'One Size Does Not Fit All'
More than 140 Catholics of diverse backgrounds heard a singular message April 29-30 in seminars covering “Best Practices for Shared Parishes.” The April 29 session was led in English, and the April 30 session in Spanish – both by Alejandro Aguilera-Titus, Assistant Director of Hispanic Affairs for the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church.
Bishop Charles C. Thompson celebrated Mass each morning to begin the days’ sessions.
“One size does not fit all,” Aguilera-Titus said. “The Church exists to evangelize … not to Americanize or Mexicanize … or whatever-ize.”
“In his apostolic exhortation ‘Evangelii Gaudium,’ Pope Francis tells us that the Church doesn’t have a mission; instead, the mission has a Church,” he added, referring to E.G. 24.
Throughout the seminar, Aguilera-Titus emphasized that unity in diversity makes the Church what it is – not only here in the Diocese of Evansville, but literally across the world.
“The Catholic Church is arguably the most diverse institution ever,” Aguilera-Titus said. “We are called to love one another as Christ loves us. We do that by seeking ecclesial integration, not assimilation.”
He explained that the need for integration grows more important all the time. Citing ongoing research from Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research of the Apostolate, Aguilera-Titus reported that in 2000, 22 percent of U.S. parishes were multicultural. “By 2010, that number had grown to 33 percent,” he said. “I recently spoke to CARA about this, and the number in 2016 has grown to 38 percent.”
It’s easy to see why. “Pre-Vatican II, 76 percent of Catholics in the U.S. were of European descent. Today, 54 percent are Hispanic-Latino – the largest ethnic block among U.S. Catholics – and 39 percent are European.”
He added that the USCCB recognizes five Catholic “families” – African American; Asian-Pacific Islands; European-American; Hispanic-Latino; Native American; and Migrants, Refugees and People on the Move. He also noted that the Hispanic-Latino block includes 60 percent of all U.S. Catholics ages 18 and under.
“Migration enables the faith to grow up,” Aguilera-Titus said, noting that 44 percent of immigrants coming to the US. annually are Catholic. “We have moved and will continue to move.”
In addressing the challenges facing parishes that find themselves adapting to increasingly multicultural communities, Aguilaera-Titus emphasized the need to keep God at the center of our efforts – referring to Evangelii Gaudium No. 131, in which Pope Francis says, “Diversity must always be reconciled by the help of the Holy Spirit; he alone can raise up diversity, plurality and multiplicity while at the same time bringing about unity.”
“The Holy Spirit is the only true source of unity,” he added, recalling how the Holy Spirit raised up unity on the day of Pentecost, when so many were proclaiming the Good News – and every individual heard the message in their native language.
He also related the story of a Catholic school principal who succeeded in raising the level of diversity among a school’s student body from two percent to 33 percent. “Someone congratulated the principal and asked how she had accomplished such a remarkable transformation,” Aguilera-Titus related. “Her answer was simple: ‘I changed.’”
He suggested that the keys to the kind of ecclesial integration that must take place as our parishes grow in diversity involve withholding judgment and, instead, engaging all members of parish communities in order to enable the work of the Holy Spirit to take place.
Seminar attendees received bilingual (English and Spanish) copies of the USCCB book “Best Practices for Shared Parishes: So That They May All Be One.” The book is a great resource for use in breaking open the concept of a shared parish, and for suggestions and plans to enhance ecclesial integration.
Aguilera-Titus explained that there are three levels of ecclesial integration that take place – welcoming, belonging and ownership. “They represent the roadmap for building unity in diversity,” he said.
“Things begin when we have a sense of welcoming. A sense of belonging is the fruit of that welcome. And over time, a sense of ownership develops.”
One of the most important considerations, he suggested, is acknowledgment that such integration doesn’t happen overnight. “You must develop understanding of your culture and of other cultures.”
