 |
|||||||||
 |
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
June 19, 2006 • VOL. 44, NO. 12 • Oakland, CA
New pastors named for Hayward, Oakland parishes
Father Demetrio Insigne Aguilar, S.V.D.
Although he does not begin his term as pastor at Hayward’s St. Joachim
Parish officially until August, Divine Word Father Demetrio Aguilar has
already learned some facts about his new parish family. “It’s
quite big and dynamic,” he said.
The parish has about 8,000 registered members and abounds with ethnic
diversity – about 45 percent Hispanic, 40 percent Filipino and other
Asians, and 15 percent Anglos and some Europeans, he said.
Although those facts may be daunting to some, Father Aguilar should fit
right in. A native of the Philippines, Father Aguilar, 53, has spent a
number of years in pastoral ministry in Central and South America and
is an experienced administrator.
He originally dreamed of becoming a doctor but became an educator before
realizing that he had a higher calling. He worked as a high school mathematics
teacher for four years before entering the Divine Word Seminary in Tagaytay
City.
He was ordained to the priesthood in October 1983 and the following July
traveled to Colombia and Panama for his first mission assignment. He spent
seven years of his mission doing pastoral work at two Divine Word parishes
in Colombia.
In 1991 Father Aguilar returned to the Philippines to help in his community’s
formation program and was assigned to accompany prospective priests in
the first stage of their formation. “Formation work is difficult,
but it has been very enriching. I loved the experience,” he said.
Four years later he returned to Colombia to serve as provincial treasurer
for a three-year term. He then went back to Panama where he did parish
work until 2002.
For the past four years Father Aguilar served as an administrator, treasurer
and coordinator of a parish in the Philippines that had a membership of
80,000 to 100,000 parishioners.
Father Aguilar will be joined at St. Joachim’s by two other Divine
Word priests over the next three months. He said he is looking forward
to developing goals and plans for the parish with the collaboration of
the “empowered laity.”
Father Oscar Mendez, O.F.M.
One of the first things Father Oscar Mendez received as the new pastor
at Oakland’s St. Elizabeth Parish was a history lesson.
His new parish was established in 1892 for German Catholics in the East
Bay, but today it has become a kind of “national” parish for
Mexicans, drawing up to 6,000 Hispanics for weekend liturgies.
Father Mendez, 53, was born in El Salvador and received his high school
diploma in his native country before traveling to the U.S. He earned his
Associate of Arts degree at City College in San Francisco and a bachelor
of arts in biology from San Francisco State University. He earned a master’s
in divinity degree from Franciscan School of Theology in Berkeley.
Ordained to the priesthood as a Franciscan friar in 1989 in San Francisco,
he served as a parochial vicar at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in the city
for a few years before receiving permission from his superiors to study
medicine in his native country. He returned to El Salvador and obtained
a medical degree from the National University of El Salvador in March
2000.
Father Mendez first arrived at St. Elizabeth Parish in April as a “spiritual
administrator” before being named pastor on June 1. One of his goals
as pastor is to continue to celebrate the cultural traditions of the parish.
The priest also hopes to develop “a sense of belonging to a worshipping
community” and to accompany the parish as it continues working on
its vision statement: “St. Elizabeth Church is a Catholic community
inflamed with Jesus Christ’s love to embrace all people, forming
them in the faith, to build the kingdom of God in peace, justice and truth.”
Those words provide inspiration and guidance to the new pastor. “Just
by looking at this statement, I know that I have a lot of work to do,”
he said.
