The following is from the NFCYM web page about the need, history and Encuentro process:
Since the census of 2000, the catholic church and many of it’s organizations have worried as to the increased number of Hispanic young people in the U.S. Questions that arise are such as, do we have in place the resources, trained personnel, models, and processes that will engage these young people in the U.S. Catholic Church. They come from Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America and into the U.S. as Catholics. They are looking for a better tomorrow and are doing something about it today. Farm workers, professionals, and workers of all kinds come for a future that will bring prosperity in their lives as well as for all of the family back where they came from. Most of them are very young and are looking toward the church as a means and way of hanging on to life itself.
The numbers speak for themselves: in less than five years this group of young Hispanic persons will be the majority of the Catholic Church. We are talking about 18 to 20 million young persons between the ages of 9 through 28 years. La Red, together with it’s many member organizations, brought to the Bishops Committee on Hispanic Affairs and the Sub Committee on Youth and youth adults a proposal to forward our Initiative. It provides a possible framework for bringing together many organizations to make this group, young Catholic Hispanic youth and young adults, a priority in all programs and evangelization efforts in our church.
Through many discussions with these organizations and groups, La Red has proposed the big question:
how do we hear from the young people to see what is needed?
Challenge and CommitmentThe challenge and commitment of ministering among Hispanic young people in a culturally diverse church in the United States is a challenge that we, as church, believe needs to be undertaken. As stated by the bishops: “Adolescents today are growing up in a culturally diverse society. The perceived image of the United States has shifted from a melting pot to a multihued tapestry.” Youth and young adult ministry in this context need to focus "on a specialized ministry to youth of particular racial and ethnic cultures" while it "promotes mutual awareness among all youth." (Renewing the Vision: A Framework for Youth Ministry, page 22)The bishops of the United States highlight this two-fold commitment to unity in diversity when they say that "Ministry in the twenty-first century requires the commitment to welcome and foster the cultural identity of the many faces in the Church while building a profoundly Catholic and culturally diverse identity." (Encuentro & Mission #36)
In this same document the bishops call all Catholics, and specifically the leadership in Hispanic and youth and young adult ministry, to work together in developing ministerial models that respond to the specific reality of Hispanic Catholic young people in the context of a culturally diverse society. (Encuentro & Mission #70).
Leadership ResponseIt is in response to this call that we, the national leadership in Hispanic and youth and young adult ministry, under the guidance of our bishops, are collaborating on the First National Encuentro for Hispanic Youth and Young Adult Ministry. Under the central theme "Weaving the Future Together," this National Encuentro for Hispanic Youth and Young Adult Ministry is a first and necessary step in helping the church as a whole understand, embrace, and affirm the unique cultural identity, reality and gifts of Hispanic youth and young adults. At the same time, the Encuentro will identify and/or develop the principles and components that constitute a specialized ministry for Hispanic young people in the United States.
The Encuentro process invites all parishes and dioceses to participate in the Encuentro. We invite all parishes and dioceses to engage Hispanic young people in a local process of Encuentro leading to regional gatherings and a national Encuentro in June 2006. This process is inspired by the vision and message of the Synod for America, in which the Holy Father invites us to encounter the Living Jesus Christ as the Way to conversion, communion, solidarity and mission.
Theme and Logo of Primer Encuentro Nacional de Pastoral Juvenil Hispana (PENPJH) [First National Encounter for Hispanic Youth and Young Adult Ministry]
This First Encuentro uses the biblical image of the fisherman’s net as it takes to heart the challenging invitation to “put out into the deep” for a catch—duc in altum—made by Jesus to His disciples and echoed by John Paul II in the Apostolic Exhortation On the Beginning of the New Millennium. This is shown in the logo that has been selected for the Encuentro.
Learn More about the Encuentro Goal, Objectives, Process, and Schedule
