Diocese realigns responsibility for ethnic ministries
July 29, 2019 at 12:37 p.m.
By Terry Ginther
When Catholics pray the Creed we profess belief in a Church that is one, holy, catholic and apostolic. We have always understood “catholic” to mean that the Church is universal, a community of believers of every race and ethnicity in every nation on Earth. The faithful of the Diocese of Trenton, however, are increasingly experiencing this catholicity as diversity within their own parishes. Catholics native to the Diocese, and those from other parts of the United States, are worshiping side-by-side with Catholics born on every continent.
It was once alleged that America was never more segregated than it was on Sunday morning. A similar thing could be said for Catholics. During the last century, separate parishes for each ethnic group were the norm. Perhaps you remember a time when there was a German parish a few blocks away from a Polish parish; and an Italian parish just a short walk from a Slovak parish?
Today, we see a Hispanic or Korean parish just down the street from a more “American” parish. However, we are gradually seeing more parishes with several ethnic groups all belonging to the same parish. St. John Paul II spoke of this new image of parish as a “community of communities.”
In the last 50 years, the number of foreign-born persons in the United States has increased fourfold. In the Diocese of Trenton alone, there are now nearly a quarter million residents who were born outside the U.S. That’s 12 percent of the population. More than 330,000 residents of the four counties that comprise our Diocese speak a language other than English at home.
These foreign-born populations are not concentrated solely in cities and large towns. They are geographically disbursed throughout the Diocese in suburban and rural settings as well. The prospect of establishing separate churches for each language group wherever they live cannot be sustained. We do not have the priests or the financial resources to do so; and history tells us that as needs change the viability of such parishes will change too.
This new reality presents a challenge. We don’t need more parishes; in fact, we have more than we can sustain. We need, instead, to increase the capacity of each existing parish to minister to the various ethnic groups present in the parish.
It is time to humbly pray and seek God’s direction. It is a time to ask the right questions. How can parishes welcome the gifts of all their people and use them to spread the Gospel? How can parishes meet the spiritual and pastoral needs of the people in culturally appropriate ways? What does an integrated parish look like and how does it operate?
With this new realization has come a redefinition of the role of the Diocesan departments. They exist, at least in part, to help parishes answer these questions. Responsibility for working with each parish has been placed squarely on the different ministerial offices. This has meant hiring bilingual staff to assist parishes as they minister among Hispanic Catholics, the largest non-English speaking and fastest growing group in the Diocese. It has meant providing training for the diocesan staff to develop the necessary skills, attitudes, and awareness to work across cultures.
It has also meant eliminating some of the interim structures that were put in place to help the Diocese minister to emerging populations. We are grateful that the ethnic apostolates, and later the Department of Multicultural Ministry, helped us to meet the needs of their times. However, now is a new time and we have taken these actions to focus our resources to better help parishes meet the needs of their own people.
As time passes, this approach means that a purposeful effort needs to be made to invite the diverse people of our Diocese to hear God’s call to the priesthood, diaconate, religious life or lay ministry. It means we must find ways to widen our celebration of liturgy to be more inclusive of languages, music and customs that are different—and see them not as diminishing what we have known, but enriching our experience and expression of faith.
It means we must make room at the one table not only for sharing in the Eucharist, but also to share in ministry and leadership.
Terry A. Ginther is Executive Director, Office of Pastoral Life and Mission.
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By Terry Ginther
When Catholics pray the Creed we profess belief in a Church that is one, holy, catholic and apostolic. We have always understood “catholic” to mean that the Church is universal, a community of believers of every race and ethnicity in every nation on Earth. The faithful of the Diocese of Trenton, however, are increasingly experiencing this catholicity as diversity within their own parishes. Catholics native to the Diocese, and those from other parts of the United States, are worshiping side-by-side with Catholics born on every continent.
It was once alleged that America was never more segregated than it was on Sunday morning. A similar thing could be said for Catholics. During the last century, separate parishes for each ethnic group were the norm. Perhaps you remember a time when there was a German parish a few blocks away from a Polish parish; and an Italian parish just a short walk from a Slovak parish?
Today, we see a Hispanic or Korean parish just down the street from a more “American” parish. However, we are gradually seeing more parishes with several ethnic groups all belonging to the same parish. St. John Paul II spoke of this new image of parish as a “community of communities.”
In the last 50 years, the number of foreign-born persons in the United States has increased fourfold. In the Diocese of Trenton alone, there are now nearly a quarter million residents who were born outside the U.S. That’s 12 percent of the population. More than 330,000 residents of the four counties that comprise our Diocese speak a language other than English at home.
These foreign-born populations are not concentrated solely in cities and large towns. They are geographically disbursed throughout the Diocese in suburban and rural settings as well. The prospect of establishing separate churches for each language group wherever they live cannot be sustained. We do not have the priests or the financial resources to do so; and history tells us that as needs change the viability of such parishes will change too.
This new reality presents a challenge. We don’t need more parishes; in fact, we have more than we can sustain. We need, instead, to increase the capacity of each existing parish to minister to the various ethnic groups present in the parish.
It is time to humbly pray and seek God’s direction. It is a time to ask the right questions. How can parishes welcome the gifts of all their people and use them to spread the Gospel? How can parishes meet the spiritual and pastoral needs of the people in culturally appropriate ways? What does an integrated parish look like and how does it operate?
With this new realization has come a redefinition of the role of the Diocesan departments. They exist, at least in part, to help parishes answer these questions. Responsibility for working with each parish has been placed squarely on the different ministerial offices. This has meant hiring bilingual staff to assist parishes as they minister among Hispanic Catholics, the largest non-English speaking and fastest growing group in the Diocese. It has meant providing training for the diocesan staff to develop the necessary skills, attitudes, and awareness to work across cultures.
It has also meant eliminating some of the interim structures that were put in place to help the Diocese minister to emerging populations. We are grateful that the ethnic apostolates, and later the Department of Multicultural Ministry, helped us to meet the needs of their times. However, now is a new time and we have taken these actions to focus our resources to better help parishes meet the needs of their own people.
As time passes, this approach means that a purposeful effort needs to be made to invite the diverse people of our Diocese to hear God’s call to the priesthood, diaconate, religious life or lay ministry. It means we must find ways to widen our celebration of liturgy to be more inclusive of languages, music and customs that are different—and see them not as diminishing what we have known, but enriching our experience and expression of faith.
It means we must make room at the one table not only for sharing in the Eucharist, but also to share in ministry and leadership.
Terry A. Ginther is Executive Director, Office of Pastoral Life and Mission.
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