Vision Statement
The National Symposium on Catholic Hispanic Ministry promotes dialogue, collaboration and pastoral education among ministerial leaders and theologians who work in diverse Hispanic/Latino contexts in the areas of leadership development, parish life, multi/intercultural, and intergenerational diversity, ecclesial movements, new technologies and social media. In doing so, the Symposium seeks to link Christian faith with the pursuit of justice, thus embodying the Church’s identity and mission to proclaim the reign of God.
Symposium Goals
- To strengthen the Catholic Church’s pastoral engagement with Hispanics/Latinos through collaborative reflection on current challenges and new opportunities, and encourage closer relationships among ministerial leaders and theologians.
- To enhance competence of Hispanic/Latino/a ministers and others carrying on ministry in the midst of these communities —clergy, religious and laity—as they encounter evolving cultural, intercultural and generational contexts by providing broader, nuanced, and up-to-date analyses of pastoral and theological questions and developments.
- To identify and focus on “signs of the times” that require and encourage the ongoing application of the theological and pastoral vision of the Second Vatican Council, the U.S. Hispanic ministry encuentro processes, Catholic Social Doctrine and the contemporary magisterium, for the purpose of strengthening and nurturing Catholic identity and the mission of U.S. Hispanics/Latinos in the New Evangelization.
- To cultivate a long-term approach that recognizes continuity, builds on previous efforts, evaluates approaches and their effectiveness, and intentionally broadens the scope and communities involved in the work of walking with and serving U.S. Hispanics/Latinos.
Loyola Marymount University
As the Hispanic population in the United States continues to grow, Loyola Marymount University, located in the strongly Latino city of Los Angeles (50 percent Hispanic) has undertaken several initiatives to serve this important Catholic community, including increasing the training of bilingual and bicultural pastoral ministers, strengthening ties to pastoral leaders and ministry practitioners, developing and adding new graduate courses in the area of Hispanic theology and pastoral ministry, and sponsoring a Regional Summer Seminar on Formation for Hispanic Ministry.
In the fall of 2008 LMU was invited to co-sponsor the National Symposium on The Present and Future of Catholic Hispanic Ministry In the U.S. by Prof. Hosffman Ospino of Boston College. After a discussion that included the leadership of the Department of Theological Studies and the Center for Religion and Spirituality, LMU’s Chief Academic Officer, Ernest Rose, authorized LMU to join Barry University and the Congar Institute as an official co-sponsor of the June, 2009 Symposium hosted by Boston College. In 2010, the fruits of that Symposium process were published in Hispanic Ministry in the 21st Century: Present and Future, which has become an important tool for those working in Hispanic ministry throughout the United States.
In the summer of 2014 LMU will be the host of the National Symposium on Catholic Hispanic Ministry in the U.S., a particularly important initiative involving a consortium of co-sponsoring Catholic universities including, Barry University, Boston College, the School of Religion and Religious Education at Fordham University, Notre Dame University, Seattle University and the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University together with the Department of Religious Studies of Santa Clara University as well as the Congar Institute of San Antonio, Texas. Additionally, Archbishop José H. Gomez has warmly welcomed the initiative.
The Symposium will engage writers and specialists in eight different topic areas and subsequent to the 2014 gathering will publish a follow-up book in order to make the Symposium’s reflections available to a wide audience.
- University and Ministerial Sponsors
- Publisher Sponsors
- Coordinating Committee