New formation program begins for Hispanic ministry leaders

(En Espanol)

Felix Navarrete, archdiocesan director of Hispanic Ministry, front, poses outside the main entrance of Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology in St. Meinrad with archdiocesan parishioners who are taking part in a new Hispanic ministry formation program. (Submitted photo)

Criterion staff report

A new Hispanic ministry formation program recently began at Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology in St. Meinrad.

The program, whose initial session was held on Feb. 24, includes 102 catechists and leaders from the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, Archdiocese of Louisville, Ky., Diocese of Evansville, Ind., and Diocese of Owensboro, Ky. It resulted from months of study, discernment and planning.

The demographic changes that are shaping the Catholic Church in the United States are compelling leaders to respond through pastoral action to the growing number of native Spanish speakers who are Catholic, noted Felix Navarrete, archdiocesan director of Hispanic Ministry.

With that in mind, the Continuing Formation and Hispanic and Latino Ministry offices at the seminary, in collaboration with archdiocesan and Hispanic ministry offices in other dioceses, have begun training catechists and catechetical leaders in Spanish.

Of the participants, 48 are from the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, including parishioners from Columbus, Seymour, Charlestown, New Albany and other parishes throughout central and southern Indiana.

“The need for formation for new leaders in the peripheries of our archdiocese is increasingly evident,” Navarrete noted, “which makes this program serve as support for the ministerial function of our parish priests, especially in communities like Charlestown, where the Hispanic/Latino presence has had considerable growth in recent months.”

“They are very excited. We have heard very positive things, and they want to continue in the formation,” said Father Jeyaseelan Sengolraj, pastor of St. Michael Parish in Charlestown, referring to a group of parishioners who attended the first study session.

During the session, participants were able to learn about the Directory for Catechesis, approved by Pope Francis in 2020, in addition to learning how to develop listening sessions in small groups, get introduced to the history of salvation, and exchange experiences with people from other dioceses.

“While I am responsible for ensuring everything goes well, being with the group inspires my own faith and commitment to following Christ,” said Agnes Kovacs, director of the Office of Continuing Formation and associate director of the Graduate Theology Programs at Saint Meinrad. “It is a great blessing to find the living faith of the people, even if my Spanish is poor to understand everything.”

“It would be difficult to find more cheerful, attentive and grateful participants than the people who drove several hours each way to attend the event,” she added. “May our efforts be multiplied in all dioceses.”

What for some is just a training experience could mean the beginning of a process of spiritual enrichment for others, Navarrete explained, where faith plays a fundamental role.

“This is what we need, for people to find this opportunity as a new beginning, both in their personal and community life,” he said, “an awakening that allows them to see the evangelizing mission as a personal need. … For this, our commitment, as agents of formation, is to keep the Gospel alive and transmit it in a simple, understandable way, which adapts to the cognitive level of people without transgressing sound doctrine.”

The phrase “new evangelization,” made popular by St. John Paul II, is reflected in the reality of our communities today, Navarrete added. “Catechetical training is not limited to a group of intellectuals but is open to those who have the desire to learn and serve. This is a theological reality. Jesus calls us not because of our abilities, but because of our will, and then he trains us.”
 

(For more information on Saint Meinrad’s Office of Hispanic and Latino Ministry, visit tinyurl.com/StMHisLatMin.) †