Puerto Rico diocese to mark 100 years tending 'body and soul'
Episcopal News Service. October 15, 2007 [101507-03]
Pat McCaughan
A spirited procession of banner-waving youth, laity and clergy, musicians strumming the plena on guitars and cuatros, and Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori are among thousands expected at the Sunday, October 21 celebration commemorating the Episcopal Diocese of Puerto Rico's century of social, medical and spiritual community and service.
The celebration's theme, "100 years dedicated to your body and soul" is intended to include a "celebration of the 100th diocesan convention of the Diocese of Puerto Rico, and the centennial of the health care services of the diocese, with St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, which has developed into the largest nonprofit health care organization in Puerto Rico," said Bishop David Álvarez-Velázquez of Puerto Rico.
A sea of red, yellow, green and orange T-shirted young people, laity and clergy from across the Caribbean island, some bearing banners representing diocesan assemblies and institutions and memorializing historic moments in diocesan life, will join a grand procession. They will gather at the InterAmerican University's sports and recreation complex in Ponce for a gala Eucharist at which the presiding bishop will preach and celebrate, Álvarez said.
The celebration has sparked ongoing excitement for most of the year, especially among youth, said the Rev. Ivette Linares, diocesan youth missioner.
"We're going to have some young people working as ushers, and others will be in the procession, from our churches," she said. "They'll be carrying signs highlighting special events, like the first woman who was ordained here, the Rev. Nilda Lucca, and some of the nurses who graduated from the nursing school, as well as posters representing the hospitals."
"It's been a very, very exciting time, and we are very much looking forward to the celebration," said the Rev. Canon Emily Morales, diocesan program missioner who organized much of the celebration.
Guest choirs and musicians will represent various areas throughout the island, she added. "The centennial celebration is for our diocesan convention, and St. Luke's Hospital, not the presence of the church in Puerto Rico," Morales said. "We are actually celebrating 135 years of Anglicanism in Puerto Rico."
Local, provincial and international ecumenical and other dignitaries have indicated they intend to join the festivities, Morales said. Among those expected to participate are Province IX bishops, including Orlando Guerrero of Venezuela; Francisco Jose Duque-Gomez of Colombia; and Alfredo Morante-Espana of Ecuador Literal. Also in attendance will be the Rev. Anthony Guillen, the Latino/Hispanic missioner on the church center staff and the Rev. Canon Juan I. Marquez, Latin American and Caribbean partnership officer for the Anglican and Global Relations.
"Other invited guests will also represent the different denominations in Puerto Rico," Morales added. Also attending will be Senator Kenneth McClintock Hernández, an Episcopalian. He is the President of the Puerto Rico Senate, where Jefferts Schori will offer an opening prayer on Friday, October 19, Morales said.
The presiding bishop will address the diocesan convention on Saturday, October 20 at la Iglesia San Lucas Evangelista in Ponce, part of a new $80 million church, medical office and intensive care complex which Alvarez consecrated and blessed in April of this year.
The church seats more than 500 people; nearby, the medical office building has 90 medical offices and the intensive care unit has 150 beds for treatment of cardiac and other conditions. The diocese also operates the Cristo Redentor Hospital in the city of Guayama and the Programa de Salud en el Hogar y Hospico San Lucas (St. Luke's Home Care and Hospice Program), the largest in Puerto Rico.
The Episcopal Health system will add another facility when the former Roosevelt Roads Naval Base in the city of Ceiba reopens under hospital management.
The diocese also operates three homes for the elderly and disabled; five schools and 48 parishes, missions and new missions as well as the Vidas (Lifes) program Servicios Sociales Episcopales Inc., which operates centers for children who have been abused or neglected, and for those with learning disabilities or who are suffering from HIV/AIDS, according to Alvarez.
The Diocese of Puerto Rico employs nearly 5,000 and serves a monthly average of 75,000 people. Its medical organizations are part of the Episcopal Health Services Inc., a subsidiary of the diocese. It has 32,000 baptized members in the country, which is located in Province IX. Other Province IX countries include: Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Central Ecuador, Literal Ecuador, Venezuela and Honduras.
Anglicanism was introduced in the Caribbean island in 1872, when under the leadership of the Rt. Rev. W. W Jackson, Bishop of Antigua, the work of the Santi'sima Trinidad (Holy Trinity) was established. Years later, the church of Todos los Santos (All the Saints) was built at Vieques under the same jurisdiction.
In 1901, the church affiliated with the Episcopal Church and the Rt. Rev. James H. Van Buren was named diocesan bishop. Other bishops have included Charles B. Colmore, Charles F. Boynton, Albert Ervine Swift, and Francisco Reus-Froylan. The church of San Andres (St. Andrew) at Mayaguez, was the first that began work in Spanish in 1907.
Bishop Alvarez is the first elected bishop in the Diocese of Puerto Rico and the second Puerto Rican to serve as bishop.
He said the centennial celebration will be marked by joyfulness and thanksgiving as well as a renewed energy and vision for the future.
"We want to express our gratitude for being able to serve the people of Puerto Rico and we plan to continue to expand the services of the Episcopal Church in other programs and areas for abused children and others. We plan to continue growing the church in Puerto Rico."