About Us
We are an Office that seeks to welcome and foster the specific cultural identity of each of the many widely differing ethnic groups in our Archdiocesan community while building a profound Catholic unity in the faith and a shared commitment to living and proclaiming the Gospel.
An Office of Faith and Culture –Why?
The United States continues to experience a steady influx of Catholic immigrants, especially from the Global South: Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Because of their presence, catholics in the United States are still 22% of our country’s population. Without them, however, the percentage of American Catholics would drop to 7%.
At the beginning of the new milennium, now more than 20 years ago, 33% of Catholic parishes in the United States were called “diverse” parishes. Because of the current demographic growth pattern, diverse population parishes are an increasingly important reality in the life of the Archdiocese of Hartford.
The process of ecclesial integration begins with an invitation and a participation in a developmental process is described as a developmental process that takes place over time. A key factor for achieving it is a pastor who embraces all culturally diverse parishioners as his own and models this pastoral solicitude to his lay leaders and the entire parish. Deep listening to the concerns and fears of longtime parishioners and newcomers alike helping all to grieve the loss of what was familiar to them, is at the heart of mutual acceptance today.
