Tuesday, August 28, 2001

Campus minister learns Spanish in Guatemala school
By Heather Christie
Staff Reporter

As part of the Diocese of Fort Worth’s encouragement to have their clergy bilingual, Roman Catholic Campus Minister Father Charlie Calabrese spent the summer in Guatemala studying Spanish.

Calabrese spent 11 weeks at Linguistico Francisco Marroquin, a Spanish language school in Antigua-Guatemala.

“Antigua-Guatemala is known for its Spanish-language schools,” Calabrese said.

The Bishop of Fort Worth, Joseph P. Delaney, wants all seminarians, who will be ordained in the future, to be bilingual by the time they are ordained, Calabrese said.

“They want seminarians and other priests to learn Spanish so that they could minister more adequately to the needs of the Catholic, Hispanic community,” Calabrese said.

There is no law or written document that says ordained priests have to be bilingual, said Jeff Hensley, Director of Communications of the Diocese of Fort Worth.

“It’s just simply a strong encouragement to be bilingual, to better serve the people and the Hispanic population,” Hensley said.

Calabrese said the bishop does not make priests learn Spanish who are already ordained, but he encourages and is supportive of learning Spanish.

But being a student was the hardest thing he has ever done in his life, he said.
“Someone told me the gene for learning languages turns off around the age of 25 and I can believe it.”

Calabrese learned basic grammar and vocabulary while in Guatemala. He is also continuing his Spanish studies in a conversation course at TCU, he said.

“I would hope to go back to Guatemala next summer,” Calabrese said. “The people are open, warm, hospitable, friendly and genuine.”

Calabrese looked into attending classes in Mexico but it was more expensive than Guatemala, he said.

Heather Christie
h.j.christie@student.tcu.edu