V Encuentro Proceedings and Conclusions

228 | Proceedings and Conclusions of the V National Encuentro of Hispanic/Latino Ministry Young adult and adolescent members may be served together or separately with appro- priate discernment and consideration of the opportunities and risks, with increasing num- bers of parishes and dioceses opting to serve them mostly independently. The ministry may be hosted and organized by a parish or an ecclesial movement. Pastoral Methodologies: Systematic didactic approaches and techniques for understanding and implementing pastoral ministry through a dynamic set of practices and processes guided by a coherent pastoral framework. Pastoral Leadership: Partaking in the coor- dinated implementation of pastoral and for- mative plans, programs, and activities as a leader, not simply as one who attends, col- laborates, or follows orders. Pastoral Ministers: Lay people, ordained members of the hierarchy, and religious men and women who work in various sectors and ministries of the Church. Pastoral Planning: Pastoral planning is a prayerful and participatory process that con- cretizes the mission of a parish, diocese, or other ecclesial ministry by articulating the vision that provides its direction and specific actions that are measurable, achievable, and relevant to the local needs. In Hispanic/Latino ministry, it is often carried out in a group pro- cess of reflection leading to action. See also Pastoral Circle. Peripheries: In much of the world, the periph- eries or outskirts of large cities are the zones where people of modest economicmeans live, some on the verge of being destitute. Pope Francis speaks of the physical and existential peripheries of the world as the places of great human and spiritual needs, which can go hand-in-hand with economic poverty. It is to those places that missionary disciples are called to go first. ( Evangelii Gaudium, 197- 201) See also Preferential Option for the Poor and Church that Goes Forth. Permanent State of Mission: The phrase “the Church in a permanent state of mission” first emerged in the Concluding Document of the V General Conference of the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops at Aparecida, as an expression of Jesus’ commissioning his follow- ers to bring the Good News to the ends of the earth (Mt 28:19-20). Pope Francis brought it to the whole world in Evangelii Gaudium (no. 25). It implies moving beyond ecclesial or sacramental administration to active evangeli- zation and outreach to unaffiliated and margin- alized people in the area. See also Church that Goes Forth and Peripheries. Popular Religiosity or Devotions: The set of beliefs, religious celebrations, experiences, and practices that constitute the individual and collective consciousness with which a people perceive, feel, experience, and share the mystery of God. In the Hispanic/Latino communities of the United States, it is more often referred to as “popular Catholicism” because it is in this way that Catholic identity is carried, shared, and generationally transmit- ted in the community. Preferential Option for the Poor: God has shown the poor his first mercy, and this divine preference has consequences for the faith life of all Christians. Thus, the Church also makes a preferential option for the poor, which is implicit in our Christian faith in a God who became poor for us, so as to enrich us with Glossary