BY MARK PATTISON
Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS)- With upward of 70 million Catholics in the United States, one might think the U.S. Church would have its hands full tending to their pastoral needs. And that may be so. But it has only been since March 2020 that much of the United States, including its Catholic population, has been living as much of its life as possible at home behind closed doors to avoid contracting CO- VID-19. There are millions of others in this country for whom a xed address is less of an expecta- tion than an aspiration. They include refugees, migrants, people whose work demands that they travel, and victims of human trafficking. That doesn't even count the 79 million inter- national visitors to the United States in a typical year. The U.S. Catholic Church, though, may be missing out on an opportunity to increase and enrich its ranks if dioceses and parishes don't reach out to these groups. The Census Bu- reau's General Social Survey estimates that of all foreign- born residents of the United States, 40% are Catholic, near- ly double Catholicism's reach in the entire U.S. population. The U.S. bishops' Subcom- mittee on Pastoral Care of Mi- grants, Refugees and Travelers commissioned the Center for Applied Research in the Apos- tolate in Washington to learn about the scope of such out- reach eorts. The result is a report titled, The Pastoral Care of Mi- grants, Refugees and Travelers: Worship Site Inventory and Demographic Study, which was issued in June.
Responses on the low side
Most CARA surveys of U.S. parishes get a 15% response rate. This survey, which went not just to parishes but all known U.S. worship sites including airport chapels and places of pilgrimage, got just a 12% response rate. A sepa- rate survey sent to diocesan chancellors got about a 30% response rate. Taken together, the listings of each diocese's parishes and ministries that cater to immi- grant and traveling groups t onto one page. Some had two pages, and a scant few went to a third page. One diocese which had an amazing response in the words of Mark Gray, CARA's senior research asso- ciate, was the Diocese of San Bernardino, California, which took up four pages. In 14 Latin-rite dioceses, the largest being the Archdiocese of San Francisco, neither the diocese nor any of its parishes responded to the CARA survey. It puzzles Gray, at least in part. Some of the reminders to complete the survey were sent not by CARA, he said, but by the U.S. Conference of Catho- lic Bishops. Seen another way, though, he said, I denitely feel for pas- tors. They get inundated by surveys. They have two, three, four, even more parishes, so by no means do I think that they have the time, necessarily, to do these kinds of things, so in no way am I critical. It would have been helpful if we had a larger response rate, said Bishop Joseph J. Tyson of Yakima, Washington, chair of the subcommittee, in a June 23 email to Catholic News Ser- vice. One trend, he noted, is that there is a real gap between what the diocese self-reports and what the research indicates. Migrant and refugee groups often go unnoticed by local parishes and dioceses. At least that is what the data may suggest, Bishop Tyson said. There may not be a felt imperative to go out to greet and meet. Many parishes may simply be waiting (for them) to show up and many may not be attitudinally prepared to reach out to new arrivals who are Catholic.
People, more than migrants, are moving
He added, What might also be notable is where people are moving. Note the metropolitan areas where folks are moving. The diocesan surveys when compared with the census data may suggest a need for more intentional outreach for fami- lies moving around from one part of the country to another. Often these folks may be more affluent families mov- ing around due to their cor- poration, their profession or work, Bishop Tyson said. I know from my time as auxil- iary bishop (in Seattle) there is some level of awareness by pastors. One pastor felt like he was doing corporate cam- pus ministry' with the average family staying about ve years before being moved. Despite the low response rate, we did learn a lot, said CARA's Gray. There are some communities, (where) there are no estimates whatsoever any- where. So to nd these parishes that say, 'Yeah, we're aware of these communities,' that's im- portant. And the census doesn't ask specically about (groups like) circus workers. It's a unique resource. And there's more out there, he believes, especially with places like, obviously, the air- port chaplain. You would ex- pect every single one of them to respond. But it's a part-time person there, overwhelmed, it's in a stack (of mail) and they don't respond. And when it comes to show- ing what's known to be out here, Gray added, it's hard to show mapping in a report like this, but we do have a map, it's down to the ZIP code. Bishop Tyson, in a follow- up phone interview with CNS June 23, is in the midst of for- mulating some conclusions of his own. Are we missionary? Are we reaching only the peo- ple who pass through the doors of the Church, or are we nd- ing the folks that are already there? he asked.
U.S. Church Missing Opportunities to Add 'People on the Move' to its Flock
(CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn)
Migrant farmworkers in Hatch, N.M., attend Mass in a chili pepper field Sept. 26, 2019, during a pastoral visit by U.S. bishops to the border.
Volume 86 No. 8 http://observer.rockforddiocese.org FRIDAY JANUARY 22, 2021
12 diocesan priests answer the call to new online retreat program
BY AMANDA HUDSON News Editor
CRYSTAL LAKE-What do Msgr. Daniel Hermes and Fathers Jeremy Trowbridge, Keith Romke, Sean Gris- mer, Robert Blood, John McNamara, John Kladar, Kyle Manno, Ervin Pio Caliente, Ryan Browning, Jared Twen- ty, and Jonathan Bakkelund have in common? These 1 2 Rockford diocesan priests present the talks that comprise the new, video-based parish evangelization sys- tem called Awaken, created by the Light of the World stain response to pandemic restrictions. The 12 were the rst priests to come to mind as LOTWs executive director, JoEllen Gregus, and Dan Wol, director of ministry growth, worked to adapt the basics of LOTW into a much more flex- ible form that parishes could use even during the pandemic. And all 12 priests said yes as soon as they were asked, Gregus says happily. She adds that with all the questions that came up in the design process, the Lord had answers for us every single time.
Retreat preaches Gospel
The Awaken retreat content is similar to LOTW in that both are kerygmatic , she says. Kerygma is a Greek word used in the New Testament for proclama- tion, and is a straightforward preaching
Continued on page 4 Father Keith Romke, pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Dixon, makes a point in an Awaken video.
Awaken Retreat Faces are Familar
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March for Life will be virtual
WASHINGTON (CNS)-For the first time since 1974, when it began, the message of the national March for Life to participants is: Stay home. The march and related events will be online on Jan. 28 and 29. March organizers had already hired a production company to make a livestreamed event possible in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. The assault on the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6 and threats of subsequent violence by domestic terrorist groups, as reported by the FBI, made event security impossible. Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life Defense and Education Fund, announced the change on Jan. 15.
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