The reality of immigration and the growing population of peoples of Latin American descent is a challenge and a hope for the Catholic Church in the United States. It is a challenge because it is the living circumstance that calls us to put into practice the evangelizing dynamic that Pope Francis calls for in Evangelii Gaudium. It is a great hope because rising to this task offers us a pathway to a renewed witness to the presence of Christ in the Church.
There is no lack of statistics and research studies to give us as pastors insight into what is happening. The Hispanic presence in the United States goes back for many generations, and immigration patterns in our times are diversifying and enriching this long historical presence.
But priests and bishops cannot rely simply on national studies to guide an adequate pastoral response to new families and individuals in our midst. The Church is universal, and is open to all who seek the communion of Christ in the Apostolic Faith. Church life is also local, and thus the local church must assess and respond to the basic questions such as: Who is here among us? Where are they from and where do they live? Do they feel welcome in our parishes and in our dioceses?
The primary challenge we face as pastors is to search for and encounter our people. Immigrant communities experience disorientation and fear when they arrive to a new place. We must understand this, and find ways to seek…and find…and invite. It is the local community that can best answer the question: “Where are immigrant families establishing themselves, and what are their stories?” Here we can enlist the aid of some of the ecclesial movements. If they are present in the diocese, a bishop can ask them to aid pastors in seeking and finding those who for some reason have not been able to seek and find the Church. Bishops, I think, must rely on their parish pastors and active laity to report about what the situation on the ground is actually like.
But sometimes we as a Church are reluctant or lethargic in our efforts to go and find out how the population that is not with us on Sunday morning is living, or why they may not have yet come to our doors. This is the challenge that the current blessing of immigration brings to us. Evangelii Gaudium calls for just this kind of reorientation of our pastoral perspective. In a sense, the first question for us on Sunday morning is not necessarily “How do we serve our people here?” It is rather, “How can everyone here better serve the population that is not with us, by seeking… and finding…and inviting?” This is the work of the whole Church, as the Holy Father never tires of saying.
There is only one way to do this, really. Send active parishioners to visit the neighborhoods, towns, and sections of the cities with changing populations. Invite the newly arrived to come and meet with the pastor at a town hall, a coffee, whatever. It’s not the venue that speaks the most to the immigrant family, it is the invitation itself.
Immigrant families often feel isolated or quickly categorized. Not all immigrant families are from Mexico, for example, though the general population may assume so. Many Hispanic families claim Spanish as a first language, many do not. What we have to find out is what the local situation is culturally, linguistically, and economically. Many assume the recent arrivals are poor. A high percentage indeed is, but not all. We must find ways for these families to sense that we want to hear from them, to understand their experience in some way, and to welcome that experience into our parishes and communities. We have a rich diversity of Latin American and Caribbean cultures in our midst. And each brings a new dimension and experience of Catholic Church life. We are always richer spiritually when the prayer and devotion of others is given space in our lives. This is the promise that this moment brings to the Church in the United States. We will be immensely richer spiritually as we invite new families to bring their culture of faith and hope into our communities.
Word will get around that the local Catholic church is eager to be hospitable and willing to provide pastoral care in a way that responds to people’s needs. But that is the point, we will not know the needs if we do not know our people.
The Holy Father has great confidence in the initiative and creativity of our local communities. Sometimes it is better for a local community to assess the situation at the outset and form a plan that works for them, aiming at seeking… and finding… and inviting. The idea of one way of doing things may not always be the best. Local communities genuinely open to taking risks for the sake of the newcomers will be blessed by the Holy Spirit for their initiative.
When a diocese encourages local “seek-find-invite” initiatives in parishes and missions, it becomes more plausible for such a diocese to formulate a more realistic pastoral plan to address the overall situation in the local church. Here is where the strategic use of language and cultural resources can be discerned and put into practice. Do we provide enough outreach and formation in Spanish in key areas of the diocese? Are Hispanic youth and young adults—often quickly bilingual—properly recognized as a special hope and opportunity? Are our older and more established communities sufficiently hospitable?
We must think universally and act locally. The great danger is that if we do not “seek, find, and invite” we will lose our own people before we ever knew they were once with us. True, we might lose them to another religion, but it is more likely we will lose them to no religion at all. For the sweep of the secular pressure to live life with no reference to God or the Church is immensely powerful. It is an undertow that carries families away from the grace of the Gospel and the sacraments. If we do not act now, we will deny ourselves a chance to live the Gospel more audaciously, in ways that risk all for the sake of finding those whom Jesus has put in our midst.
How we act now can help us refurbish our pastoral priorities in the evangelical mode that Pope Francis speaks. This vision serves as a paradigm for all Church action, giving us an opportunity to teach our people that the most important question for an active Catholic is “Who is not here with us?” The next question follows naturally: “How can we invite them to feel welcome and be with us on our pilgrimage of faith?” These are questions that the Lord invites us to ask at any moment in our local history. They open us up to the possibility of a real encounter, one that involves our willingness to let those with us, regardless of their background, enrich and expand our perspective on life and faith. After all, it is not about us making immigrant families more like us but letting the encounter with others make us all more like Jesus.
MOST REV. DANIEL E. FLORES, S.T.D. is the bishop of Brownsville, Texas.
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