A Shepherd of a Diverse Flock

Photo By Vaughn Larson | Navy Cmdr. Sal Aguilera, command chaplain for U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay and also the Roman Catholic chaplain for Joint Task Force Guantanamo, celebrates mass, Oct. 26, 2008, at the JTF's Troopers' Chapel. Aguilera is the Naval Station's only Catholic chaplain. JTF Guantanamo conducts safe, humane, legal and transparent care and custody of detained enemy combatants, including those convicted by military commission and those ordered released. The JTF conducts intelligence collection, analysis and dissemination for the protection of detainees and personnel working in JTF Guantanamo facilities and in support of the Global War on Terror. JTF Guantanamo provides support to the Office of Military Commissions, to law enforcement and to war crimes investigations. The JTF conducts planning for and, on order, responds to Caribbean mass migration operations.  

10.31.2008

Courtesy Story

Joint Task Force Guantanamo Public Affairs

From Joint Task Force - Guantanamo Bay

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba – Fortunately for U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay's Catholic community, Navy Cmdr. Salvador Aguilera is on board and on duty as the Naval Station's command chaplain and Joint Task Force Guantanamo's ad hoc deputy command chaplain.

As Gitmo's only Catholic priest, he leads the Catholic community in worship by celebrating mass, performing the sacraments of the Roman Catholic church, providing religious counseling and maintaining a religious home for Gitmo's Catholics. His mission is all the more challenging given Gitmo's diverse Catholic community, consisting of Catholics representing all military branches and civilian workers from throughout the United States and around the world.

Dealing with diversity, however, is nothing new to Aguilera. When you walk into his office, your attention is immediately drawn to a prominently displayed, large and colorful portrait of the religious icon known as "Our Lady of Guadalupe."

This icon is popular throughout Mexico, Latin America and the American Southwest. Not only is it widely displayed in churches, homes and car windshields, it is also commonly seen as a religiously- inspired tattoo. This religious icon represents the Virgin Mary as a mixed race "Mestiza," part European and part Native American, who by her very image affirms the diversity of cultures and races that make up the Catholic church in Latin America.

In the United States, the Roman Catholic population has grown dramatically over our country's history, from a small minority during the time of the 13 colonies to being the country's largest faith today. The 2008 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, a statistical listing of major religious bodies, reports there are approximately 67 million Roman Catholics in the United States. Modern Catholic immigrants come to the United States from Latin America, especially Mexico and the Philippines.

This increasing diversity is reflected in Gitmo's Catholic community. In addition to Catholics whose ancestors immigrated to the United States from Europe, Gitmo's Catholic community consists of a significant number of Catholics from Puerto Rico, Mexican-Americans from the American Southwest and Filipino Catholics.

Father Sal was born and raised in El Paso, Texas. His grandparents arrived in El Paso in the early 1900s after fleeing the violence of the Mexican Revolution. In the El Paso Catholic diocese, in which Aguilera grew up in and later served as a priest, he seamlessly ministered in Spanish and English.

In a preview of his future military career, and while a priest with the El Paso diocese, Aguilera volunteered as a chaplain ministering to Soldiers at Fort Bliss, Texas.

Ministering to Gitmo's multi-ethnic and multi-cultural parish, Aguilera celebrates mass and preaches in Spanish as well as English. On Sundays, he integrates and welcomes Gitmo's Filipino Catholics into his Sunday Catholic mass at the naval station's chapel. He incorporates Filipino music into the Sunday mass, and Filipino parishioners participate in all facets of the mass. For Gitmo Catholics who are more fluent in Spanish than English, Aguilera celebrates a Spanish mass every Wednesday at the JTF Troopers' Chapel.

Aguilera's sermons utilize language easily understood by all his listeners. He usually focuses on a particular text of scripture, and from that text he communicates his central point in language and images sure to be understood by everyone in attendance. He will simultaneously refer to parables, real- life incidents, current events or humor – to insightfully and simply illustrate the message he is trying to convey.

At the conclusion of Aguilera's career as a U.S. Navy Chaplain, he will return to El Paso to resume his service as a priest and likely also as a volunteer chaplain at Fort Bliss. Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy and Gitmo community are fortunate and blessed to have Aguilera staying put right here, right now.

http://www.jtfgtmo.southcom.mil/

• Date Taken: 10.31.2008
• Date Posted: 11.03.2008 10:58
• Story ID: 25858