Pocono News Section

Spanish-Speaking Community Welcomed to W-B Church

Spanish-Speaking Community Welcomed to W-B Church - Sunday, June 28, 2009 at 11:00PM EST

Reported by: Jeff Chirico
Sunday, Jun 28, 2009 @ 11:00pm EST
WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY- It's no secret, many Catholic churches are losing parishioners. But in Wilkes-Barre one congregation has outgrown its building. So today, that Spanish-speaking community is moving to another church. And they're being welcomed with open arms.

They danced in traditional costumes and prayed in their native language. Catholics young and old processed to their new church. One that can fit their swelling numbers.

Director of Religious Education Maria Vazquez Perez said, "The Hispanic community is growing tremendously since I moved here in 2000. I would say it has more than quadrupled."

The procession began inside the smaller Holy Rosary Church in the Heights Section of Wilkes-Barre. And as is tradition once a year, they carried a statue of their patroness -- Our Lady of Guadalupe.

This time it's heading to St. Nicholas where parishioners were waiting. Sylvia Waskiewicz of St. Nicholas said, "They're beautiful. I can't wait to get in there. I can't. I think it's exciting."

Inside, a bilingual mass. St Nick's Pastor, Monsignor Joseph Rauscher looks forward to shepherding the newcomers. "It brings new life into our community because we have many more parishioners coming as you can see. They just fill the church," he said.

Rauscher says it's only fitting they welcome the growing community because St. NickÕs itself was founded by a much earlier group of immigrants.

St. Nick's will hold a mass in Spanish every Sunday. ThatÕs so people like Fausta Castro, who don't speak much English, can continue to worship. "No it's not going to change. And I hope everybody will be with us in the tradition we always do," she said through an interpreter.

And so the tradition of welcoming immigrants continues at St. NickÕs. 300 new families will begin attending St. Nick's in Wilkes-Barre. Before today, St. Nick's had 1,000 parish families.