NEW ALBANY – St. Francis of Assisi, Confirmation Mass, Aug. 18, 2024. Pictured front row (l-r) Jocelyn Rangel, Regena Portis, Isela Perez, Evelin Tovar, Jimena Perez and Joanna Martinez Romero. Middle row: Father Jesuraja Xavier, Chris Angel Tiscareno, Angel Guzman, Christopher Chen and Saul Franco Garcia. Top row: German Valles, Bishop Joseph Kopacz and Juan Romero. (Photo by Joanna Manning)
By Joanna Puddister King
JACKSON – On Wednesday, Aug. 28 over 70 parish leaders from across the Diocese of Jackson gathered for an intercultural competence workshop held at St. Jude Pearl by the Office of Intercultural Ministry for the diocese. At the event, twelve different countries were represented other than the United States, including Nigeria, India, Vietnam, Columbia and Mexico, among others. The event spoke to the reality present that diocesan ministries need to learn to serve within the cultural reality of the diocese.
The workshop, focusing on culture in general and not on a particular one, explored topics such as how culture works, parameters of culture, communications skills and the movements of parish integration.
Deacon Juan Carlos Pagán of the Diocese of Lafayette was one of the featured speakers at the event. Originally from Puerto Rico, with a “Cajun” wife of 25 years, he spoke on the need of inculturation – wrapping the core message in a way that other cultures can understand.
With all of the different countries represented that were present at the event, Deacon Pagán said that “we need to learn how to serve in ways that are applicable to the different cultural realities.”
Using the Blessed Virgin Mary as an example, he pointed out that in her different apparitions, she appears in the image of the people she is speaking to. “Guadalupe is a great example,” said Deacon Pagán. “You have Mary showing up dressed in a way that indigenous people could understand who she was. This is an example of inculturation – it’s the wrapping of the truth of Jesus Christ … in a package that is understandable for the recipients.”
Statistics of our changing diocese were also featured during the event. Bishop Joseph Kopacz spoke briefly at the intercultural workshop on the extensive CARA study undertaken through the pastoral reimagining process the diocese undertook over the past year, that now continues on a parish level. He said it was important for parish leaders to be grounded in reality regarding the make-up of the demographics in the diocese and note “who will be the Catholic population going forward 20-30 years.”
Bishop Kopacz said that for the purpose of evangelization, some parish communities did not realize the size of the Catholic population in their areas that are not attending church until viewing the CARA study. Many want to reach out and bring them into the Catholic community and doing that through elevating intercultural competence is a step in the right direction, he said.
Also speaking at the event was Olga Lucia Villar, who currently serves as executive director for the US Catholic Bishops Southeast Office for Hispanic Ministry and the Southeast Pastoral Institute (SEPI). Columbian by birth, she immigrated as a teenager with her family to Miami in 1987.
Using stories from her wide berth of experiences on the parish level and world-wide missionary experiences, Villar painted a picture of a world with intercultural interaction as a way of life and not a problem to be solved.
She asked all present at the event to keep an image of Jesus and the church that he dreams about in the forefront of everything done to further the work of the church as the Body of Christ.
“Think, do my actions and my pastoral work do reflect that Jesus that … invites us to follow him,” said Villar.
She says that learning is the key to bridging the gap between cultures. “Ask, how much am I willing to continue learning,” said Villar. “Is Jesus done with me? Am I all that He dreamt of me to be … or do I have more room for growth in my faith and in my way of seeing life.”
Villar outlined nine movements to foster an environment of understanding between cultures. The moments include:
“We are a eucharistic people,” said Villar. “Think what … Jesus asks of us today in the church that needs healing, reconciliation, that needs to renew its sense of hospitality of being embraced.”Sister Amelia Breton, SBS, of the Office of Intercultural Ministry for the diocese, was pleased with the level of participation at the event and said that the purpose of the event was to assist leaders to better understand the dynamics of other cultures.
“The communities across the diocese are so different, especially within the Hispanic communities,” said Sister Amelia. “It reminds me that diversity is greater and more complex than we can imagine.” Sister Amelia plans to continue conversations on best practices in working in intercultural parishes and also held a similar workshop in Spanish at Immaculate Heart of Mary in Houston on Saturday, Sept. 7.
(Editor’s Note: The CARA study completed through the pastoral reimagining process on the demographics of the Catholic population in the Diocese of Jackson can be viewed at https://bit.ly/CARA_CDJ. For more resources on Intercultural Ministry contact Sister Amelia Breton, SBS at amelia.breton@jacksondiocese.org.)
By Joanna Puddister King and Tereza Ma
JACKSON – Being a priest for 50 years, one could imagine the immense changes in that half of a century. For Father Joe Dyer, the first Black diocesan priest in Mississippi, God threw him “many surprises.”
Celebrating 50 years of priesthood on Friday, Aug. 16 at Christ the King parish in Jackson was a full-circle moment for Father Dyer, having been his first assignment in the Diocese of Jackson as associate pastor shortly after his ordination to the priesthood in 1974.
Father Dyer was ordained by Bishop Joseph Brunini in New Orleans at St. Mary of the Angels Church – an event he was “forever grateful” to Bishop Brunini for allowing him to be ordained at one of the parishes of his youth.
Growing up in New Orleans, Father Dyer recalled his home church of Holy Redeemer a “colored” parish that was destroyed by Hurricane Betsy, a powerful category 4 storm in 1965 that breached levees and inundated neighborhoods. After that, the family and others from the parish found their home at a local “white” parish – St. Mary of the Angels.
Father Tony Ricard of the Archdiocese of New Orleans was in attendance at Father Dyer’s 50th anniversary celebration and both attended the same high school though about 20 years apart – St. Augustine High School in New Orleans. The school has turned out 12 Black Catholic priests over the past 50 years and Father Dyer was the first.
“So, at school we refer to him as our ‘Proto-Priest.’ Meaning that he was the first to come from us,” said Father Tony. “He’s been a great inspiration to all of the young men that have gone on to become priests from our school. … When we talk about him, we talk about his ministry and the fact that soon he’ll be 80 years old, but he hasn’t stopped yet.”
After beginning his service at Christ the King in Jackson, Father Dyer served at Holy Family Jackson, St. John Oxford, Sacred Heart Canton, Holy Child Jesus Canton, St. Michael Forest, St. Michael Paulding, St. Anne Newton, St. Martin de Porres before his full-circle moment serving back at Christ the King Jackson as sacramental minister and spending time with children at Sister Thea Bowman School after his retirement in February of 2018.
At his anniversary celebration, many gathered from parishes Father Dyer served at over the years and from New Orleans, sharing fond memories and the profound impact he has had on their lives.
Joyce Brasfield Adams recalled when he brought her into the Catholic Church in 1986 at Holy Family parish in Jackson. “Father Joe believed in me before I believed in myself,” said Adams. “I thank God for Father Joe.”
The Le family of St. Michael Forest made the trip to celebrate Father Dyer’s anniversary, recalling family trips and immersing him in Vietnamese culture. Andrew Le was an altar server for Father Dyer while serving at St. Michael Forest for a period of 11 years and even had the pleasure of altar serving with him on a cruise ship. Le was also honored to bring Father Dyer along for a Vietnamese Catholic retreat – Marian Days – in Missouri where tens of thousands of Vietnamese Catholics gather for a spiritual pilgrimage and social festival. “He means the world to us,” said Amy Le, who Father Dyer confirmed to the Catholic faith years ago.
As Father Dyer continues his celebration of 50 years of priesthood and 80 years of life, his journey of faith continues on. “My sacramental life is now as a priest who still finds joy and purpose administering the sacraments to God’s people,” said Father Dyer.
By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
“We do not proclaim ourselves. Rather we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your servants for the sake of Jesus. For the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has enabled his light to shine in our hearts to enlighten them with the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. However, we hold this treasure in earthen vessels so that it may be clear that this immense power belongs to God and does not derive from us.” (2Corinthians 4:5-7)
This scripture passage is taken from the first reading on the Memorial of St. Gregory the Great at the Mass for the Diocesan Catholic School Teacher Development Day last week. The life of this great Doctor of the western church, one of four along with Saints Ambrose, Augustine and Jerome, is an exceptional prism to view the varied dimensions of Catholic School educators. As in the life of Pope St. Gregory the Great, all educators in the faith are called upon to celebrate, live and circulate the treasure of faith, and not simply hold it within tucked away as if in a safety deposit box.
St. Gregory served as Pope from 590-604 AD. Throughout much of his life and especially as the successor of St. Peter the glory of God was evident, illuminating the presence of Jesus Christ in the church and in society.
He grew up in a prominent family in Rome, was well educated, a man of deep faith and very committed to service. Upon the death of his parents, he directed his wealth to the establishment of monasteries, assuming the vocation of a monk and serving as the Abbot. His administrative gifts were widely recognized and Pope Pelagius II who ordained him a deacon in 579 sent him as a legate to Constantinople. He returned to his monastery after his tour of duty in the East, but with the death of the Pope Pelagius in the plague that swept through Rome, by popular acclaim in the church and in society Gregory was swept into the papal office.
By the grace of God his accomplishments were legion over his 15 years at the center of the church. From the heart of the monastery, he brought Gregorian Chant into the mainstream of the church. Steeped in the scriptures he expended great effort in the renewal of the clergy, including the office of bishop. He commissioned missionaries far and wide to Africa, France, Spain, and to present day England and Scotland to convert the Anglo Saxons. The propagation of the faith is the church’s irrepressible missionary impulse, the Great Commission of Jesus (Matthew 28) and is integral to the ministry of the pope. At this very hour I am writing, Pope Francis is on a missionary journey to Asia, including Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, East Timor, etc. As a final note, St. Gregory was an accomplished scholar whose writings remain a cherished part of the church’s treasury.
Amid all his scholarship, and accomplishments, in the Office of Readings for his feast day we have a glimpse of the heart of the man who knew he was an earthen vessel who held an eternal treasure. “Indeed, when I was in the monastery, I could curb my idle talk and usually be absorbed in my prayers. Since I assumed the burden of pastoral care, my mind is concerned with so many matters. I must weigh the behavior and acts of individuals. I am responsible for the concerns of our citizens. I must worry about the invasions of roving bands of barbarians and beware of the wolves who lie in wait for my flock. With my mind divided and torn to pieces by so many problems how can I meditate, or preach, or teach, or lead wholeheartedly? Moreover, at times I let my tongue run, and because I am weak, I find myself drawn little by little into idle conversation, and I begin to talk freely about matters I would have avoided. … So, who am I to be a watchman, for I do not stand firmly on the mountain of action, but lie down in the valley of weakness? However, the all-powerful creator and redeemer of mankind can give me despite my weakness a higher life and effective speech; because I love him, I do not spare myself in speaking of him.” Gregory described his ministry as Servant of the Servants of God, a title that has anchored the papacy to Jesus Christ the Servant ever since.
The key for all of us, like Pope St. Gregory, is the treasure we hold in the earthen vessels of our lives, the weakness and vulnerability from within, and often the unpredictability around us. The treasure is the faith, hope and love, this year’s theme for our Catholic School communities, that is the glory of God shining on the face of Jesus Christ. From the center of the church to all points on the compass, all the baptized are called to be disciples radiating the One who is the light of the world, true God from true God.
IN EXILE
By Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI
Inside each of us, beyond what we can picture clearly, express in words, or even feel distinctly, we have a dark memory of having once been touched and caressed by hands far gentler than our own. That caress has left a permanent mark, an imprint of a love so tender and deep that its memory becomes a prism through which we see everything else. This imprint lies beyond conscious memory but forms the center of our soul.
This is not an easy concept to explain. Bernard Lonergan, one of the great intellectuals of the past century, tried to explain it philosophically by saying we bear inside us “the brand of the first principles,” namely, the oneness, truth, goodness and beauty which are the attributes of God. That’s accurate, but abstract. Maybe the old myths and legends capture it better when they say that, before birth, each soul is kissed by God, and it then goes through life always in some dark way remembering that kiss and measuring everything it experiences in relation to that original sweetness. To be in touch with your heart is to be in touch with this primordial kiss, with both its preciousness and its meaning.
What exactly is being said here?
Within each of us, at that place where all that is most precious within us lives, there is an inchoate sense of having once been touched, caressed, loved, and valued in a way that is beyond anything we have ever consciously experienced. In fact, all the goodness, love, value, and tenderness we experience in life fall short precisely because we are already in touch with something deeper. When we feel frustrated, angry, betrayed, violated or enraged, it is because our outside experience is antithetical to what we already hold dear inside.
We all have this place, a place in the heart, where we hold all that is most precious and sacred to us. From that place our own kisses issue forth, as do our tears. It is the place that we most guard from others, but the place where we would most want others to come into; the place where we are the most deeply alone and the place of intimacy; the place of innocence and the place where we are violated; the place of our compassion and the place of our rage. In that place we are holy. There we are temples of God, sacred churches of truth and love. There we bear God’s image.
But this needs understanding: the image of God inside of us is not a beautiful icon stamped inside of our soul. No. The image and likeness of God inside us is energy, fire and memory; especially the memory of a touch so tender and loving that its goodness and truth become the prism through which we ultimately see everything. Thus, we recognize goodness and truth outside of us precisely because they resonate with something that is already inside us. Things touch our hearts when they touch us here. Isn’t it because we have already been deeply touched and caressed that we passionately seek a soulmate, that we seek someone to join us in this intimate place?
And, consciously and unconsciously, we measure everything in life by how it touches this place: why do certain experiences touch us so deeply? Why do our hearts burn within us in the presence of any truth, love, goodness or tenderness that is genuine and deep? Is not all deep knowledge simply a waking up to something we already know? Is not all love simply a question of being respected for something we already are? Are not the touch and tenderness that bring ecstasy nothing other than the stirring of deep memory? Are not the ideals that inspire hope only the reminder of words somebody has already spoken to us? Does not our desire for innocence (and innocent means “not wounded”) mirror some primal unwounded place deep within us? And when we feel violated, is it not because someone has irreverently entered the sacred inside us?
When we are in touch with this memory and respect its sensitivities, we are in touch with our souls. At those times, faith, hope and love will spring up in us, joy and tears will both flow through us freely, and we will be deeply affected by the innocence and beauty of children, as pain and gratitude alternately bring us to our knees.
That is what it means to be recollected, centered. To be truly ourselves is to remember, to touch and to feel the memory of God’s original touch in us. That memory fires our energy and provides us with a prism through which to see and understand.
Sadly, today, too often a wounded, calloused, cynical, over sophisticated and overly adult world invite us to forget God’s kiss in the soul, to view this as childish. But, unless we lie to ourselves and harden ourselves against our own ourselves (the most dangerous of all activities), we will always remember, dimly, darkly, unrelentingly, the caress of God.
(Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser is a theologian, teacher and award-winning author. He can be contacted through his website www.ronrolheiser.com.)
By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The best way to ensure evangelization is about Jesus and not about oneself is to spend time in prayer and especially in Eucharistic adoration, Pope Francis told members of the Oblates of St. Joseph.
“Young people do not need us; they need God,” the pope told members of the order’s general chapter during a meeting at the Vatican Aug. 26.
“The more we live in his presence, the more we are able to help them encounter him without unnecessary protagonism and having only their salvation and full happiness at heart,” the pope said.
People today, but especially young people, he said, live in a world where what seems to count most is what is on the outside: one’s appearance, achievements or adventures.
“But a life lived all ‘outside’ leaves the inside empty like someone who spends all his time on the street and lets his home fall into disrepair for lack of care and love,” the pope said. Instead, “make your hearts, your communities (and) your religious houses places where the warmth of familiarity with God and among brothers and sisters can be felt and shared.”
The life of every Christian, but especially of a member of a religious order, must be anchored in “a daily ‘being’ with Jesus,” he said. “Let’s not delude ourselves: without him we do not stand, none of us. We each have our own frailties, and without the Lord to sustain us, we would not stand.”
Participating in the sacraments, listening to and meditating on Scripture and spending time before Jesus in the Eucharist are essential parts of religious life, he said.
“I want to emphasize this: Sometimes we neglect adoration, the prayer of adoration, silence before the Lord,” Pope Francis said. The priests and brothers in the order should imitate St. Joseph, their patron, and the way he responded to “the immense gift of having the very Son of God made man in his home: by being with him, listening to him, talking to him and sharing with him the life of every day.”
The pope also asked members of the general chapter to think about their sins and notice how “when you fell into sin it was because you were not close to the Lord. That is always the case. Those who are close to the Lord immediately cling to him and do not fall.”
KNEADING FAITH
By Fran Lavelle
Pope Francis has declared 2025 to be a Jubilee Year of Hope. In his February 2022 letter announcing the Jubilee 2025, he stated: “We must fan the flame of hope that has been given us and help everyone to gain new strength and certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and far-sighted vision. The forthcoming Jubilee can contribute greatly to restoring a climate of hope and trust as a prelude to the renewal and rebirth that we so urgently desire…”
One can clearly see the need for greater hope in the world, but it also can feel like an overwhelming ask. It is easy to lose hope in our current political climate. It is easy to lose hope in the midst of the divisions within the church. It is easy to lose hope when we see the result of despair in the news every day. To call for hope can seem quite Pollyanna-ish. We clutch pearls, shrug shoulders, and sigh emphatically as if it’s too late to restore hope in anything. But Pope Francis is not operating out of naiveté. Rather he is responding to what he knows to be true, right, and just. “For I know well the plans I have in mind for you – oracle of the Lord – plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
In reflecting on his vision of hope, I have found myself asking how we as the people of God in the Diocese of Jackson reflect hope. I was quickly and swiftly reminded of the Synod on Synodality process in 2021 and the pastoral reimagining process that began in 2023. Both processes put our resolve to the test. They both offered the people of God to reflect on what type of church we want to be. For me, I have been reminded time and again that the institution and the church are not one in the same. The institution is the governing structure. And as with all governing bodies can make mistakes. The church, however, is the Body of Christ. It is all of us. It is, for me, easy to put my faith in us. All of us. Institutions and bureaucracies can fail and disappoint us, but the Body of Christ is compelled by its very nature to work toward a fulfillment of the Gospel. This, friends, gives me great hope.
So, we turn to the implementation phase of the pastoral reimagining process. As it is with any process, one of the biggest concerns at the onset of pastoral reimagining was a fear that the end product would end up filling space on a bookshelf. From the early stages of development we knew this had to be an organic process.
The formal process was completed at Pentecost 2024 with the publication of a pastoral letter from Bishop Kopacz. The letter summarizes the reimagining process and encourages all parishes to begin implementation of what they developed and have refined through the overall pastoral reimagining process.
For that vision to flourish the diocese recognizes the need to:
Further, we recognize that the success of implementation will come down to having someone dedicated to helping parishes succeed at the local level. To that end, I have accepted the responsibility for the implementation phase of pastoral reimagining beginning this month. I will be responsible for the various aspects assisting in developing and implementing pastoral plans at the parish, mission, deanery and diocesan level.
I am ready to get to work assisting our parish leaders bring their pastoral plans to fruition. The church, the Body of Christ, needs us to fulfill the vision of the Gospel. It will not happen overnight, but it can be achieved. Our hope anchored in the Gospel will continue to fuel the reimagining process. It clearly is not over. We have just begun. Let us be inspired by part of Pope Francis’ prayer for the Jubilee of Hope, “… May your grace transform us into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel. May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos in the sure expectation of a new heaven and a new earth, when, with the powers of Evil vanquished, your glory will shine eternally …”
(Fran Lavelle is the Director of Faith Formation for the Diocese of Jackson.)
CALLED TO HOLINESS
By Jaymie Stuart Wolfe
Whether our hopes for this summer have been fulfilled or not, the season is waning. Most kids have returned to school, and the full force of the fall calendar is poised to kick in. All we can do now is hope that whatever rest and recreation we managed to get will be enough to draw on in the months ahead, enough to motivate us, enough to see us to the winter and through it.
Sometimes, though, one summer can change everything that follows it. That’s what happened to one young French girl in 1424. Sometime during that summer six centuries ago, Joan of Arc heard “voices” for the very first time. The exact date was never recorded. But what happened to Joan set her on a path that would change her life and the history of her country. This is how she described it at her infamous trial, on Feb. 22, 1431: “In my thirteenth year, I had a voice from God to help and guide me. The first time I heard this voice, I was very much afraid. The voice came around noon, in the summer, in my father’s garden. … It seemed to me a worthy voice, and I believe it was sent from God.”
I’ve been thinking a lot about Joan of Arc lately, and not just because I’ve spent close to a year writing two books about her. It’s that Joan has so much to teach us about prayer. And in this papally designated year of prayer, I’m hard-pressed to find a better example. Joan of Arc’s life shows us what it looks like when a Christian missionary disciple makes prayer a first response rather than a last resort.
Joan listened to her heavenly voices – those of St. Catherine of Alexandria and St. Margaret of Antioch – for five years before beginning her mission. Over those first five years, Joan learned how to discern the voices that came to her and how to listen. But even more importantly, she learned that the voices she was hearing – and the God who sent them – could be trusted.
To Joan, however, prayer wasn’t just a tool of initial formation; it was an ongoing source of direction and guidance, the wellspring of her purpose and mission. When she left home at the age of 17, Joan was illiterate and untrained – unqualified to command the king’s army and lead men into battle. But she knew better than to trust in her own abilities. Instead, Joan placed all her confidence in God and continually sought his counsel in prayer. And she never stopped listening, not even when she was captured and tried by a panel of corrupt ecclesial judges. Joan prevailed. After her death, France defeated the English. She was vindicated, her greatest enemy posthumously excommunicated. And now she is counted among the most popular saints of all time.
Joan of Arc’s historic mission was inspired and fueled entirely by prayer. Apparently, however, ours are not. In a recent blog post, founder of Catholic Missionary Disciples Marcel LeJeune spoke openly about the role of prayer among today’s Catholic leaders. Prayer, he says, often “takes a back seat to strategy, discussion, plans, etc.” Unlike the first Christians, LeJeune observes, “we may not be facing any extreme kinds of persecution, but we are facing other issues. Our response has been training, classes, best practices, etc. But what about prayer? Why is it done so little? Why have we not prioritized it?” Why indeed!
Six-hundred years is a long time. But if we quiet ourselves down long enough to listen, we can still hear the voices that startled Joan of Arc echo in our own lives and faith communities. Contrary to popular belief, the King of the Universe is not silent. God does not shut up. His call and his invitation are issued in every age. And he is speaking to us. What has changed is our willingness to hear him out.
Our missions and apostolates suffer because we too often pray in a perfunctory way. We do not achieve the victories we long for because we do not take prayer seriously enough to seek God first, to discern and listen to his voice, and then do only what he commands. St. Joan of Arc, pray for us.
(Jaymie Stuart Wolfe is a sinner, Catholic convert, freelance writer and editor, musician, speaker, pet-aholic, wife and mom of eight grown children, loving life in New Orleans.)
By Gina Christian
(OSV News) – An annual Eucharistic procession on a Louisiana bayou moved to the mighty Mississippi River this year as part of the National Eucharistic Revival – and graces are set to overflow, the lead organizer told OSV News.
Some 15 boats accompanied the Blessed Sacrament an estimated 130 miles along the Mississippi River Aug. 14-15 for the Fête-Dieu du Mississippi.
The procession launched in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, following a morning Mass celebrated by that diocese’s Bishop Michael G. Duca at St. Joseph Cathedral.
Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond of New Orleans concluded the event Aug. 15 at that city’s Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis with Benediction and a Mass marking the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Rallies, spiritual talks, adoration, confession and recitations of the rosary took place at various ports of call along the route, with speakers and prayer presiders including author Father Josh Johnson of the Diocese of Baton Rouge, Dominican Father Aquinas Guilbeau of The Catholic University of America and Father Dustin Dought, executive director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat of Divine Worship.
Father Michael Champagne of the Community of Jesus Crucified founded the procession a decade ago as the Fête-Dieu du Teche, the bayou where he’d grown up.
The Bayou Teche, an ancient channel of the Mississippi where French Catholics known as Acadians settled in the 18th century, was a natural inspiration for the procession, Father Champagne told OSV News.
And fittingly, the first discussions about the Fête-Dieu took place on the banks of the bayou, said the priest, whose religious community of men and women serve as “missionary contemplatives,” blending monastic prayer and active evangelization.
“I had the nuns with me in the truck, and we were driving on the Bayou Teche and saying, ‘We’ve got this anniversary coming up for the 250th anniversary of the arrival of the Acadians … and we need a Eucharistic procession on the bayou,’” said Father Champagne. “When the Acadians came, they came with their priest, they came with their flag of the Blessed Mother and they brought their faith. So I said, ‘Why don’t we reenact their arrival, and instead of doing that in boats dressed up like Acadians, let’s do a Eucharistic procession, and just move it onto the water?’”
Soon the 40-mile procession swelled to include “as many as 80 or 90 boats on the bayou,” he said.
But this year, the Fête-Dieu was put out into the deep – literally, said Father Champagne.
While the 125-mile Bayou Teche has an average depth of 5 feet, the 2,350-mile Mississippi River – despite reaching some critically low water levels in recent years – plunges to 200 feet at Algiers Point near New Orleans.
The shift in location has made for “a complicated endeavor,” admitted Father Champagne, noting that planning for this year’s procession, which required detailed logistics and permission from multiple officials, began over two years ago.
“We’re involved with the pilots’ association, the port authorities, nine sheriffs’ departments and the Coast Guard, which is supervising the procession,” he said.
Only commercial vessels operated by licensed river pilots, carrying “a handful of civilians” including the priests safeguarding the Blessed Sacrament, will be out on the water, with the average speed of the craft about 10 knots (approximately 11.5 miles) per hour, said Father Champagne.
But those on the banks were nonetheless able to participate in a rich “spiritual tailgating” experience as they witnessed the historic procession and honored the Blessed Sacrament in the port of call gatherings, he said.
Even the most casual observer had no trouble seeing the host, which was displayed in a 14-foot-tall monstrance crafted by Father Champagne’s cousin by marriage, Lyndon Stromberg of the Texas-based Stromberg Architectural.
Stromberg told OSV News that Father Champagne had provided him with a “an old antique monstrance … and said, ‘Can you make me something like this?’”
The “genius entrepreneur,” as Father Champagne described him, set to work modeling and refining a design, creating a mold for casting the monstrance in fiberglass over a metal frame, and finishing the surface in gold leaf.
A team of “about a dozen” staff worked on the project for a year, said Stromberg, noting that he and his team donated time and material for the 220-pound monstrance.
“A lot of them are Catholic, so we had people bringing their spouses and kids to show what mom and dad were working on,” Stromberg said.
The procession has also become an ecumenical encounter, said Father Champagne.
“I’ve been meeting with tugboat companies and pilots and industry guys that worked on the river their whole life,” he said. “One guy told me, ‘Look I’m Baptist, I’m not Catholic. I’ve been on the river 50 years, and it’s never been blessed. We got to bless the river, man. I’m all in.’ And another guy who’s not Catholic completely renovated one of his boats, with lots of money invested, just because he’s going to carry a statue and bells.”
As the procession looked to “bless the state of Louisiana and the Mississippi River … by bringing Jesus down a good swath of it,” Father Champagne hopes that participants were swept from the shallows of faith into a current of desire for Christ.
“I couldn’t imagine life without being in the presence of the Lord,” he said. “And I’ve got to go deeper, I’ve got to be more and more preoccupied with the Lord, and bring people to the Eucharist.”
(Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @GinaJesseReina.)
By Marietha Góngora
(OSV News) – The U.S. bishops’ Subcommittee on Hispanic Affairs conducted a survey of dioceses and archdioceses in the country’s 14 episcopal regions and released its results Aug. 21. The survey shows how Hispanic ministry has taken off across the country and that in most dioceses, there is a parish-based pastoral response to Hispanic Catholics.
Alejandro Aguilera-Titus, assistant director of Hispanic Affairs under the Secretariat for Cultural Diversity in the Church at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, explained that the subcommittee sought to determine a baseline about the state of Hispanic ministry at the parish level.
He told OSV News that it was important to observe the implementation of the National Pastoral Plan for Hispanic/Latino Ministry, a 10-year plan that was approved by the U.S. bishops in June 2023, and “to see how that parish ministry will develop in the years ahead.”
The survey, which was conducted from last April through mid-August, included questions on the number of parishes in each diocese, the number of parishes offering Mass in Spanish, and the number of parishes with a Hispanic/Latino presence or ministry without a Mass celebrated in Spanish.
“It was very important to know what the starting point is, what is the number of parishes that already have a Sunday Mass in Spanish, which is the quintessential sign that we see that the Hispanic community has been welcomed as a community in a parish,” said Aguilera-Titus. “In communities where the Spanish Mass is already established, many other ministries emerge as well.”
He said the committee was pleased to find that almost 30% of the parishes in the country have a Sunday Mass in Spanish established.
An Aug. 21 press release from USCCB indicated that 175 surveys were completed, representing 100% of the Latin Catholic archdioceses and dioceses in the U.S. It showed that 4,479 out of 16,279 U.S. parishes offered Sunday Mass in Spanish.
The survey also found that about 2,760 parishes have a Hispanic/Latino presence or ministry but do not currently offer Mass in Spanish and that “99% of the dioceses surveyed have several parishes that offer Mass in Spanish,” according to the release.
“We are talking about the fact that there is a Hispanic presence throughout the country, in the 175 dioceses (of the Latin Church) in the country” and that in most of those dioceses, “there is a significant response or parish ministry,” said Aguilera-Titus.
This survey focused on examining parishes serving Hispanics/Latinos in U.S. dioceses, but it also clarified that “several dioceses reported having missions or ministries serving Hispanics/Latinos extraordinary ministries or locations that are not identified as parishes” and that the survey did not intend to diminish those efforts.
Aguilera-Titus explained that in 2016-2017, a survey that was part of the V Encuentro process showed that about 4,485 parishes had some type of Hispanic ministry, although it did not specify data on Sunday Mass in Spanish, but rather Masses during the week or monthly Masses. This new survey indicates that 4,479 parishes have Sunday Mass in Spanish and that, in addition, almost 3,000 parishes have some type of Hispanic ministry or presence but do not have a Sunday Mass in Spanish.
“We are talking about the significant growth in the response that the church is giving at the parish level,” Aguilera-Titus said.
Over 42% of U.S. Catholics self-identified as Hispanic and it has been reported that this is the case for more than half of all U.S. Catholics under 30. But even though Latino Catholics have accounted for much of the growth of the U.S. church for decades, the data shows these Catholics are also leaving the church at high rates and becoming religiously unaffiliated, according to a 2023 report by the Pew Research Center.
“Much progress has been made in the awareness of the Hispanic presence in the country and in the response at the parish level,” Aguilera-Titus said, but the subcommittee’s survey also shows “that there are still thousands of parishes where that Hispanic presence needs to be more accurately recognized, and an adequate pastoral response needs to be given to that presence.”
Aguilera-Titus anticipated that, in the context of the new pastoral plan for Hispanic ministry and its implementation, the number of parishes with Sunday Mass in Spanish and “with developed and well-organized ministries” will grow over the years.
Bishop Oscar Cantú of San Jose, California, chair of the Subcommittee on Hispanic Affairs, welcomed the results and said these types of surveys are vital to the church’s response to Hispanic/Latino communities.
“There are common obstacles that dioceses face when engaging in Hispanic/Latino ministry, such as bilingual priests or limited resources,” the bishop said, according to the USCCB press release. “This survey helps to measure our work and determine how we can continue serving this thriving part of our church and the importance of ongoing ministry to the needs of our Spanish-speaking brothers and sisters.”
Aguilera-Titus echoed the crucial need to promote more vocations to the priesthood and religious life among Hispanic Catholics. He added that it was important that, regardless of culture and origin, seminarians and priests, “especially pastors, who are not yet interculturally capable, acquire that intercultural capacity,” knowledge, attitudes and skills “that will allow them to effectively and joyfully pastor with that Hispanic/Latino people that continues to grow in practically every corner of the country.”
He also told OSV News that despite the financial challenges facing the church in the U.S., particularly dioceses, Hispanic ministry at the diocesan level continues to be very strong. “It’s really good news that 57 of the dioceses that responded (to the survey) have their Hispanic pastoral office and director,” he said.
The survey indicated that close to 47% of respondents were directors or coordinators of Hispanic/Latino ministry. Meanwhile, “while another 35% of respondents held positions in offices dedicated to cultural diversity, faith formation, and catechesis, signaling that there are other diocesan offices engaged in, or overseeing Hispanic/Latino ministry,” the press release stated. According to the subcommittee, this point shows the correlation of a robust diocesan structure and a vibrant ministry at the parish level.
Aguilera-Titus also commented on places where there was a need for further growth. “We also have about 20% of the dioceses where we see that the diocesan structure could be further strengthened to support Hispanic ministry. That was also included in the pastoral plan,” he said.
Aguilera-Titus explained that three characteristics determine a successful diocesan ministry of Hispanic ministry (also known as “pastoral hispana”): the person who coordinates it has direct contact with the diocesan bishop, a budget that allows for the development of specific programs to support and promote and develop Hispanic ministry, and collaboration with other diocesan offices.
“We are deeply grateful for the high participation from the dioceses starting with the people who coordinate and direct Hispanic ministry, but also in some cases with people who were learning more about the Hispanic presence in their dioceses,” Aguilera-Titus said.
The USCCB press release stated the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, the Diocese of St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, and the Eastern Catholic archeparchies and eparchies in the U.S. were also not included in this survey.
(Marietha Góngora V. writes for OSV News from Washington.)
NOTES: The USCCB Hispanic Affairs Subcommittee’s survey can be found at:
Diocesan Survey (English Edition) https://bit.ly/4edfYQL
Diocesan Survey (Spanish Edition) https://bit.ly/3TfoJ52
