Celebrating La Voz's 25th

OCTOBER 19, 2007

My dear friends,

The psalmist prays to God, "Teach us how to count our days so that we will attain a heart of wisdom" (Ps 90:12). As we begin the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the archdiocese, we also pause to celebrate the 25th anniversary of our archdiocesan Spanish newspaper, La Voz.

Our Spanish-language newspaper actually dates back to March 20, 1959, when one Spanish page appeared in the inaugural edition of The Voice, the diocesan newspaper started by Archbishop Coleman F. Carroll within months of the establishment of the diocese. That one page grew to four and eventually, in 1982, to the stand-alone monthly distributed in parishes today.

I congratulate the editors, journalists, graphic artists and supporters who over the years have given their all to this endeavor, contributing with their sacrifice, talent and professionalism to this task of cultural and faith formation.

Thanks to La Voz, the Hispanic community has felt at home in the church. La Voz has provided them with accurate information while at the same time allowing the archdiocese to evangelize the massive waves of immigrants and exiles coming from the Caribbean, Central and South America. La Voz itself is a reflection of the Hispanic presence in south Florida, and of the efforts of our church, so rich in lay movements, to welcome this numerous people as a blessing and not a burden.

Over the years, La Voz has received many accolades from the national Catholic press. It has distinguished itself as a serious means of communication due to its objectivity in reporting current events that affect both the church and society. I am proud of this newspaper's contributions to the culture and to the educational work of the church in south Florida. As Pope John Paul II said, "For the new evangelization to be effective, it is essential to have a deep understanding of the culture of our time in which the social communications media are most influential" ("Ecclesia in America").

La Voz not only reaches us here in south Florida. During my participation in the Synod for the Church in America, and my visits to other dioceses in the Caribbean and Latin America, I have realized that the newspaper is read in many places. More importantly, La Voz has given these churches the means to communicate with their sons and daughters in diaspora, enabling them to maintain ties of communion and solidarity. More recently, the Internet has given this service a global scale, multiplying its benefits to levels beyond our imagination.

In 1987, the U.S. bishops made an important decision, to opt for ecclesial integration rather than cultural assimilation. By this means, we hoped, as much as possible, to promote apostolic outreach in people's own language, respecting their values for the mutual enrichment of everyone in the church, and in order to attain the active participation of all in the one church.

La Voz has provided a valuable witness of how this Hispanic apostolate can be carried out in our local church. Among its chief supporters has been retired Auxiliary Bishop Agustín Román who, through many stages and most especially during especially difficult economic times, has ardently defended this project, even to the point of personally delivering the newspaper during pastoral visits to parishes, citing it during his appearances on local radio stations and promoting it during his homilies at the Shrine of Our Lady of Charity. La Voz and Radio Paz have become like two arms of Bishop Román's evangelization work. His tireless encouragement has certainly proved contagious to many.

We are also very fortunate to have had the excellent pastoral care for the Hispanic community from retired Bishop Gilberto Fernández and currently from Bishop Felipe Estévez.

When I read La Voz, I see living proof of the vitality of the church among us, as we welcome diverse peoples under the banner of a single faith. Deo gratia.

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