Bishop Jimenez launches 3rd diocesan pastoral plan

Diocese of Chalan Kanoa Bishop Ryan Jimenez holds up the five-year pastoral plan that was launched on Dec. 28, 2017 at the Joeten Dai-Dai Social Hall. (Kimberly A. Bautista)

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Chalan Kanoa officially unveiled its five-year pastoral plan last Thursday.

Leaders of the various parishes on the island and other parish representatives gathered at the Joeten Dai-Dai Social Hall to join Diocese of Chalan Kanoa Bishop Ryan Jimenez for the launching of the five-year pastoral plan.

The booklet will serve as a guideline for the direction Jimenez hopes to take the diocese in the next five years. This is the third pastoral plan that has been made since the diocese of Chalan Kanoa was established on Saipan.

The establishment of the plan was a collaborative effort made by the leaders of the various parishes around Saipan.

“We’re a team and we collaborate with everyone and it was really a yearlong process,” said Jimenez.

Jimenez said the easier part of the pastoral plan was the drafting and launching of the plan, the harder part is the actual implementation of the plan. “This is the direction of our diocese in the next five years,” he said.

Jimenez said the pastoral plan was made achievable so that it doesn’t just look good on print but it would also represent the church as a whole.

The priorities that were considered in the establishment of the plan were evangelization and faith formation, vocation, marriage and family, liturgy, social justice and outreach, and the youth.

Jimenez said under his leadership, with the support of the members of the church, he will certainly take a stand and express their opinions on certain issues that would directly impact the church.

According to diocesan pastoral planning committee chair Rita Sablan, the committee ensured that the pastoral plan was doable and manageable.

“Although we want to dream big, what would we look like five years from now, we want it to be very realistic and start small growing bigger so we can achieve many of the important things for the diocese,” she said.

Sablan said the work of the pastoral plan committee consisted of assessment, design, and building. The next step is implementation.

Jimenez is urging church members to get a copy of the pastoral plan and share it with their family members, friends, and co-workers.

A digital copy of the plan is available at https://rcdck.org/2017/12/diocesan-pastoral-plan.