The National Catholic Council for Hispanic Ministry in the United States -NCCHM-, which brings together the most important Hispanic pastoral institutions in the country, signed an agreement with the Latin American Episcopal Council -CELAM-, in which both express their interest and commitment to join efforts in the development of courses, diploma courses, conferences, seminars and other activities aimed at the formation of different groups in the Americas.

Initiative of the President of CELAM

The initiative originates with the presence in April 2022 of Archbishop Miguel Cabrejos, President of CELAM at that time, at the Sixth National Catholic Congress of Hispanic Ministry in the US, “Raíces y Alas”, in Washington, DC. It was attended by 400 national leaders, as well as prominent representatives from the Vatican, CELAM, and 15 bishops. Archbishop Cabrejos enthusiastically expressed his desire to sign an agreement between CELAM and the Hispanic Council of the US -NCCHM-, given the mutual interest in deepening pastoral and theological ties for the formation of Catholics in the Americas.

The agreement was signed on March 1, 2023, in Bogotá, by the president of NCCHM, Elisabeth Román, in the presence of members of the board of directors of that institution, and of Fr. Fabio Antunes do Nascimento, current director of CEBITEPAL, the Center for Formation of CELAM. The document was endorsed by Archbishop Miguel Cabrejos.

A webinar on the four pillars of pastoral care

The National Catholic Council for Hispanic Ministry in the U.S., in partnership with CELAM, will offer a series of webinars aimed at deepening the four pillars of pastoral action developed at the Raíces y Alas Congress. Each pillar will cover four Wednesdays of each month:

• March: Pillar of action Family, under the theme “Domestic Church. Family: live your mission!”
• April: Pillar of action Youth and Young Adult Ministry, under the theme “Prophetic voices, protagonists of hope.”
• May: Pillar of action Social Justice, under the theme “Leadership in integral human development”.
• And June: Pillar of action Pastoral Formation, under the theme “Pastoral Care – Integral Ongoing Formation.”

These meetings will always take place at 6:00 p.m. Colombia time, which will be 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time in the USA, such as Miami. Only the first meeting -on March 6- will be at 6:00 p.m. in Miami, because it will take place before the time change in the USA, but it will be held, as always, at 6:00 p.m., Colombia time.

Registration, which is free of charge, can be made through https://bit.ly/webinar-pastoral, and more information can be found at www.ncchm.us and through [email protected].