By Florida Catholic staff - Florida Catholic
Diocesan directors of Hispanic ministry, gathered Aug. 18-20 for a preparatory meeting for the V National Encuentro, pose for a photo on the grounds of the Southeast Pastoral Institute. In the center are Bishop Felipe Estevez of St. Augustine, Piarist Father Rafael Capo, SEPI director, and Bishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans.
Piarist Father Rafael Capo speaks during one of the sessions in preparation for the V National Encuentro, set for 2018.
Leaders of the regional team pose for a photo at the Southeast Pastoral Institute, from left, seated: Vivi Iglesias, director of Hispanic ministry in the Diocese of St. Petersburg; St. Augustine Bishop Felipe Estevez, director of region XIV; Piarist Father Rafael Capo, director of the Southeast Regional Office for Hispanics; New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond, director of region V; and Olga Villar, director of Hispanic ministry in the Diocese of Mobile, Alabama; standing: Mabel and Rey Malave, Andrea and William Cardona and Laura and Javier Franco.
Participants in the regional meeting pose for a photo before Mass at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Charity in Miami.
MIAMI | In preparation for the V National Encuentro of Hispanic/Latino Ministry, theSouthEast Pastoral Institute recently hosted a meeting for members of its regional team and diocesan directors of Hispanic ministry from throughout the southeastern U.S.
The team met Aug. 18-20 at SEPI headquarters in Miami. SEPI is the educational arm of the U.S. Bishops’ Southeast Regional Office for Hispanics, which encompasses 30 dioceses in 9 states: Florida, Georgia, South and North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.
Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans, lead bishop for region V (Tennessee-Louisiana), and Bishop Felipe Estévez of St. Augustine, lead bishop for region XIV (Florida-North Carolina), presided at the meeting.
Archbishop Thomas Wenski celebrated Mass for the group Aug. 19 at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Charity in Miami.
The goal of the regional workshop was “to live an experience of Encuentro and begin the pastoral-theological reflection necessary for the process,” said Piarist Father Rafael Capó, director of SEPI and the Southeast Regional Office. “This workshop prepared our leadership as part of the process toward the V Encuentro.”
Referring to the process of local and regional meetings that will lead up to the national Encuentro, scheduled for some time in 2018, Father Capó added, “We pray this process will be a moment of grace for all our Hispanic communities and that it will help develop a pastoral response to the challenges of Hispanic ministry in the context of the New Evangelization.”
