Alejandro Aguilera-Titus, director of Hispanic Affairs for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, will lead two upcoming workshops, one in English and one in Spanish, on “Best Practices for Shared Parishes.”
The term “shared parishes” is used to describe parish communities in which two or more languages or cultural contexts are present in the ministerial life of a parish. The two presentations will help to discern pastoral planning strategies based on integration, inclusion and intercultural sensitivity.
“The number of Catholic parishes shared by culturally diverse communities grew dramatically in the previous decade, and all indicators show that this trend will continue in the next decade,” wrote Bishop Dennis Sullivan in a letter to priests encouraging them to attend the workshops with their parishioners.
He added that the growth is “due in great part to immigration, but state population changes and parish mergers and closings also play a factor. It is our mission, as shepherds of the people of God, to meet new realities of ethnic and cultural changes in our country and diocese.”
The workshops will be “helpful for those involved in parish ministry,” said Andres Arango, Bishop’s Delegate for Hispanic Ministry for the Diocese of Camden, whose department is sponsoring Aguilera-Titus’ visit.
“Ministers need practical tools to serve their communities,” he said.
The English-speaking workshop will be held on Friday, May 8 at St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Sicklerville.
The next day, Saturday, May 9, a Spanish-speaking workshop will take place at the John Paul II Retreat House in Vineland.
Both days are from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and include a Latino Lunch.
For more information and to register, contact the secretary for the Office of Hispanic Ministry at 856-583-6170, or norma.guzman@camdendiocese.org