St. Raphael Parish in Springdale isn’t just a Catholic church. It’s a miniature United Nations.
Approximately 75 percent of the parish’s 4,300 families are Hispanic, hailing from all over Latin America. While they are unified in the faith and language, they differ in culture and history.
“The largest number is from Mexico,” said Rebecca Hodges.
Hodges’ official title at St. Raphael is office administrator, but she, like all the staff and volunteers in the parish, is a multi-tasking, multiple-hat wearing dynamo.
“Within our Spanish communities there are subcultures. There are different dialects, different habits.”
 $1.35 million goal for CASA 2007 The Diocese of Little Rock is raising $1.35 million during Catholic Arkansas Sharing Appeal, an annual fundraiser to support diocesan ministries and services offered to parishes, schools and individuals. To make a cash, check, credit card or pledge donation, pick up a pledge card at your parish, call (501) 664-0340 or visit www.dolr.org. |
Accommodating these cultures, addressing spiritual and other needs for a rapidly growing community is a challenge that faces many parishes in the Diocese of Little Rock.
According to figures from the Census Bureau, there were about 20,000 Hispanics in Arkansas in 1990. Ten years later, that figure was 86,866 – a 337 percent increase. In 2000, about half of Arkansas’ Hispanics lived in five counties: Benton, Washington, Sebastian, Sevier and Pulaski counties.
Parishes in more than 30 cities around Arkansas from Arkadelphia to Wickes now offer weekly bilingual or Spanish Masses, said Deacon Marcelino Luna, director of Hispanic ministries for the Diocese of Little Rock.
“Between Rogers and Springdale, there are close to 15,000 Hispanic parishioners alone,” he said. “I wouldn’t be afraid to say we reach 50,000 in the diocese in one way or another.
“Probably the biggest challenge is to continue formation for the Hispanic ministry,” he said “We’ve been doing several things like leadership and parish life formation and catechesis and the sacraments.”
The leadership training is very important.
“Our people come from a wide variety of realities. Some come from no involvement in a church or community. The majority come from a rural area where they go to Mass and go home. This is a very big challenge to try to teach them and encourage them to get involved in the church.”
To help reach the Spanish parishioners, staffers like Hodges and volunteers at churches around the state make the most of the limited resources of their own churches.
Still, the numbers can make the effort of serving the community seem almost overwhelming.
“We have a huge challenge in our religious ed program,” Hodges said. “This year, we have close to 1,500 students and we don’t have near enough space. We have classes on Sunday starting at 9 a.m. and ending at 6:45 p.m., and these classes are back to back.
All of this outreach requires people and money. A fair amount of funding for the Hispanic ministry comes from grants, but also from the Catholic Arkansas Sharing Appeal, or CASA.
“We are really grateful for what we get out of CASA,” Luna said. “They really contribute a big amount for us.”
Hodges is also grateful for support from CASA.
“The CASA funds we have been fortunate to receive have helped our religious ed materials,” Hodges said. “This past year, the money went for catechetical training for the teachers. Some of it went to the adult education program.”
