"Even though there's a lot of Hispanics in the United States, we're still a minority, you know?" he told CNA.
What the bishops are communicating to Hispanic and Latino Catholics through the Encuentro is that "we know that you're here, we accept you, and we're on the same team. Everything in the faith," Alba said.
Juan Carlos Reyes, a delegate from the Archdiocese of Denver, told CNA that hoped that the bishops have a renewal of a pastoral rather than a political spirit following the Encuentro.
"I feel like many times our Church, the conversation gets framed by the political aspects in the nation, and I think many of our bishops are worried about saying the right thing, being on the right side of things, they're worried about the politics and they are detached from the people," he said.
"And they are not congressmen, they're pastors, so if they could take from this a renewal of a pastoral approach that would be wonderful," he said. Another concern of Reyes was that there be a more holistic approach within the pro-life movement to the issue of immigration.
"The pro-life movement is all about the abortion issue, and that is urgent and continues to be needed," he said. "But we march and we pray outside of abortion clinics, but we don't march and we don't pray outside of detention centers."
Evangelization and bridging the cultural divide that exists in some parishes between Hispanic and Anglo Catholics were other frequently-discussed topics of conversation at the V Encuentro.
"We are failing our Church ourselves because we are not bringing people in," Carlos Mendez from Huntington Park, California told CNA. "But first we have to go and be taught by others how to do it, we have to find the love within us and go with the Holy Spirit and take charge and be there for the ones who feel marginalized."
Joanne Reinhardt, a delegate from Toledo Ohio, said she was leaving Encuentro with a renewed desire to "build bridges" between Hispanic and Anglo Catholics.
She said some things that her parish has done to help bridge the cultural divide is to host bilingual Masses, celebrations for Our Lady of Guadalupe's feast day, and food and diaper drives for immigrants in the parish.
"Sometimes we want to separate ourselves," she said. "But we're one people and when we come together, things will happen."
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Mary Farrow worked as a staff writer for Catholic News Agency until 2020. She has a degree in journalism and English education from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.