CHARLOTTE — Priests of the Diocese of Charlotte attended the annual Priests’ Convocation Aug. 16-18 at the Crowne Plaza-Charlotte Executive Park. The three-day event featured a presentation by Father Stephen Dudek of the Diocese of Grand Rapids, Mich., entitled, “Missionary Discipleship: The Art and Spirituality of Pastoring in a Culturally Diverse Diocese.”
Father Dudek has served as a pastor in culturally diverse parishes for more than 30 years. Over the years he has ministered to English-, Spanish- and Vietnamese-speaking parishioners.
Father Dudek completed his theological training in Denver, Colo., earned his licentiate degree in Mexico City and did his doctorate work in Chicago, Ill. He earned his doctoral reflection on the topic he discussed.
Father Dudek is pastor of Holy Name of Jesus Parish in Wyoming, Colo., and director of the Grand Rapids diocese’s Society for the Propagation of the Faith office, the largest Catholic organization for promoting awareness and generating and distributing funds for the Church’s missions around the world.
At the convocation, Father Dudek covered topics such as: how to develop intercultural competency; the joys and challenges of pastoring a diverse parish; ministry in a diverse Catholic Church; understanding culture; understanding the different cultural groups that make up the U.S.; development stages that culturally diverse parishes go through; what it means to be interculturally sensitive; what it means to respond to the call to be missionary disciples in the culturally diverse U.S.; and what it means to be missionaries as diocesan priests.
Father Pat Hoare, the new pastor of St. Matthew Church in south Charlotte, helps to organize the annual priests’ convocation.
“The convocation serves a two-fold purpose,” Father Hoare said. “Our priests are given the opportunity to learn about, and discuss together, a topic or an issue that is important to our priestly ministry. Simply, it helps us to be better priests for all those we serve.
“Secondly, it is a time that we gather from our many parishes to share a time of fraternity, which is rare due to our busy calendars and the geographic expanse of our diocese. And this year, we have the added joy of using our time together to celebrate our priests celebrating special anniversaries or retirement, together with the bishop.”
Bishop Jugis celebrated Mass Aug. 17 at St. Patrick Cathedral for this year’s priest jubilarians and recently retired priests.
Said Father Dudek, “I want to support them on their spiritual journey in ministry and learn from them as well. We have a lot to learn from each other when it comes to this important ministry of ours. They’ll bring the richness of their own experience as pastors and as priests in the context of ministry.
“The goal is to learn from each other and to grow spiritually as we pastor God’s holy people.”
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter