Responding to a desire to increase the number of U.S.-born Hispanic vocations to the priesthood, the National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors (NCDVD) has been hosting regional workshops to discuss ways to foster a culture of vocations within Hispanic communities across the country.
Having already held workshops in Texas and New York, today about forty-five gathered at Saint Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, Florida for the third workshop. The last one will be held in California next week.
With the number of young Catholics in the U.S. today being mostly Hispanic, there is an urgency to foster a culture of vocations to the priesthood within the Hispanic community, while identifying better ways to reach and welcome families to encourage discipleship. Rather than primarily looking to Latin America to bring seminarians and priests to minister in the United States, it is crucial to encourage first generation Latinos born in the United States to consider the priesthood. When analyzing the U.S. ordination class to the priesthood of 2014, 15% of the newly ordained priests were Hispanic; of those, only one-third were born in the United States. Therefore, 5% of newly ordained priests were U.S.-born Hispanics. Meanwhile nationally, 38% of Catholics are Hispanic.
The keynote speakers of the workshop in Florida include Bishop John Noonan of Orlando, Florida, Alejandro Aguilera-Titus, Dr Hosffman Ospino of Boston College and vocation directors Father Jorge Torres and Father Carlos Suarez. As a priest of the Archdiocese of Miami, Bishop Noonan has had years of experience working in a culturally diverse environment as a seminarian, pastor, seminary rector and bishop. Mr. Aguilera-Titus is the Assistant Director of the Secretariat for Cultural Diversity in the United States Bishops Conference. Dr. Hosffman Ospino is an Assistant Professor of Theology and Religious Education at Boston College and recently published a fascinating and insightful report on Hispanic parishes in the United States. Titled “Hispanic Ministry in Catholic Parishes,” it was published in 2015 by Our Sunday Visitor after many years of investigation. Father Jorge Torres is the Vocation Director of the Diocese of Orlando, and Father Carlos Suarez is the Assistant Vocation Director for Hispanic Ministries, both serve in the NCDVD Hispanic Subcommittee.
This gathering of vocation directors, youth ministers, diocesan staff, and other lay leaders provides an excellent forum to discuss ideas and realities faced in various dioceses. It is a concrete step towards sharing resources and reaching new insights so that the Church may become more effective in her mission of evangelization .
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