East Boston has long since ceased to be inhabited by the Italian-Americans who shaped the soul of the neighborhood. They have moved elsewhere or else disappeared through assimilation. Over the past twenty years, the area has been repopulated by Latinos, mainly from El Salvador and Colombia. It is a well-established community spanning several generations. For the majority of residents, English is their first language, which is not obvious for the Hispanic enclaves that dot the United States. But in times of border police raids and repatriations of illegal immigrants, there is inevitably a certain tension in these parts as well. It is in this context that we find the parish of Sacred Heart, led by the priests of the Fraternity of St. Charles, one of the centers of the Boston mission. Responsibility for this community came five years ago, after a long parish experience in a suburban area with a very different history and social fabric. Sacred Heart is in the popular heart of the city, with its colors and its dramas, and is in turn the heart of the Fraternity’s mission, which is divided between the parish, teaching, and helping the Communion and Liberation community. Fr. Paolo Cumin is the parish priest. With him is Fr. Luca Brancolini. Fr. Michele Benetti and Fr. Luiz Hernandez divide their time between the parish and teaching at Bishop Fenwick High School, located about 40 minutes north of Boston. Their experience in the classroom has naturally led them to engage with the students of Gioventù Studentesca, who may not be large in number but are lively in their experience.
Everyone is looking for something that will transform their lives, making them great.
The parish community is made up of about 350 families. What emerges is “a great thirst to grow in faith,” says Cumin. Another way of saying the same thing is that “proposals that are too ‘intellectual’ do not work immediately”: people need a Christian hypothesis that illuminates every aspect of life. After each Mass, there is a convivial moment of coffee and donuts in the hall below the church, an important event because it is within the care of relationships that a common journey can begin. Once a month, some families gather for lunch with the priests to discuss the theme of marriage. While their children play, they discuss fundamental aspects of their vocation. From meetings like these, other questions begin to emerge, for example about politics or the relationship with money, issues that are difficult to address in a culture that has internalized the absolute sovereignty of the individual in his or her private sphere.
Once a month, a gesture that is deeply felt in the community is proposed: parishioners cook a meal for the needy in the neighborhood. They come from all over the neighborhood, even from outside the parish boundaries, because the need is great. To introduce the moment, the priests have begun to discreetly propose passages from Giussani on charity. For some in the Communion and Liberation community, it has become a gesture of charitable work. Every week, Fr. Michele leads a Bible study, a guided reading of Scripture, a very common practice in American catechesis. Over time, certain bonds between the parish and the CL movement have been strengthened. For many in the community, the mission of St. Charles is a stable point of reference, and some parishioners have begun to follow the School of Community. At the Movement’s last summer vacation, there were about ten of them. “Amidst the pervasive force of American individualism, the people we meet sense that our faith has something to say to life, in all its aspects,” explains Cumin. “In the end, everyone is looking for something that will transform their lives, making them great.”
