V Encuentro Proceedings and Conclusions

Proceedings and Conclusions of the V National Encuentro of Hispanic/Latino Ministry | 211 Appendix F initiated in a national community of more than 70 million people. The fact that only about 0.5% of the whole Catholic Church in the United States has been directly touched by the process is enough to temper any overly exuberant expectations. Nevertheless, participants at the V National Encuentro included about half of the active bishops, as well as over 1,000 other clergy, religious, and lay pastoral staff from parishes and dioceses. The responses collected thus far are anecdotal, yet they paint a picture of tangible growth and development happening across the country. For example: • Non-Latino leaders are increasing their understanding and commitment to serve the Hispanic/Latino Catholics in their midst. • Leaders in Hispanic ministry are finding new motivation and encouragement to continue the pastoral work that they have been called to perform. • An encuentro of cultures within the Church is producing fruits of mutual understanding, inno- vative responses, collaboration, and dynamism. • Hundreds of thousands of Hispanics/Latinos in the peripheries have felt invited, heard, and cared for by the Church, some for the first time in many years. A significant and positive change that has been reported by many pastoral leaders is that they now see the Hispanic/Latino community as a resource and gift for expanding ministry in the Church, rather than primarily as the object of the Church’s pastoral care and a drain on its resources. In their evaluations, many of the Bishops mentioned that they are seeing fruits of unity, understanding, and clarity with regard to priorities for Hispanic/Latino ministry and how to respond to them. In addition, the following specific achievements have been noted over the course of the V Encuentro process: • Before most of the Diocesan Encuentros took place, a survey of the Diocesan Chairs found that an average of two parishes per diocese had initiated a new outreach to the Hispanics/Latinos. • As of the Spring of 2018, 4,476 parishes were providing Hispanic ministry—an increase of 108 from 4,368 in 2014 according to the National Study of Catholic Parishes with Hispanic Ministry . • The Diocesan Teams for the V Encuentro typically were composed of mostly Hispanic lead- ers in the diocese. These leaders from parishes and some diocesan staff are now in position to provide feedback to the Bishop and assist in implementing the pastoral initiatives being developed. • The V Encuentro process itself has served as a vehicle to involve more Hispanic/Latino young people in the Church. See Appendix B on pages 171 to 179 for more details about this. On the whole, the V Encuentro process has demonstrated a real thirst for formation and a desire to serve among tens of thousands of existing and new Hispanic/Latino leaders in the Church. The process itself was demanding and at times overwhelming for many of those in positions