February 19, 2017

Diocesan Latino community holds fundraiser for V Encuentro

REGIONAL
Story and photos by Kathleen Harrington

Hundreds gather for a fundraising kick off for V Encuentro at the Castle of Knights in Chicopee, Saturday, Feb. 18.

CHICOPEE- Kicking off the fundraising for the Diocese of Springfield’s V Encuentro team on Saturday, Feb. 18, nearly 300 people turned out at the Castle of Knights in Chicopee for a lively evening of dinner and dancing.

V Encuentro, or Fifth Meeting, is a national gathering of Catholics working for the pastoral care and to increase Latino ministries and the Latino presence in the U.S. Catholic Church. Scheduled to meet in September 2018 in Fort Worth, Texas, the diocesan team is working now to raise money for its delegation to attend.

The St. Valentine’s themed evening drew people from throughout the diocese including parishioners from Blessed Sacrament Parish in Springfield, Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Holyoke, and St. Mary Parish in Westfield, among others.

“There was a time when only three Masses in the diocese were offered in Spanish. Now there are 15 parishes offering Mass in Spanish,” according to Lucy Ramos, executive secretary for the Diocese of Springfield Office of Latino Ministry. “There is a sense of belonging in church. That’s what our mission is.”

In addition to working on the parish level to draw Latinos to Mass or to return to church, the Encuentro effort will meet on a diocesan level, followed by two regional meetings in Hartford and Boston, and finally on the national level in Texas next year. Those gathered said the presence of Latino church leaders is more important now than ever before.

“As more young adults return to the faith and our children go to Mass, it’s important that they see role models: priests, religious brothers and sisters, and deacons that are Latino,” said Rigo Serrano, parishioner of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Holyoke.

Father Chris Fedoryshyn, parochial vicar of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Northampton, agreed.

“We need the vocations, especially those who speak Spanish and understand the culture. This will allow a greater involvement of the many Latino and Hispanic parishioners,” he said. “It’s important to understand where people are coming from and the different traditions.”

To determine the needs of Hispanic Catholics in the United States and how to address them, the pastoral planning project has the support of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the personal endorsement of Pope Francis. Ramos said the organization behind this process began with training. In the Diocese of Springfield, members were trained about demographics, leadership, liturgy, stewardship and youth, and the role of each in the Catholic Church.

“Once we had our training, we went back to our parishes and into the community to encourage participation and to evangelize,” she said.
“The comments people make will be recorded and included in a book compiled by ENAVE.”

ENAVE is the national team representing the Latino and Hispanic organizations working on V Encuentro. Its members will compile the information to help identify best practices for making resources available to the parishes. The anticipated outcome is an increase in the sense of belonging and participation in the Catholic Church for Latinos and Hispanics; an increase in vocations to religious life; an increase in the number of Hispanic students in Catholic schools; and an increase in lay ministries and in stewardship.

Andres Lopes, director of the office of Latino ministry for the Diocese of Springfield, said he is encouraged by the participation.

“We will have six members in our delegation to Fort Worth and we are working to increase that number,” he said. “Tonight, we will raise money to help pay the costs, but we expect to have more people going to Texas.”

But, on this “noche de amistad” (night of friendship) the work toward V Encuentro 2018 took a more festive turn, as people looked forward to spreading Christ’s Good News in the diocese and beyond.

For a video version of this story, tune into an upcoming edition of “Real to Reel” the Diocese of Springfield’s weekly television news magazine that airs Saturday evenings at 7 on WWLP-22 NEWS.