to the call to the New Evangelization as missionary disciples serving the entire Church. More than 250 delegates attended from the dioceses of Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Gaylord, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Saginaw, Toledo and Youngstown, building upon topics discussed at previous diocesan-level gatherings, including one held Dec. 9 in Detroit. Later, a selection of delegates will bring the results of this weekend’s discussions to the V National Encuentro Sept. 20-23 in Grapevine, Texas.

Delegates in Detroit focused on ways to better minister to Hispanic Catholics through the lens of 10 different ministerial areas: Evangelization and Mission, Leadership Development and Vocations, Intercultural Competencies, Youth Ministry, Liturgy and Spirituality, Faith Formation and Catechesis, Young Adult Ministry, Family Ministry and Immigration, Stewardship and Development, and Pro-Life Ministry.

“The question now is how do we keep this enthusiasm going, right now we have a spark,” said Veronica Rodriguez, director of Hispanic Ministry for the Diocese of Kalamazoo and co-chair for Region VI in the Encuentro “We need to go back to those families we first visited when the Encuentro process started and say, ‘is is what you told me, this is what we talked about, how far have we come?’ It is a back-and-forth conversation between the Church and the people; that is accompaniment, that is what we are called to do. To be intentional and specific about sharing the Gospel and motivating our youth and families to take a leading role in our Church.