Region 12 - Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington

Bishop Eusebio Elizondo
V Encuentro Lead Bishop

Northwest Regional Office for Hispanic Affairs
Anchoring Institution
Geography
Region XII includes the states of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington; the Archdioceses of Anchorage, Portland, and Seattle; and the Dioceses of Baker, Boise, Fairbanks, Great Falls-Billings, Helena, Juneau, Spokane, and Yakima.

Pastoral Profile of Region XII in Hispanic / Latino Ministry
Diocesan personnel dedicated to Hispanic ministry in the Region:*
- In offices of Hispanic Ministry:† 8
- Responsible for Pastoral Juvenil Hispana: 1
- In ethnic/multicultural or other specialized offices: 0
- Office personnel assisting these leaders: 0
Estimated Hispanic Catholic population:
- 295,000 immigrant Hispanic Catholics
- 481,000 Hispanic Catholics born in the U.S.
- 34% of the Catholics in the Region are Hispanic / Latino
Parishes with Hispanic / Latino Ministry: 197
Masses in Spanish
- Weekly Masses: 248
- Once-a-month Masses: 17
- Average attendance per Mass: 385 (13.1% of all Hispanic Catholics)
Among Catholic children from 0 to 17 years old:
- 47% are Hispanics / Latinos born in the U.S.
- 3% are immigrant Hispanics / Latinos
- In K-8 Catholic schools, 10.1% are Hispanics / Latinos
- In Catholic high schools, 7.9% are Hispanics / Latinos
Hispanic / Latino ecclesial ministers serving in the Region:
- Immigrant priests: 81
- U.S.-born priests: 13
- Religious sisters and brothers: 30
- Deacons: 52
- Lay ecclesial ministers: 87
The V Encuentro in Region XII
- Sent 83 delegates to the National Encuentro, including 2 ENAVE/ERAVE and 5 bishops.
- The Regional Encuentro was celebrated with 170 delegates and 3 bishops.
- 6 Diocesan Encuentros were celebrated, with total attendance of 6,641.
- 46 parishes / organizations conducted the five sessions and 24 held a Parish Encuentro.
- 722 leaders from 71 parishes received training for the V Encuentro in 33 trainings.
Main areas of new outreach in parishes through the V Encuentro:
- Hispanic / Latino young adults
- Migrants and campesinos in rural areas
- Homeless people
* Of the eleven (arch)dioceses in the Region, five do not have an office or personnel for Hispanic Ministry or Multicultural Ministry.
† May include personnel in other offices when their responsibility is for the Latino community, such as the Director of Hispanic Catechesis.
Thank God for Our Lead Bishop
The fact that our Regional V Encuentro Lead Bishop, Eusebio Elizondo of Seattle, is also the Episcopal Moderator of the Northwest Regional Office for Hispanic Affair (NWROHA), which we’ve had for 37 years, has been really helpful from the beginning of our V Encuentro Journey as a region.
Through the infrastructure the NWROHA provided, the regional leadership was soon convened to assess the resources it had and to engage regional leaders from national organizations (such as CRS, Maryknoll, OCP) to complement what was missing. This level of engagement in pastoral de conjunto proved to be invaluable at the celebration of our Regional Encuentro, where we gathered in a meaningful way our regional leadership for Hispanic Ministry for the first time in the last 15 years!
Download this information in a PDF Piktogram.
Region 12: Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington
Updated 12.26.18Diocese | Statistical Report | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Anchorage | ||||||||
Baker | ||||||||
Boise | ||||||||
Fairbanks | ||||||||
Great Falls-Billings | ||||||||
Helena | ||||||||
Juneau | ||||||||
Portland, OR | ||||||||
Seattle | ||||||||
Spokane | ||||||||
Yakima | ||||||||
Region 12 Totals |