Hispanic ministry professionals walk in faith

By Emily Chaffins -

 

MIAMI | When Deacon Carlos Rodriguez traveled across the country from California to Florida to attend a conference of Hispanic ministry professionals, Miami opened his mind to new possibilities.

An admissions and recruitment operations specialist at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University, Deacon Rodriguez came to The National Catholic Association of Diocesan Directors for Hispanic Ministry (NCADDHM) 2024 annual conference to gain insight. NCADDHM, established in the early 1990s to reinforce the Hispanic ministry in the United States, held this year’s conference in Miami, Oct. 8-11, 2024. Approximately 200 representatives from 65 dioceses attended, even though Hurricane Milton made landfall Oct. 9, on the nearby Florida’s Gulf Coast.

The Jesuit School of Theology in Santa Clara has been working to attract an increased number of minority students, including Hispanics. Deacon Rodriguez comes from a Mexican background and an area where Mexicans make up the majority of Hispanics, so being in Miami was an eye-opener.

“My presence in Miami for the first time exposes me to a new way of being Hispanic – gives me the East Coast perspective, the South American and Central American perspective,” said the deacon, who serves at St. Hilary Parish near Los Angeles. “It shows me another facet of being Hispanic.”

Indeed, the conference’s theme, “Pathways to unity desde una experiencia sinodal,” was all about engaging varying perspectives in conversation. The conference emphasized this “synodality” in light of the 16th General Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops happening in Rome Oct. 2-27, 2024. Conference speakers covered a wide range of topics related to Hispanic ministry, from education, to immigration, to serving people with disabilities.

Brilema Perez, a young adult NCADDHM board member and associate director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the Diocese of San Diego, spoke about Miami’s distinct vantage point on Hispanic ministry: “I think SEPI is a beacon for young adult ministry.”

Olga Lucia Villar, executive director of the Southeast Pastoral Institute (SEPI), was one of the speakers representing the Archdiocese of Miami, along with Antonio Mari, co-director of formation at SEPI, and Father Rafael Capó, vice president for mission and ministry and dean of theology at St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens and former executive director of SEPI. Ignacio Rodriguez, president of the national association, called SEPI “instrumental” in putting together the Miami conference.

Villar shared that SEPI began in the late 1970s, when the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops tasked Father Mario Vizcaino to oversee the southeast region of Hispanic ministry. To learn about the Hispanic demographics in his region and to serve their needs, Father Vizcaino traveled “just like St. Paul,” Villar said. “He went from diocese to diocese, finding out how many Hispanics were there.”

Although Father Vizcaino, SEPI’s founder, passed away in February 2024, his legacy continues. SEPI provides a plethora of educational and evangelization services to Hispanics in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Beginning in 2024, the association’s annual award for an “Outstanding Diocesan Director in Hispanic/Latino Ministry” has been renamed the Father Mario Vizcaino, Sch.P. award.

For Deacon Rodriguez, pioneers like Father Vizcaino are needed in today’s Hispanic ministry.

“I think ‘action’ is a key word,” he said. “It’s okay to talk about things, it’s good to plan and have a vision, but it’s putting words into action – sometimes it means walking in faith, but it’s walking.”

During the conference, the NCADDHM did display synodality in action — not only through empowering participants to exchange ideas and discuss current issues with people from around the United States, but conference organizers also opened Wednesday’s Mass to hotel guests sheltering from the storm.

Deacon Rodriguez noted that this conference has inspired him through “(meeting) lots of wonderful people doing great things in different parts of the country, all for one purpose: the glory of God.”