Mexican-born Bishop Cepeda is, of course, one of their own, but Bishop Hanchon has just about achieved that status, despite his Irish and Polish ancestry.
Bishop Cepeda’s appointment is something “very wonderful, and very telling about the pastoral awareness” of the Church when it comes to serving the Hispanic community, said Santiago Fernandez, music director at St. Damien of Molokai Parish in Pontiac.
“It is remarkable that he is so young and promising,” Fernandez said of the 42-year-old former rector of the seminary in San Antonio, Texas, who is the youngest Catholic bishop in the United States.
And Fernandez expressed the hope that, because Bishop Cepeda is nearer their age, he will be able to relate well to young Hispanic Catholics in the archdiocese.
“Ministry to Hispanic youth has become very important. You know, approximately 50 percent of all Catholics under 30 in the United States are Hispanic now,” he said, citing figures from the Stockton, Calif.-based Instituto Fe y Vida (Institute for Faith and Life).
But Bishop Hanchon’s appointment is also a great joy for the Hispanic community. “People love him. He’s definitely been almost a Hispanic bishop,” Fernandez said.
And he continued, “He’s truly a wonderful pastor, who is in his element when he is working with people. He has a personable and enthusiastic way he does things, and he just does it naturally.”
He said Bishop Hanchon “is always going out of his way to make himself available to people,” and that the new bishop’s style has made him “a big hit in the Hispanic community because it is so genuine and from the heart.”
Fernandez also said Bishop Hanchon has a gift for “always bring(ing) a certain element of peace and level-headedness — of tranquility — to even the most chaotic situations.”
Bishop Hanchon began ministering to Hispanic migrant workers in Monroe County in the 1980s, served as pastor of St. Gabriel in southwest Detroit, and continues to serve as pastor of Holy Redeemer Parish in that heavily Hispanic area of the city. But he also played a wider pastoral role in working with Hispanic Catholics in the archdiocese when he served as archdiocesan director of Hispanic Ministry.
“Don Hanchon’s been ministering in the Hispanic community ever since I’ve known him, and that goes back to Monroe County,” said Maria Jimenez, pastoral associate at St. Damien of Molokai.
“I’m sure the people are glad to see he’s being recognized for all his service to the Church,” she continued.
Regarding Bishop Cepeda, Jimenez said, “I hope we have as great an experience with him as with Bishop Flores. The people are anxious to meet him.”
Herman Leal, parish council president at Holy Redeemer, said he was excited about the appointment of Bishop Cepeda, and that he is sure the Hispanic community is excited about it.
“Many of our people don’t really speak English so well. When they celebrate the Mass, we can feel the spirit coming in our own language,” he said.
He also expressed his happiness about Bishop Hanchon’s new role, saying he felt a “special relationship” with the pastor who has done so much for the parish.
Julia Guzman, pastoral associate at St. Gabriel Parish, said she had known Bishop Hanchon since he came to the parish as its pastor in the early 1990s.
“He was like the salvation to this community,” she said. “Our numbers and funds were very low. He became very involved, and worked very hard to increase our numbers.”
Guzman said Bishop Hanchon took his responsibilities to the Hispanics of St. Gabriel Parish and elsewhere in the archdiocese “very seriously.”
“As the Hispanic community began to increase in 1995-96, he did everything he could to accommodate them, adding more Masses in Spanish and programs for the youth,” she continued.
Expressing her feelings about him becoming an auxiliary bishop, Guzman said, “He very much deserved it.”
And she said Bishop Cepeda’s appointment “demonstrates that we Hispanics are being taken into account by the archdiocese — we always have been, but bringing in a Latino to serve Latinos is a plus sign.”
Benny Cruz, longtime choir director and now also parish council president at St. Stephen/Mary, Mother of the Church Parish in southwest Detroit, said that expanding Bishop Hanchon’s role in the local Church would also benefit the Hispanic community, given his history of service and strong community ties. And he predicted that Bishop Cepeda’s involvement would further build bridges between Hispanic and non-Hispanic Catholics.
Alfonso Avila, owner of El Rancho Restaurant in southwest Detroit, said (through an interpreter) regarding Bishop Cepeda, “I am very happy, to have someone that young. He is from where I am from — San Luis Potosi — and that makes us very happy, especially all of us from San Luis Potosi. I am very happy because he is one of us and that is truly great.”
— Michigan Catholic General Manager Patricia Maldonado contributed to this story.
