THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, January 30, 1995 TAG: 9501300042
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM HOLDEN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 154 lines
An unusual rift between a handful of Hispanic families and the Diocese of Richmond came into sharp focus on Sunday when about 15 Catholics demonstrated against their bishop, the Rev. Walter F. Sullivan.
Holding aloft protest signs, a group from the Hispanic Apostolate Cristo Rey paced along the sidewalk outside the Church of the Holy Family on Great Neck Road while Sullivan prepared to celebrate Mass inside.
``Bishop Sullivan is experimenting with the Hispanic community, with its traditions, and with the people who are members of the apostolate,'' said Beatrice Amberman, a demonstrator. ``We don't want to be guinea pigs.''
Iris Young, who leads Cristo Rey's choir and is a supporter of Sullivan, saw it differently.
``This issue has brought a lot of pain to our community,'' Young said in a recent interview. ``It pits friends against friends, family member against family member. We even have couples where one spouse feels he's right and the other feels he's not, so one comes to church and the other doesn't. It's very sad.''
How this small band of protesters came to flout one of Virginia's leading Catholic figures is a story of crossed cultures and bruised egos centering on the protesters' desire to have a Catholic priest of their own.
Not only do they want a Spanish-speaking priest, the handful of banner-bearing members of this tight-knit community also believe their wishes - simply to have a priest, not a lay person, leading them - have been ignored by Sullivan. That claim makes his supporters bristle.
``Bishop Sullivan helped establish that ministry,'' said Stephen M. Colecchi, the special assistant to Sullivan in Richmond. ``He has repeatedly attempted to recruit a Spanish-speaking priest.''
Two priests have been assigned to the community over the past eight years. But their departures have only aggravated members of Cristo Rey, who see it as evidence that the bishop is unsympathetic.
In August 1987, the Rev. Jose Pedraza came to the apostolate but was later reassigned, setting the stage for the arrival of the Rev. Fernando Guillen, who became the focal point of Sunday's protest.
A native of Costa Rica, Guillen had been recruited out of Miami by a community member, an unusual move because the recruitment of priests is nearly always made by the presiding bishop.
Sullivan agreed to bring Guillen to Virginia Beach - but not as the parish priest. Instead, he would serve as a sacramental priest, meaning he would work with the various Spanish-speaking Catholic communities throughout Hampton Roads. Within each community, the parish priest's duties would be assigned to a pastoral coordinator who would tend to the day-to-day needs of its members.
This way, the church could make maximum use of a dwindling number of priests while the more routine duties of a parish priest would fall to a lay person. In this case, the pastoral coordinator for the apostolate would be Sister Barbara Gerwe.
It was not a move Guillen's supporters embraced.
``In the Hispanic Catholic tradition, the priest is the head of the community,'' said Jose Sosa, a community spokesman. ``Bishop Sullivan has made it clear that the head of the community is a nun and not a priest. We don't have anything personally against the sister, but she's not a priest. She is playing a role that we do not think should be her role.''
Not only were they opposed to her heading the community, they also felt that her command of Spanish and her knowledge of Hispanic culture were not sufficient to meet the community's needs.
Problems arose almost from the start of Guillen's ministry at Virginia Beach, said Bishop Sullivan, centering largely on the question of obedience.
As part of Guillen's duties, Sullivan said he asked him to meet with Spanish-speaking prisoners in the jails around Southeastern Virginia.
``He refused,'' Sullivan said.
During a rehearsal for the Easter Vigil last spring, tensions flared when Sister Barbara was asked to bless the water to make it holy. Guillen became upset and left - because, a church member said, Sister Barbara is a nun. On still another occasion, Guillen was scheduled to meet with Sullivan to discuss community problems, but he never showed up, Sullivan said.
``Now either he was busy or he didn't have time, but that was just unacceptable,'' the bishop said. ``Guillen is a guest of the diocese. He serves at the pleasure of the bishop. I don't want to publicly criticize Fernando, but I told the archbishop for Costa Rica that he was not obedient and he was called back to Costa Rica, but he didn't go.''
For his part, Guillen is silent and unavailable for comment. He also did not attend Sunday's demonstration, although he remains in the area.
But he has not been inactive. Concerned about the role assigned to him, Guillen and a group of sympathizers began to meet and talk about how to appeal more effectively to the bishop.
``When he saw he was not going to get what he wanted, he began to organize the people,'' said Young, the choir director. ``I was a witness to it. I was at two meetings this past March. . . . After my second meeting, I had no further desire to attend. What they saw as a problem, I did not see it. The problem was we, as Hispanics, should not be forced to accept a pastoral coordinator who is a nun.''
Last Sept. 26, Sullivan took the unusual step of removing Guillen from his job. He rescinded his ``faculties,'' a term the church assigns to priests who are authorized to perform priestly functions. Without them, he was effectively stripped of his duties within the diocese.
``It really surprised us,'' said Sosa, the community spokesman. ``We considered him a unifying factor, but the reason (for) his dismissal was that he created division. The people in the community will tell you he was a blessing to the community.''
Cristo Rey is not a parish, even though it has about 260 registered families consisting of roughly 800 people. Parishes are defined by specific geographic borders and typically have a church. Cristo Rey is considered an apostolate - a community bound by a common language and religious purpose - but it functions exactly as a parish.
Composed of Spanish-speaking people from across the Americas, Cristo Rey has slowly built itself over the years into an important cultural entity for the estimated 35,000 to 40,000 Hispanics living in Hampton Roads.
Given such large numbers, community members believe they qualify for a priest.
The diocese covers 33,000 square miles throughout southern Virginia where 4.4 million people live. About 163,000 of them are Catholics served by 152 active diocesan priests and 39 visiting priests - roughly one priest for every 853 parishioners.
In the 1950s, it was not uncommon for three or four priests to be assigned to a parish; today, many have only one, and some none at all.
``There are reasons why we don't ordain priests anymore, and the reason is most parents don't encourage their children to become priests or nuns,'' said the Rev. Richard Mooney, the parish priest for Holy Family.
``The average seminarian entering school today is about 30 years old, so we're not dealing with people out of college. Most people get a little life under their belts and that can be good, but it kind of thins out the pool of possibilities.''
Stuck squarely in the middle of the dispute is Sister Barbara Gerwe.
``This is something that has caused a lot of pain in the community, a lot of divisiveness,'' she said. ``I thought it was kind of settling down.''
``Bishop Sullivan has always been strong in saying the church must respond to the needs of the people to worship God in their own native language because we all go to God through our own native culture and language.
``But there is a shortage of priests. And the church is hierarchical. It's not the community that looks for priests, it's the bishop. Some in the community felt that because this priest initially had been contacted by a member of the community, that it then had an option on how the priest would operate. Our church does not work that way. It is the bishop who decides where a priest will minister.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
TAMARA VONINSKI/Staff
Members of the Hispanic Apostolate Cristo rey picketed outside the
Church of the Holy Family on Great Neck Road Sunday, protesting
Bishop Walter F. Sullivan's dismissal of the Rev. Fernando Guillen,
whom the community wants to lead their apostolate.
Bishop Walter F. Sullivan
TAMARA VONINSKI/Staff
Carol Hernandez, right, carries a sign that says ``Out with
arrogance and impiety.'' She and others in the Cristo Rey apostolate
say Bishop Walter F. Sullivan has ignored their need for a
Spanish-speaking priest to lead them.
KEYWORDS: PROTEST CATHOLIC HISPANIC WALTER SULLIVAN by CNB