Print Issue: June 6, 2002

Celebrating Together Helps Tear Down Walls

By Priscilla Greear, Staff Writer

COLLEGE PARK - The Eucharistic Congress prompted Colombian immigrant Claudia Rincon to go to confession in order to return to the Eucharist, which she had not received for months.

"In order to be able to be a Christian one has to receive all the sacraments completely," said Rincon, who came with about 50 other Hispanics from St. Lawrence Church, Lawrenceville. She said she was assured that "if we confess, we are forgiven."

Rincon was one of about 1,550 Hispanics from around the archdiocese who attended the track. It gave El Salvadoran immigrant Johnny Pacheco a better understanding of what true service of the church is. A leader of the Hispanic youth and young adult group at St. Patrick's Church, Norcross, he said he received the strength to continue leading newly arriving Latinos away from troubles in this country, like drugs, gangs and alcoholism, and toward God and service to the church and the community.

Wearing a tan shirt reading "Jovenes Para Cristo" he, like other Latino youth there from various churches, expressed gratitude for the congress, which affirmed the centrality of the Eucharist in daily life. The church has helped him grow in faith and given him a lot of emotional support since he moved to Atlanta, where he works in construction and sends money back to his family.

"I have my second family in the church," Pacheco said. "I feel great affection and warmth for the people I've met in the church."

He hopes his parish will form a Hispanic ministry, to offer in a more organized way social services, orientation, referrals and legal information in Spanish, that would help Hispanics feel connected and welcomed.

The 40 from his group who attended the Eucharistic Congress definitely felt welcome and left with a "great enthusiasm." He said while a separate youth ministry in Spanish is needed, Hispanic youth would like to interact more with Anglo youth, as they did at the congress. He appreciates St. Patrick's weekly bilingual Mass.

Sitting nearby, the director of Hispanic religious education at St. Joseph Church in Dalton, Sister Amelia Flores, MAG, wore a "God Bless Our Priests" pin distributed at the event on her navy blue habit. She said it was a time to pray for priests while the church is under scrutiny over sex abuse scandals, which she feels are being excessively covered by the news media, and hurting the faithful, while not being balanced with positive reporting.

While she feels sad about the scandals, "we have to pray, to move forward, to pray for the priests, all Religious. It's important for everyone, it's an obligation, a responsibility."

The revelations have also encouraged Marina Urrea, who attends daily Mass at St. Andrew Church, Roswell, to pray more, and reminded her that "I am in a church of sinners, but Christ is the head and he said that he came for the sinners . . . If some priests have sinned, it isn't to say we don't have many saints."

Urrea said with a smile that she came to the congress for Jesus and the Mass. The Eucharist "makes me strong and I don't feel alone."

The congress evoked a sense of connection across ethnic lines for Mexican immigrant Ramon Almaraz, a member of St. Mary Church in Rome, who came with his wife and three children and about 60 other Latinos from his parish.

"You feel the wall, not exactly separation, (but) we still have division," he said. "What I liked about this crowd is we got together as one whole family. We got together away from (divisions among) white, black, brown. Today we got together and it's the most wonderful thing."