Diocese hosts Region X Hispanic Ministry meeting

Lily Chhin, associate director of Hispanic Ministry from the Diocese of Austin, said she immediately felt welcomed and embraced after her plane touched down in Corpus Christi on Oct. 24. She was greeted at the airport and accompanied by Jaime Reyna, diocesan director for the Office of Multicultural Ministry. Reyna is also Region X’s executive committee prayer coordinator and the region’s executive committee secretary. Reyna’s diocesan committee consisting of Administrative Assistant Margie Rivera and volunteers greeted many Region X representatives and personally drove them from the airport to the Pax Christi Liturgical Center for their biannual meeting hosted by the Diocese of Corpus Christi.

The Region X (Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma) Catholic Association of Diocesan Directors/Coordinators of the Hispanic Ministry (RXCADDHM) biannual meetings are designed to offer representatives tools to help them in their Ministry by providing spiritual reflection, education, collaboration, and fellowship.

As representatives trickled in that Sunday evening, guests were treated to a variety of Mexican cuisines and a fiesta-themed fellowship night. Diocesan volunteers, who had attended the V Encuentro, were on hand to be of service. The volunteers were Germania Hoskings, Felipe and Maria Macias, Fred and Carolina Garza, Katy Cedillo and Sister JoAnn Saenz, IWBS.

"The beautiful thing about the V Encuentro was that it lit a fire under Hispanic ministry. It was a reminder that the Holy Spirit is ever moving, and we must be able to come together; but also, to look around us and see who’s missing at the table – who’s missing at our Lord’s table," Reyna said.
 
“Many people in south Texas identify as Hispanic/Latinos. We have some monolingual families – they only speak Spanish, and we see many people connect with the Spanish language. It’s our job to try to see how we can help bridge the gap, so resources are available to make people feel invited to a conference, a retreat, or the liturgy," Reyna said. "Sometimes it could be just because of a simple language barrier, so maybe we could have Spanish or Vietnamese speaking translators available; or interpreters for the Deaf Ministry. If we had resources like that, then more people would feel welcomed.”

Chhin said the hospitality of the volunteers in Corpus Christi was a “moving experience.” Sister Mickey Espinosa, MCP from the Diocese of Little Rock, Arkansas, said she felt welcomed, and the social fellowship night was a great way to meet the new members as they arrived for the conference.

Archbishop of San Antonio, Gustavo Garcia-Siller, MSpS and Episcopal liaison for the Region X Hispanic Ministry welcomed attendees virtually as he relayed his recent visit with Archbishop Christophe Pierre, Nuncio to the United States. 

Father Juan Villagomez, SOLT, parochial administrator of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Corpus Christi, gave a talk in Spanish entitled “Corpus Christi.” Sister Mickey Espinosa, MCP from the Diocese of Little Rock, Arkansas, said his address on the Body of Christ was “excellent. Our service is serving Him and others, especially when it’s difficult working with others. We, as human beings, have that in our hearts– we have both light and dark areas. We must struggle with that because that’s the human part. But we want to be able to make present Jesus there [in our hearts] and meet Jesus in that other person.”  

The second talk was from a video by Dr. Hosffman Ospino in English. Dr. Ospino is an Assistant Professor of Hispanic Ministry and Religious Education at Boston College, School of Theology and Ministry. His research concentrates on the dialogue between theology and culture and the impact of this interchange upon Catholic theological education, catechesis, and Ministry. Lily Chhin, Diocese of Austin, facilitated the Q&A session related to Dr. Ospino’s talk “Latinos and the Re-Creation of American Catholicism in the Twenty-First Century.” 

The third talk, also from a video, was from Bishop Bruce A. Lewandowski, C.Ss.R of Baltimore. His talk entitled “A Pastoral Response to the Sin of Racism” was in Spanish but had English subtitles.

Lazaro Contreras from the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston facilitated the Q&A session related to the bishop’s talk. Contreras, who serves as interim coordinator for Region X and diocesan director of Hispanic Ministry for his diocese, said the meetings present an opportunity for directors to network and collaborate on resources available to them. “We get to accompany each other and share and then grow together in relationship with Christ,” Contreras said. He invited three different pastoral ministers from the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston as guests to accompany him to the Region X meeting.

Chhin said one thing she will take back to Austin is inviting others to attend these meetings with her, “because the work we’re doing – we cannot accomplish by ourselves. We need other people like the volunteers, the sisters, the clergy,” she said. “I want to equip them with the right tools to advance the mission of the Church.”

Co-Director of Multicultural Ministry, Jesus Abrego from the Diocese of Beaumont, said the biannual meetings are opportunities for directors to see what other dioceses are doing, how they’re doing it. What is working, but also what is not working,” he said. “So, it’s a learning experience, and we learn from one another, and we bring back everything to share with our ministries.

“One of the greatest things that we have done in Region X Hispanic Ministry is that we begin our meetings with a retreat and reflection time. It’s where we can enrich ourselves and get to know each other, both professionally and spiritually. So, the retreat (homily) this morning was an awesome experience,” Abrego said. “He [Father Juan Villagomez] did an awesome job, and that set our tone to keep going with the business this afternoon and tomorrow all day.”

Region X Association exists to support the national initiative, NCADDHM fueled by the V Encuentro, which has supported the current and future development of diocesan leaders serving the Hispanic community in the Roman Catholic Church. NCADDHM provides networking opportunities, mentoring and best practices in the field of Hispanic Ministry.

Region X includes representatives from the Archdioceses of Galveston-Houston, Oklahoma City, and San Antonio; and the Dioceses of Amarillo, Austin, Beaumont, Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Laredo, Little Rock, Lubbock, San Angelo, Tulsa, Tyler, and Victoria, who meet to gain insight on how to bring everyone to Our Father’s table.

This 2-day biannual event hosted by the Diocese of Corpus Christi provided Hispanic ministry representatives with the necessary tools to help them in their Ministry. It offered them an opportunity for spiritual reflection, education, collaboration, and fellowship.