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Sagrada Familia Parish hosts annual Faith and Culture celebration

News of the Diocese

October 3, 2023

Sagrada Familia Parish hosts annual Faith and Culture celebration
Sagrada Familia Parish hosts annual Faith and Culture celebration
Sagrada Familia Parish hosts annual Faith and Culture celebration
Sagrada Familia Parish hosts annual Faith and Culture celebration
Sagrada Familia Parish hosts annual Faith and Culture celebration
Sagrada Familia Parish hosts annual Faith and Culture celebration
Sagrada Familia Parish hosts annual Faith and Culture celebration
Sagrada Familia Parish hosts annual Faith and Culture celebration
Sagrada Familia Parish hosts annual Faith and Culture celebration
Sagrada Familia Parish hosts annual Faith and Culture celebration
Sagrada Familia Parish hosts annual Faith and Culture celebration
Sagrada Familia Parish hosts annual Faith and Culture celebration
Sagrada Familia Parish hosts annual Faith and Culture celebration
Sagrada Familia Parish hosts annual Faith and Culture celebration
Sagrada Familia Parish hosts annual Faith and Culture celebration
Sagrada Familia Parish hosts annual Faith and Culture celebration
Sagrada Familia Parish hosts annual Faith and Culture celebration
Sagrada Familia Parish hosts annual Faith and Culture celebration
Sagrada Familia Parish hosts annual Faith and Culture celebration
Sagrada Familia Parish hosts annual Faith and Culture celebration
Sagrada Familia Parish hosts annual Faith and Culture celebration

Members of the Hispanic community in the Diocese of Cleveland spent much of the day on Sept. 30 celebrating their faith and culture at the annual celebration of the same name. This year’s event had extra significance because it took place during the National Eucharistic Revival.

The celebration, which was during Hispanic Heritage Month – Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 this year – was hosted by La Sagrada Familia Parish in Cleveland.

(See photo gallery above from the event.)

Auxiliary Bishop Michael Woost was the primary celebrant for the Mass, with pastors of some of the seven Hispanic parishes in the diocese concelebrating. They included Father Francisco Garnica, Sagrada Familia pastor; Father Bill Thaden, pastor of Sacred Heart Chapel in Lorain; and Father Steve Vellenga, pastor of St. Mary Parish in Painesville. Father Damian Ference vicar for evangelization and head of the Parish Life Office, and Father Joe Hilinski, pastor of St. Barbara Church in Cleveland and delegate for ecumenical and interfaith affairs, also concelebrated. The liturgy was celebrated in both English and Spanish.

The event began with the traditional procession of flags. Members of the congregation carried about two dozen flags representing nations such as Mexico, Brazil, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, El Salvador and other Hispanic countries, which were placed into flag holders lining the walls in the church sanctuary.

Father Garnica, the homilist, noted that Bishop Woost had been his teacher during his seminary years. “And he’s still my teacher,” he added.

There is a connection between faith and culture because culture is an expression of the faith which informs it.

After Mass, costumed dancers performed in the sanctuary before the congregation and clergy moved to the parish hall for a cultural celebration and home-cooked traditional foods.

There are seven Hispanic parishes in the diocese: Sacred Heart Chapel in Lorain; La Sagrada Familia Parish on Cleveland’s West Side; St. Michael the Archangel Parish on Cleveland’s West Side; St. Bernard Parish in Akron; St. Mary Parish in Painesville; Our Lady of Lourdes Parish on Cleveland’s Southeast Side; and St. Mary Parish in Wooster.

Contact the Hispanic Ministry office at mayorga@dioceseofcleveland.org or call 216-696-6525, Ext. 4300 for more information..

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