From staff reports

In an effort to help Spanish-speaking ministry leaders, or potential leaders, develop practical skills for use in parish ministry, a new pastoral institute is being introduced across the Diocese beginning in January.

In a recent memorandum, Terry Ginther, diocesan chancellor and executive director of the Department of Pastoral Life and Mission, encouraged all pastors and/or parochial vicars of parishes designated as Centers for Hispanic Ministry and those with Masses in Spanish to reach out to staff and parishioners who they believe would be suitable prospective students. She noted that permanent deacons could also benefit from the formation program and that the hours can be used toward their annual continuing education requirements.

“I believe the time is right in our increasingly multicultural Diocese to develop Spanish-speaking and bilingual leaders who can work closely with their pastors and parish priests to encourage and engage Hispanic Catholics of the current generation and the coming generations,” she said.

The goal of the Pastoral Institute for Ministerial Formation – Instituto Pastoral para Formacion Ministerial – is to train Spanish-speaking parishioners to apply the core beliefs of the Catholic faith to ministry. Ginther said the idea was one of the elements developed from the 2014 Pastoral Plan for Ministry among Spanish-speaking Catholics in the Diocese.

The pilot program will begin in 2019 in Mercer and Monmouth Counties, with the intention of it being offered in Burlington and Ocean Counties in 2020. Consideration will also be given for the same formation to be made available in English.

The first course of 17 sessions, titled “Foundations and Practices for Ministry,” will begin in January for Mercer County in the community room of St. Anthony of Padua Parish, 251 Franklin St., Hightstown. The course will kick off in February in Monmouth County in Carmel Hall of Mother of Mercy Parish, 805 Pine St., Asbury Park. All sessions will be held Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

The course instructors will include: Father Carlos Aguirre, parochial vicar in St. Joseph Parish, Toms River; Josue Arriola, director of the diocesan Department of Evangelization and Family Life; Father Jorge Bedoya, parochial vicar in St. Joan of Arc Parish, Marlton; Laura Rivas, associate director of Adult Faith Formation in the diocesan Department of Evangelization and Family Life; Father Juan Rojas, parochial vicar in St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Hightstown; Msgr. Joseph Roldan, rector in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton; Father Cesar Rubiano, pastor of Our Lady of the Angels Parish, Trenton, and Father Arian Wharff, parochial vicar in St. Robert Bellarmine Co-Cathedral, Freehold.

To enroll, applicants must have completed high school, be able to read and write Spanish and obtain the endorsement of his or her pastor. Previous participation in adult faith formation in the parish is expected.

To learn more about the application process, visit dioceseoftrenton.org/formacion-para-adultos or contact Ginther at 609-403-7143 or Sandra Lopez, diocesan Hispanic Ministry coordinator, at 609-403-7138.