By Gia Myers • Posted February 7, 2025

Forty Hispanic Catholic young adults in the Philadelphia Archdiocese have begun a 15-month program in leadership development organized by the archdiocesan Office for Hispanic Catholics to cultivate leaders in their parishes and the Church at large.

They were welcomed into the program and encouraged by Archbishop Nelson Pérez and Auxiliary Bishop Christopher Cooke at a Jan. 18 retreat. The program is called VEYAHLI and it engages Hispanic and Latino young adults in the U.S. to grow as missionary disciples.

It’s part of the pastoral plan from the 2019 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church, of which Archbishop Pérez was chairman and part of a 15-member delegation from the U.S. that presented their report in Rome to Pope Francis that same year.

Conducted in Spanish, VEYAHLI consists of eight courses arranged into video modules and completed online on a weekly basis for 48 weeks, along with occasional in-person gatherings and workshops throughout the year.

Program participants will have the opportunity to learn about different Catholic ministries and how to be leaders of those ministries.

Program coordinators are Jhoselyn Martinez, administrator of the Hispanic Catholic Institute of the Archdiocese, and Kathia Arango, director of the Office for Hispanic Catholics, in partnership with the archdiocesan Office for Ministry with Young Adults.

“It’s a way to form the young adults that are already engaged or want to be more engaged and give them knowledge of what Hispanic ministry is,” said Martinez, noting that ministry at both the local and national levels will be discussed.

The program launched Jan. 18 with an opening retreat held at the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center in Center City Philadelphia, adjacent to the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul.

Bishop Cooke led the morning retreat and celebrated Mass at the cathedral’s chapel. Participants took part in ice breakers and other fun activities to help them get to know one another.

In the afternoon, after a lunch of chicken and rice, Archbishop Pérez stopped by to greet everyone and welcome them into the program.

The retreat ended with details about accessing the online course work, provided by the Mexican American Catholic College (MACC) in San Antonio, Texas, a pioneer in bilingual higher education with an emphasis in pastoral and Hispanic ministry.

“These are a lot of hard-working people,” said Martinez of the young adults committing to the VEYAHLI program. “They are people who are working, many have children, and they still want to do formation.”

Although the participants have busy schedules, the online format allows them to learn from any location, using a computer or mobile device.

Axel Mendez, 35, says he joined the VEYAHLI program to help him grow closer to God and contribute more of his time and talent to his parish.

An assistant store manager and parishioner at St. Ann Parish in Phoenixville, Mendez is hopeful that the VEYAHLI program will provide “a lot of tools” that will help him and others create “a more fruitful Church,” he said.

“I think sometimes as Christians we know what we should do, but we don’t know how to do it,” he said.

At his parish, Mendez is involved with the young adult group and a prayer group, and he also teaches Gospel reflection.

Looking ahead to the future, “I’m open to working for the Church in my parish in any way God wants,” Mendez said.

Heillen Lozado, 17, joined the VEYAHLI program because she wants to help others.

She is a parishioner at Annunciation B.V.M. Parish in South Philadelphia and a student at Mercy Career and Technical School in the East Falls section of Philadelphia, where she’s preparing for a career in the medical field.

Lozado is currently an altar server at her parish and she looks forward eventually to  serving as a Communion minister.

Her desire to restart the teenage youth group at her parish – disbanded during the COVID pandemic – is what motivated her to join the VEYAHLI program.

Lozado found motivation in the words of Archbishop Pérez at the Jan. 18 retreat.

“He said that we’re not the future, but we’re the present,” she said. “That made me realize that I can take the initiative (in my parish), and not wait for someone else.”

Martinez calls the VEYAHLI program “a great God send” for helping Hispanic young adults  become future leaders in their parishes and throughout the Church. Her hope is that program graduates will “be more integrated in their parishes as leaders,” she said.