V Encuentro Proceedings and Conclusions

Proceedings and Conclusions of the V National Encuentro of Hispanic/Latino Ministry | 27 The Regional Teams established in each of the 14 episcopal regions have proven to be great assets for Hispanic ministry and will continue to accompany dioceses looking for creative ways to strengthen their pasto- ral activities and programs. More than 90% of the territorial dioceses in the United States participated in the V Encuentro, including at least 20 that had never before participated in an Encuentro for Hispanic/Latino ministry. Opportunities abound to further strengthen this ministry in every one of these dioceses. With the publication of these Proceedings and Conclusions, the results of the consultation and pastoral discernment process are now in the hands of pastoral leaders in parishes, dioceses, movements, and other organizations through- out the country. In particular, the recommenda- tions and successful practices in each of the 28 Ministerial Areas will influence pastoral plan- ning and decision-making for Hispanic/Latino ministry across the United States and will likely lead to major initiatives and new pathways to strengthen Hispanic/Latino leadership in ser- vice to the entire church. The Regional Teams will be conducting in-services in 2019 and early 2020 to help dioceses understand how best to utilize this document for their pasto- ral planning, and some of the early initiatives that have already been envisioned or whose implementation has begun can be found in Appendix G. One of the primary objectives of the V Encuentro process was to identify and moti- vate a new generation of Hispanic/Latino Catholic leaders, ready to receive the appro- priate training and mentoring to serve the Church for the next several decades. The V Encuentro Diocesan Teams trained over 30,000 leaders as missionary disciples in the early stages of the process—far exceeding the original goal of 20,000—and many of them were Hispanic young adults. About 600 of the diocesan delegates and participants at the V Encuentro National Event were also young adults. Indeed, there is a renewed sense of urgency at all levels of the Church about engaging and evangelizing young people and fami- lies, particularly second and third generation Hispanics/Latinos. Among the early fruits of the post- Encuentro phase is the launching of a two-year initiative to develop and imple- ment a National Certificate Program target- ing Hispanic young adults and those who serve Hispanic youth and young adults. The goal of the initiative is to provide pastoral for- mation to thousands of new leaders over the next ten years and promote their enrollment in degree programs. In addition to these general ways the V Encuentro has impacted and will continue to shape the practice of Hispanic/Latino minis- try in the Church, there are also a number of specific responses that are demonstrating how the V Encuentro’s mission continues to grow: • In the case of the USCCB itself, 87 staff members dedicated thousands of hours to prepare for the V National Encuentro. Their involvement has continued after the National Event, thus signaling a paradigm shift in the way Hispanic/Latino ministry is understood and conducted. A similar dynamic is taking place in many dioceses and other Catholic organizations. • The V Encuentro process proved to be a very effective model for the new V Encuentro as a Model and Guide