April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
AROUND THE DIOCESE
Hispanic Catholics: reaching a growing community
Laypeople and religious leaders told The Evangelist that the eight parishes in the Diocese that offer Spanish liturgies are meeting the needs of Hispanics, despite tight resources and a lack of native-Spanish-speaking priests. The priests who do have a grasp of the language - only a few in the Diocese call themselves fluent - can celebrate Mass, deliver homilies and celebrate sacraments, though some say they feel less confident when hearing confessions.
"I suppose it's never enough," mused Rev. Jeffrey L'Arche, MS, who's served Hispanic communities along the east coast for 35 years. "I think, a lot of times, people just don't know where Mass may be offered. [Outreach] is rather essential."
Also director of Our Lady of LaSalette shrine in Altamont and chaplain at Teresian House nursing facility in Albany, Father L'Arche has ministered to the Hispanic communities at Sacred Heart/St. Columba parish in Schenectady and St. Patrick's in Albany, both now closed.
Circuit rider
Today, he fills in at St. Anthony's parish in Schenectady, the Shrine Church of Our Lady of the Americas in Albany (a mission of Blessed Sacrament parish) and Sacred Heart parish in Margaretville. Father L'Arche leads retreats and penance services, celebrates sacraments and officiates at "quinceaneras," which mark a girl's 15th birthday.
He says there's more to ministering to Hispanic Catholics than meets the eye.
"The people need a lot more than simply, 'I can go to church at this hour and then go back home,'" he said. "The most important thing is to be welcoming and to realize that we share the same faith."
Rev. Thomas Hayes, director of the diocesan Hispanic Apostolate, says there are approximately 48,013 Hispanics in the Diocese's 14 counties. About 1,000 regularly attend Mass.
"One has to remember that Hispanic spirituality is home-based and not parish-based," he noted. "Most Hispanics do not associate formally with a parish community due to fear on the part of so many who are undocumented."
Regardless, attendance is growing throughout the Diocese, especially in Stuyvesant Falls, Margaretville, Troy and Saratoga. The Diocese acknowledges the need for more fluent priests and has been trying to recruit a native Spanish-speaking priest.
Becoming bilingual
In the meantime, bilingual priests take refresher courses in Spanish whenever possible, and some help at multiple parishes. In 2010, the diocesan Vocations Team began asking seminarians to incorporate Spanish studies into their formation; three attended immersion programs in Bolivia.
Deacon Scott VanDerveer, who will be ordained a priest this spring, spent two summers studying abroad and has ministered at St. Joseph's parish in Stuyvesant Falls, where the Hispanic community has grown over two decades to about 200 people on Sundays.
Members of that mostly farming community take advantage of English classes and Spanish baptisms, but feel that faith formation and other programs are lacking. Still, Deacon VanDerveer was delighted by the community's size.
"I'm learning that I have to put aside my pride and shyness and just go for it," the future priest said of conversing with Spanish-speakers. "The people always, 100 percent of the time, have given me the benefit of the doubt. They know that we're not going to be Spanish scholars, but their goal is that we're going to be able to celebrate Mass and hear confessions."
Deacon VanDerveer said that equipping pastors with language tools is necessary: "There's a lot of hidden need. We need to be proactive in ministering" to mixed communities.
Confident in skills
Rev. Dan Quinn, associate pastor at Blessed Sacrament parish in Albany and one of the Diocese's newest priests, agreed. He was one of the group who learned Spanish in Bolivia.
"The purpose [of the summer courses] was so that I could minister to [Spanish-speakers] wherever they were," Father Quinn said.
He sometimes fills in for Rev. Frank O'Connor, chaplain of the Shrine Church of Our Lady of the Americas, which draws up to 200 Hispanic Catholics at weekly Masses. He also prays with its Friday night Rosary group. Father Quinn can give homilies and hear confessions comfortably and calls his Spanish proficiency "very functional.
"I think we do a pretty good job," he said. "We have to at the very least know the culture. The Church is a very diverse family. Even if people don't speak their language, they're still part of the Church."
Father O'Connor, a retired priest of the Diocese who ministered to the Hispanic community in Stuyvesant Falls for many years, has taken summer courses at the Mexican American Catholic College in Texas three times. He stayed for four weeks last year.
Albany to Amsterdam
"I'm still a learner. I'm not as well-trained as what they'd want, but I'm what they got," he said of the shrine church, which has a monthly healing Mass, a prayer group, Lenten missions and a women's group. Social services like English lessons and assistance with employment and immigration matters is lacking, Father O'Connor said.
The situation is similar in Amsterdam, which has the largest Hispanic population in the state outside New York City - "but you don't see that many connected to the Church," said Rev. John Medwid, pastor of St. Mary's parish in Amsterdam, which sees 80 to 100 people at its weekly Spanish Mass. "My feeling is that a large part of the population is unchurched."
Mercedes Ramirez, a Costa Rica native who worships with St. Mary's Hispanic Apostolate, agreed that evangelization is needed. "A lot of people don't know that the services are there," she said, adding: "We are so lucky and so blessed having Father Medwid."
Mrs. Ramirez said a "conglomeration" of issues keep Amsterdam's Latinos from church, like the language barrier, lack of transportation, the sexual abuse scandal in the Church and a lack of children's activities. Many also face poverty, unemployment and drug problems.
"I think [St. Mary's is] trying. They welcomed us" after the apostolate's previous home closed, she said. "There's a still a lot to be done, but it has to be done from within; we can't have other people do it for us."
Cultural needs
Father Medwid said the people are "very grateful for whatever I can offer. I studied [Spanish] academically, but I really never got an immersion experience, which I really should have.
"People will say, 'Why can't they just worship in English?'" he continued. But Spanish is "so much a part of who they are. Their language and customs are extremely important."
Mrs. Ramirez agreed, adding that priests need to understand the culture "in order for them to completely serve. We have our own ways."
In Schenectady, a tag-team of priests covers Spanish Masses and sacraments for up to 150 Hispanics at St. Anthony's parish; there are also bilingual liturgies at the city's St. John the Evangelist parish during Holy Week. Rev. Richard Carlino, pastor of St. Anthony's, took a six-week language refresher course two years ago and can now converse with his flock; one parishioner calls him every day to help him practice Spanish.
"Even if I make mistakes, they absolutely love it," Father Carlino said of Mass-goers. He also attends prayer services, visits hospitalized parishioners and does funerals. He said the need for Spanish-speaking priests "is significant. If I say something to them in English, they get it. But if I say something to them in Spanish, they really get it."
Father Carlino celebrates the Spanish liturgy three times a month; Father L'Arche fills in once a month and also hears confessions. Rev. Richard Broderick, director of the diocesan Pueblo to People sister parish project, and Rev. Jun Segura, a sacramental minister to the Spanish-speaking communities at St. Anthony's in Troy, St. Mary's in Crescent and Sacred Heart in Margaretville, help occasionally. Deacon Ramon Tapia, a native of the Dominican Republic, helps with baptisms and special Latino rituals.
"All of them are much more proficient in Spanish than I am," Father Carlino admitted. "I wish I could find more time to study it. I don't think it will happen."[[In-content Ad]]
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