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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.) km sii /