Women gain spirituality, knowledge at convention

Intermountain Catholic

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Father Javier Virgen give the keynote addresses at the 81st Diocesan Council of Catholic Women (DCCW) Convention on the topic of the growing presence of Hispanics in Utah, their impact, and meeting their needs.IC photo by Christine Young

SALT LAKE CITY — "I have been coming to the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women (DCCW) Conventions for more than 20 years, and this one ranks at the top of the ladder," said Msgr. Robert Servatius, DCCW spiritual moderator, and pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish.

The 81st DCCW Convention "Women of Faith, Women of Action" was held at the Marriott Hotel in Salt Lake City April 25-26.

"You have had very inspirational speakers," said Msgr. Servatius. "Sometimes you go to a convention like this and you will have three or four speakers. Some will hit home runs and some will strike out, but this time you had four home runs. It has been a wonderful, enjoyable, and inspiring weekend."

In his opening remarks Msgr. Servatius said the Holy Spirit is with us guiding us as the presenters share ideas and we find new ways to spread the gospel. He challenged the women to find one new idea they could take home with them to improve their organizations, and our society.

Father Javier Virgen, vicar for Hispanic Affairs and associate vocation director for the Diocese of Salt Lake City, was the keynote speaker. Fr. Virgen spoke about the growing presence of Hispanics in Utah, their impact, and meeting the needs of the Hispanic community.

St. Clare Sister Eymard Flood, vicar for religious in the Diocese of Orange, Calif., spoke of honoring the strong women who have gone before us, and mentoring the new women coming into our councils.

Rebecca Kearns, president, Resort Banking, Division of Zion’s Bank, gave a talk on creating balance between faith, family, work, and community service.

Anne Boyer, DCCW commission liaison, and NCCW liturgical assistant; Casey Pond, DCCW organization commission chairwoman, and Sr. Eymard gave a workshop on council and spirituality.

"We follow the National Council of Catholic Women (NCCW) mission statement which says we are to support, empower, and educate all Catholic women in spirituality, leadership, and service," said DCCW President Cheryl Johnson in her president’s report.

Johnson listed the ways in which the DCCW offers support, empowerment, and education to the Catholic women in the Diocese of Salt Lake City in spirituality, leadership, and service.

"We offer support through our membership development and resource team," said Johnson. "We offer the NCCW Guidance and Resource Manual, which is available to all affiliates. It offers information on building membership, public relations, various ceremonies, and planning meetings.

"We are supporting nine seminarians from our diocese through prayers, cards and gift certificates, and care packages," said Johnson. "Our council participated in the Respect Life Vigil held at Mount Calvary Catholic Cemetery Jan. 25, sponsored by the Diocesan Family Life Office. We also offer prayer services, retreats, and have celebrated the Year of St. Paul by reading his writings and spreading the gospel through volunteering in our churches and communities. In addition, we offer our prayers for the sanctity of life, vocations, our council members, their families, and world peace.

"I believe that education and empowerment go hand-in-hand," said Johnson. "If we educate ourselves on the issues and programs, we become informed citizens and thereby empowered to take a stand and becoming the voice for those without a voice. Our commission chairwomen have educated us on such topics as child abuse, domestic violence, pornography, cyberbullying, going green by recycling, conserving energy, and ways to preserve our natural resources for future generations.

"At our DCCW board meetings, we have been reminded of the seven themes of Catholic social teaching and how they apply to our every day life, encouraged to contact our representatives in the Legislature to become informed citizens and encouraged to exercise our right to vote. We give our time and talents to the Catholic Community Services’ Refugee Resettlement Program, and many other service projects."

Fr. Virgen, who was born in Mexico and came to Utah in 1987, said the Catholic Church in the United States has always been a uniquely challenging part of our lives because we have always been a Church of immigrants, of diverse ethnic groups and people. Fr. Virgen became a diocesan priest in 1993.

"We have always had to find ways to realize our oneness in Christ," said Fr. Virgen. "Our Latin American brothers and sisters, who have settled in our diocese, find themselves in an unfamiliar setting. Driven by economic reasons that forced them to seek a better life in the United States, they have only one thing that makes them feel welcome – the Catholic Church."

Fr. Virgen said the Latino presence in Utah began with its first missionaries, Franciscan Fathers Escalante and Dominguez, who came from Spain in 1776. In 1912, Utah Copper Company brought 5,000 Mexican American strikebreakers to Bingham Canyon. Some remained to form a new labor force in mining, the railroad, seasonal farm work, and construction work.

Fr. Virgen said in 1970, Father Gerald Merrill established the Sunday Mass in Spanish at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Salt Lake City. In the 1970s, there was a large migration of Hispanics into Utah.

Fr. Virgen said when Bishop William K. Weigand, the seventh bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, arrived in 1980, he developed an intense pastoral activity to manage the growth of the Hispanic population. He asked pastors of St. Therese of the Child Jesus Parish in Midvale, St. Francis Xavier Parish in Kearns, and San Filipe Parish in Wendover, to celebrate masses in Spanish every Sunday. Later he asked the St. George Parish, St. Joseph Parish in Ogden, and St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Provo (now Orem), to celebrate the Mass in Spanish.

"Today we have liturgical assemblies that number more than 1,500 parishioners," said Fr. Virgen. "Our diocese now has 14 Spanish-speaking priests, several who read or speak Spanish, and 10 Spanish-speaking permanent deacons," said Fr. Virgen. "The Eucharist is celebrated weekly in Spanish at 29 parishes, and bi-weekly or monthly in many parishes and some missions. The parishes with large Hispanic populations offer catechism for children, and catechetical formation for the Christian initiation of the sacraments.

"Nineteen parishes and nine missions have established Hispanic ministries," said Fr. Virgen. "The Hispanic community to which we minister comes mainly from Mexico and Central America. A smaller number comes from South America and the Caribbean Islands.

"The urban areas have become an attraction for the Hispanic community," said Fr. Virgen. "They are employed as construction workers and in a variety of other services. As they arrive, many have discovered their education level is not high enough to completely adapt to their new environment. Many do not know their own language well enough to learn a new one.

"It has become evident that the difference between their cultural and their economic possibilities is at a critical level, which can end in a sociological disaster," said Fr. Virgen. " They can become an easy prey to drugs and moral dissolution. The traditional Mexican family values are assaulted."

Fr. Virgen said a deep devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe is practiced at home and remains an essential element of their identity. The same is true for the Mexican flag. The sacraments have a prominent place among Hispanic Catholics. Baptism, Confirmation, First Holy Communion, and Matrimony are celebrations that unite them with their families, their communities, and their faith.

"Mothers and grandmothers are the catechists who train the children," said Fr. Virgen. "Masses are family events. Quinceañera celebrations, when a girl turns 15, are an opportunity to instruct her in her faith.

"Based on the 2009 Catholic Directory, the Diocese of Salt Lake City has 230,000 faithful," said Fr. Virgen. "Out of this, 70 percent are Hispanic. Since the majority of Hispanics do not register, the percentage is probably 75 to 85 percent."

The Office of Hispanic Affairs was created in August 2008, to address the pastoral needs of the ever increasing Latin-American community in our diocese. It made pastoral care for the Office of Hispanic Ministries more diverse and demanding. Maria Cruz Gray, director, and Deacon Forrest Gray travel the state with their evangelizing mission.

The Office of Hispanic Ministries coordinates youth groups, catechists, readers, extraordinary ministers of the eucharist, Marriage Encounter, prison ministry, catechists for quinceañeras, and RCIA, to name a few. This office has a director and two part-time secretaries.

"I serve as the bishop’s liaison to the Hispanic community in our diocese," said Fr. Virgen. "Our office promotes and provides support in collaboration with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in developing means to share with key national Catholic organizations and institutions on issues related to the Hispanic/Latino(a) presence and the Encuentro process within our diocese.

Fr. Virgen said the challenges we face include fostering an environment of mutual knowledge in the spirit of Christian charity that will allow a better understanding of both cultures.

"We also need to deepen our Christian roots to nourish us with the Word of God and see the faith of others in our Church as part of the great heritage of our Catholic tradition," said Fr. Virgen. "In the spirit of the magisterium of the USCCB, we must foster a welcoming attitude that will aid the cultural adaptation process of the Latino community into the main American culture.

Fr. Virgen said in an exercise of faith, we need to become one family of God. As baptized people of God who have been called to bear witness of the gospel, we have a great responsibility to be aware that the Church of the 21st century is, as it has always has been, a church of many cultures, languages, and traditions, yet, simultaneously one, as God is one – Father, son, and Holy Spirit – unity in diversity.