Encuentro Group Reviews Results
By Margarita Mendoza, El Observador Editor
January 23, 2020
The V Encuentro regional group that includes the Rockford Diocese reviews
the final document, considers how to make use of suggestions
CHICAGO—A meeting here Jan. 13 reviewed the challenges, obstacles, gifts, dreams and talents of the Hispanic Catholic Church in the United States brought out during the September 2018 V Encuentro in Texas.
Held at the Meyer Center in the Archdiocese of Chicago, it was a one-day preparatory meeting for the Regional Encuentro in Service session that will take place March 20 and 21 at St. Mary Seminary in Mundelein.
About 40 lay and religious people from dioceses in region VII, which includes the Rockford Diocese, participated. Other dioceses in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan are also part of Region VII.
The results of the parish Encuentro sessions were shared in the diocesan Encuentros then moved on to regional Encuentros and finally going to the National V Encuentro in Texas. All the dioceses in the U.S. were invited to participate in the national session.
The Encuentro process began at the parish level, and included parochial groups and those in the “periphery of the parishes, at this level ... that person who is not very involved in a parish but goes to Mass from time to time,” said César Quiroz, Episcopal Regional chairperson for the region VII, at the Chicago meeting.
The conclusions from those studies are now published in the book of “Procedures and Conclusions” of V Encuentro. This publication was revised by Pope Francis and endorsed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Next meeting
On March 20 and 21, diocesan representatives will meet with others from Region VII to share their contributions and conclusions mainly in 11 areas: vocations; young adolescents; young adults; families; evangelization and mission; formation in faith and catechesis; higher education and university; leadership development and training; liturgy and spirituality; migration and immigration; and regional pastoral planning.
“This is a very complex work, said Msgr. Arquímedes Vallejo, Vicar for Hispanic Ministry in the Rockford Diocese.
“We see the work of the Holy Spirit, uniting — because each person is diverse, each parish is diverse, each diocese is diverse,” he said. “All the work has focused on whether it is the national Encuentro or the regional Encuentro. It is to complement, feed and strengthen our own reality that we are living locally.
“That is what our people are asking for,” he continued. “This process is in the light of the Gospel and is focused on faith. That is the great value of this document and its unity and communion.”
Now, the focus is on putting the guides into action at the parishes, especially for those that did not participate. Meetings like those planned in this region are meant to help dioceses and parishes take up this challenge now that the process has come full circle.
Meeting goals
At the end of the process it is “how your local community will benefit from this information and enrich what we have done during these three years. It is not a pastoral plan, it is a guide,” said Bishop Alberto Rojas, V Encuentro lead bishop and coadjutor Bishop of San Bernardino.
Some dioceses are already bearing fruits from this process, said Dr. Dora Tobar, director of Family Life and Hispanic Ministry in the Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana.
“Formation, is one of the powerful things that came out of the Encuentro in my diocese,” she said. “It helps to awaken in all participating facilitators the awareness that they are missionary disciples.
“In fact, that spirit of a Church in mission has been so strong that one of the results of the V Encuentro between us is that they themselves formed groups of missionaries and now we are seeing how to continue feeding that missionary consciousness process,” Dr. Tobar said.
Everything “has been done in the light of the Gospel, the information was worked by teams. They prayed and meditated at the level of the Gospel,” said Bishop Rojas.
One of the topics explained Jan. 13 was making sure the results of V Encuentro reach the periphery, as the pope has said.
The work and results of all the Encuentro meetings around the country “is and will remain for years to come the starting point for all who hope to promote ministry with, by, and for Hispanic/Latino Catholics, from their lived reality. It would also serve as an excellent tool for sabbaticals and clergy renewal days,” according to the “Proceedings and Conclusions” publication.