BY BRIAN J. LOWNEY, Assistant Editor
PROVIDENCE — For many immigrants, the Church has traditionally offered spiritual guidance, as well as emotional and some financial support during an often-difficult period of transformation and readjustment.
The Church offers a place of spiritual refuge and a beacon of hope to struggling families trying to improve their lives and to become part of the culture of their new country.
In the Diocese of Providence, the Office of Hispanic Ministry serves more than 15,000 immigrants from Central and South America and the Caribbean who worship at 18 parishes throughout the state.
The ministry is supported by the Catholic Charity Fund Appeal, and received $121,000 last year for its many programs.
“We have a Hispanic presence from 19 different countries,” said Aida Hidalgo, director of the Office of Hispanic Ministry. “My main responsibility is to be a liaison between the Hispanic Catholic Community and the diocese and make the immigrants feel welcome and serve their spiritual needs in their own language.
“The Catholic Charity Fund Appeal is very important to our ministry,” she continued. “Most of our funds come from CCFA. If we don’t receive the subsidy, I don’t know how we will be able to offer different programs to the community.”
Among the many services are annual retreats for men, women and young people, marriage preparation, and special retreats for couples. In addition, workshops are provided for Spanish-speaking religious educators during the annual Religious Education Workshop Day held every March at Bryant University, and workshops addressing such topics as building self-esteem and developing leadership skills are offered throughout the year.
On December 12, more than 1,200 Hispanic Catholics gathered for a Mass celebrated at the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas.
The Office of Hispanic Ministry keeps Spanish-speaking Catholics informed with a monthly newspaper, El Catolico de Rhode Island, and radio programs at 4 p.m., daily on WARL-AM 1320 and Saturday mornings at 11 a.m. on WALE-AM 990. A television program, “Catolicos de Hoy”?(Catholics of Today) is broadcast Mondays at 11 a.m. and Tuesdays at 3 p.m. locally on RI?Interconnect Channel 18, and statewide Thursdays at 5:30 p.m. and Fridays at 3:30 p.m. on RI?Interconnect Channel 14.
Hidalgo noted that there has been a strong Hispanic Catholic presence in Rhode Island since the late 1960s. Dominican Father John Aruba from Providence College and Father Raymond Tetrault, current pastor of St. Teresa Church, Providence, celebrated Mass in Spanish for these new immigrants.
Father Tetrault was appointed director of the Latin American Apostolate by Bishop Russell J. B. McVinney in 1970, and two vibrant centers of faith began to flourish within the emerging community – St. Michael the Archangel Church in Providence, and the Hispanic Center in Central Falls.
In 1984, Bishop Louis E. Gelineau formed a group to study the different immigrant and refugee groups settling in the diocese. Two years later, the bishop issued a pastoral letter, incorporating many of the suggestions that were made during the Third National Hispanic Encounter. In the letter, the bishop welcomed the Hispanics, and asked parishes to also welcome them with sensitivity to their cultures. The letter also asked diocesan offices and ministries to include Hispanics in their missions, and exhorted the new immigrants to actively participate in the life of the diocese and share their gifts.
In July 1986, the new Vicariate for Spirituality and Evangelization was created, with Msgr.(then Father) John C. Allard as vicar. The Office of Hispanic Ministry became part of this office and served the Hispanic community that had become active in seven diocesan parishes.
Since then, the Office of Hispanic Ministry has continued to welcome new immigrants and minister to the spiritual and temporal needs of the state’s growing Hispanic Catholic community throughout the Diocese of Providence. For more information, call 421-7833, ext. 133.
The 2008 Catholic Charity Fund Appeal continues to gain support as it moves toward its June 30 conclusion.
“I am very pleased with this weeks progress,” said Anthony T. Gwiazdowski, director of the Office of Stewardship and Development. “Our average gift is currently at $191, which is considerably higher than last year, and we anticipate at least 500 more transmittals from parishes representing a full third of the total transmittals.” He added that 14,531 individual gifts have been received.
To date, the CCFA has raised $5,708,080, which represents 70 percent of the appeal’s 2008 goal of $8,200,000. Gwiazdowski reported that 21 parishes in the diocese are over goal, and 18 parishes have surpassed the amount of money they raised in 2007.
