Catholics gather in a multi-faceted forum about the Church

Intermountain Catholic

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Father Eleazar Silva, parochial vicar of the Cathedral of the Madeleine, addresses participants of the ?Knowing about our Catholic Church' congress. IC photo/Laura Vallejo

MIDVALE — Dozens of Catholics gathered July 14-15 for a special conference, ‘Knowing about our Catholic Church,’ organized by the Apostoles de la Palabra Ministry of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus Catholic Church.

Among the event’s speakers were Father Eleazar Silva, parochial vicar of the Cathedral of the Madeleine; Father Javier Virgen, the diocese’s vicar for Hispanic Affairs; and Dr. Fernando Casanova, a motivational religious speaker from Puerto Rico.

Fr. Silva presented a topic called ‘Eucharistic Feast in our Holy Church,’ in which he referred to the signs and symbolism of the Mass.

"After receiving Holy Communion, people should have a deep conversation, an internal conversation, with God," said Fr. Silva. "I like the idea of our church having different movements, and those having different types of evangelizations in which you can see different representations of the Holy Spirit. In the church it’s important that there are different representations of our faith."

According to Fr. Silva, the Catholic Church is facing a very difficult situation right now, and people don’t really know their faith. "We need to know the importance of our faith and, with that, we will be able to get a real relationship with God and we will be able to be further testimony of God’s love," he said.

Fr. Casanova gave several presentations: ‘The Holy Spirit, Church, God;’ ‘Our Eucharist: the Real Presence of God;’ ‘The Holy Eucharist Leads You to the Real Church;’ "Eucharist and Marriage;’ and ‘The End of Times.’

Father Martin Diaz, pastor of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus Parish, was part of the conference, too. In his opinion people’s participation in the forum indicates their growth in the faith. "It is very important because everyone has the mission to spread the word in Utah," he said. "We are here to learn more of our faith. We already know [about the faith] but we need a push to be more motivated."

Fr. Virgen was in charge of a presentation called ‘God’s Love Above Everything.’

"This event is important because I learned a lot and I can share it in my parish," said Josefina Veu, parishioner of Saint Joseph in Ogden, who attended the event with Carmen Rodriguez, who said she was motivated by the presentations.

"I like to grow in my faith," said Veu.

"I am sure of my Catholic faith but every day I want to learn and know more about it so we can all be Church," said Maria Meza, a St. Therese of the Child Jesus parishioner.

Casanova is part of the Hispanic Association for Theological Education, Coming Home Network International and the Catholic Theological Association of Great Britain, and has applied to the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians in the United States.