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Fr. Josegerman Zapata leads a discussion with Hispanic lay leaders from Walworth County during a class on Christian formation held last October at St. Benedict Church in Fontana. Under the leadership of Fr. Zapata and Sr. Nunez Caminando Juntos began the lay formation program to help Hispanics deepen their faith. About 30 people attended the first class. (Catholic Herald photo by Sam Lucero) |
WALWORTH COUNTY — The conversation at St. Benedict Church in Fontana focused on evangelization. While such a discussion is not uncommon here, it was different for two reasons: it took place during a new adult formation program for Hispanics in Walworth County and it was offered in Spanish.
More than 30 people turned out for the two-hour class on a Saturday afternoon last October. It was the first of what is intended to be a two-year program for Spanish-speaking adults, and it reflects the church’s response to a demographic shift in Walworth County — one that has occurred in all 10 counties in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.
According to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Hispanic population in Wisconsin grew by 23 percent from 2000 to 2004. Locally, all 10 counties of the archdiocese — Dodge, Fond du Lac, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Racine, Sheboygan, Walworth, Washington and Waukesha — were among the top 20 counties in Wisconsin with the largest percentage increase of Hispanics since the 2000 Census.
Responding to this demographic shift, the archdiocese has broadened its outreach to Hispanics. One of the most successful efforts to meet the spiritual and social needs of Hispanics is in Walworth County, where a Colombian priest and a Bolivian religious sister direct a program called Caminando Juntos (Walking Together).
With the cooperation of all eight parishes in Walworth County, Fr. Josegerman Zapata and Franciscan Sr. Emma Teresa Nunez provide sacramental and pastoral ministry to Hispanics, most of whom speak only Spanish. Among the activities they oversee is the adult formation course that began last fall in Fontana.
The pastoral team’s work is extensive: from sacramental preparation and development of lay leaders to responding to social justice concerns and building community between the Anglo and Hispanic communities.
History of Caminando Juntos
Caminando Juntos was established in 1994 by six Walworth County parishes, according to Fr. Bob Stiefvater, vicar for Hispanic Ministry for the archdiocese and first director of the outreach program. He said that in 1992, pastors in District 3, which includes Walworth County, met to discuss the 1990 Census finding that some 2,000 Hispanics were living in that county.
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Sr. Emma Teresa Nunez serves Mexican food to guests at a food booth at the St. Patrick Parish county fair Aug. 14 in Whitewater. Sr. Nunez is assistant director of Caminando Juntos, an outreach program to Hispanic Catholics in Walworth County. (Catholic Herald photo by Sam Lucero) |
“They weren’t going to anybody’s church, so they started questioning, ‘Where are they?’” he said. “By 1993, they had an idea of what they wanted to do” to serve the Hispanic community. Fr. Stiefvater, who is fluent in Spanish, was asked to start the outreach program in the spring of 1994. He began county-wide sacramental preparation programs and training Spanish-speaking catechists.
“We soon realized that there were more like 5,000 Hispanics” in the county, he said.
Fr. Stiefvater resigned as program director in 1997 to become director of vocations for the archdiocese. The program was directed by several religious sisters, but without a Spanish-speaking priest, it began to lose momentum.
In November 2004, Fr. Zapata, a priest of the Archdiocese of Villavincencio, Colombia, arrived from the Diocese of Brooklyn, N.Y., after finishing an assignment there. At the time his nephew, Pedro Acosta, was studying for the priesthood at Saint Francis Seminary and a niece was living in Milwaukee.
“Immediately he began visiting all the parishes,” said Fr. Stiefvater. “It was providential because we got his vision of how ministry should work out.”
Archbishop calls for new outreach effort
It was also providential for two other reasons. Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan had just issued his 2004 pastoral plan for the archdiocese, and it called for a new plan to meet Hispanic ministry needs. In addition, Caminando Juntos was approaching its 10-year anniversary and it was an occasion to review the program and assess the needs of all the county’s parishes.
At the time, six of Walworth County’s eight parishes were supporting Caminando Juntos. Following Archbishop Dolan’s directive, Fr. Stiefvater, who was appointed archdiocesan vicar of Hispanic Ministry in 2004, met with leaders of all eight parishes and created a new covenant supporting Hispanic ministry in Walworth County. The covenant was signed last June by Archbishop Dolan, Fr. Stiefvater, seven pastors, one parish director and all eight parish council presidents.
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During a renewal of marriage vows for couples at St. Patrick Church in Whitewater last September, Fr. Josegerman Zapata, director of Caminando Juntos (Walking Together), presides over a candle lighting ceremony. Fr. Zapata has been working with Hispanic couples, married outside of the church, to validate their marriages. Couples were required to attend several meetings, including an archdiocesan retreat. Seven couples took part in the renewal of vows at St. Patrick Church. (Catholic Herald photo by Sam Lucero) |
Participating parishes include St. Andrew, Delavan, St. Peter, East Troy, St. Patrick, Elkhorn, St. Benedict, Fontana, St. Francis de Sales, Lake Geneva, St. Mary, Pell Lake, St. Catherine, Sharon, and St. Patrick, Whitewater. Each parish provides financial support to the program based on its membership.
With Fr. Zapata’s enthusiastic and charismatic leadership and Sr. Emma’s familiarity with the area (she has served in Walworth County since 2002 and in Burlington from 1999 to 2002), Caminando Juntos has revitalized outreach to Hispanics in Walworth County.
“Both of them are a real blessing to the Spanish speaking community,” said Fr. Tom Suriano, pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Whitewater. “They are both very hard working and dedicated. It’s an example of people working together, collaborating for the good of the church’s mission.”
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