Newspaper Page Text
The Southern Cross, Page 8
Faith Alive
Thursday, May 4,2000
4T
What our multicultural
parishes mean for all of us
By Daniel S. Mulhall
Catholic News Service
T
ou probably wouldn’t be sur
prised to find Hispanics in the South
west or Asians along the West Coast of
the United States, but you may be
surprised to learn that 20
percent of U.S. Catholic
parishes celebrate the Eu
charist regularly in a lan
guage other than English.
In places like Louisville,
Ky., Arlington, Va., Madi
son, Wis., and Baton Rouge,
La., Mass is celebrated in
Spanish, Vietnamese and
Portuguese. And even more
parishes are seeing this eth
nic diversity among the
people in the pews.
Did you know that there
was a time in the United
States when many par
ishes were founded to serve
only one ethnic culture? In
almost every U.S. city you
will find parishes that be
gan as ethnic parishes.
It wasn’t uncommon to
find two or even three par
ishes within two or three
blocks of each other, each
serving a different ethnic
community. Depending on
the particular city’s immi
gration pattern, the par
ishes might be Polish, or
German, Italian or Irish.
During the time of Jim
Crow laws and segrega
tion, many parishes were
founded by and for
African-American Catho
lics, who often were unwanted and
unwelcome in “white” churches.
Old-timers still tell stories about
life in these ethnic enclaves when
people would walk past a nearby
church to attend Mass &nd go to
FAITH IN THE MARKETPLACE
school in a parish with other members
of their own ethnic community.
But times changed. During the
past 50 years, as millions of people
moved from cities into suburbs, ethnic
parishes often were abandoned. Many
of them closed due to a lack of parish
ioners, others merged with nearby
that often still is divided by skin color
if not nationality.
■ ■ ■
Just as immigration patterns
shaped the United States from its in
ception, new waves of immigrants
continue to shape it today. This time,
however, the immigrants are not just
CNS photo by Bill Wittman
parishes that serve everyone regard
less of nationality. Some, especially in
cities with continuing immigration,
still have flourishing ethnic parishes.
Most parishes, however, reflect the
melting pot of U.S. society, albeit one
How has the church in your area
concretely welcomed or supported new immigrants?
“Here at St. Charles (Bridgeport, Conn.), we celebrate Mass in five
languages over the course of the month: English, Spanish, French Creole,
Portuguese and Lao.” — Ilene Iassogna, Bridgeport, Conn.
“Our community, the Sisters of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Joseph,
works at St. Francis Parish (Gallup, N.M.). We work with our Spanish
population. We help them with immigration matters and in areas of social
services, language and religious instruction.” — Mother Magda Garcia.
HNSG. Gallup, N.M.
“We (Immaculate Conception. Towson, Md.) have a devotion initiated by
members of our Philippine community called 'The Alliance of Two Hearts.'
It takes place on the first Friday of each month and includes liturgy,
rosary, confession and benediction.” — Helen Wilson. Timonium. Md.
“Our Lady of Good Counsel (Little Rock. Ark.) has a sizable Laotian
community. We celebrate special Masses with them, and occasionally they
host a soup dinner for the entire parish.” — Father Thomas Keller, Little
Rock. Ark.
An upcoming edition asks: What troubles or delights you most about the
situation of aged people you know? If you would like to respond for
possible publication, please write: Faith Alive! 3211 Fourth St. N.E.,
Washington, D.C. 20017-1100.
from Europe. Today’s immigrants ar
rive from all over the world: China,
Nigeria, Colombia, Poland, the Philip
pines, Lebanon and, of course, Mexico.
While many of these newcomers
settle in small communities near oth
ers from their homelands, many others
have gravitated to other parts of the
country looking for work and accep
tance.
A quick glance around my parish
in a suburb of Baltimore shows a
salad bowl of parishioners: Euro
pean-Americans, African-Americans
and Asian-Americans from many dif
ferent countries.
Although these changing demo
graphics pose a challenge for the
church and its ministers, especially at
the parish level, they also provide a
chance for tremendous growth.
The church is made up of the many
faces in God’s house, not just the faces
of those who look and act like me. As
Cardinal Francis George of Chicago
said in a recent speech, “My sense of
Christ is incomplete until I have a
global vision equal to the mission and
identity of the church itself.”
a m m
All of us — and our parishes with
us — are called to ask two questions:
"What can I learn about Christ from
the richness and beauty of other eth
nic and cultural traditions?” and
“What can others learn about Christ
All contents copyright©2000 by CNS
from the richness and beauty of my
cultural traditions?”
Consider what Christmas would be
like without the familiar Nativity
scene. We owe that to the Italian
Francis of Assisi, who in the 12th
century created the first creche.
A recent article in Civilization
magazine spoke about how
many Japanese are being
drawn to Christianity by
the beauty of Bach’s music;
they want to know more
about the faith that in
spired Bach to create such
beauty.
Through their intense
desire for freedom from sin
and slavery, the African-
American community has ,'
shared with us the passion
of the spirituals and the rec
ognition that we must de
pend and trust entirely
upon God to have life.
What then can we learn
about God from other cul
tures with which we are un
familiar?
Native Americans often
talk about God as the great
grandfather and recognize
God in all of creation. Could
this affect our understand
ing of and respect for the
elder members of our
churches or our respect for
the environment?
We can learn much
about the communion of
44 J?
JLj very culture and
ethnic community has
discovered something about
God that we need to know.
The changing faces in our
parishes give us the oppor
tunity to hear this message
and learn from it.”
saints from the Asian understanding
of the importance of our ancestors.
Every culture and ethnic commu
nity has discovered something about
God that we need to know. The chang
ing faces in our parishes give us the
opportunity to hear this message and
learn from it. This also gives us the
opportunity to live more fully as dis
ciples of Christ.
Matthew 25 speaks of welcoming
the stranger, feeding the hungry,
clothing the naked. We can do all that
and more by making our parishes
places where the stranger feels at
home, where everyone is wanted and
where everyone's gifts are considered
valuable.
(Mulhall is assistant secretary for
catechesis and inculturation in the
U.S. Catholic Conference Depart
ment of Education.)
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