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By KIM MULFORD
Courier-Post Staff
Carmen L. Martinez rarely misses a Sunday morning Mass at her church, Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Fatima in South Camden. When she does, the Camden abuela (grandmother) feels guilty.
Why?
"Because I have a love affair with God," Martinez confessed. "Look, one hour a week I think we should dedicate it to the church."
Her marriage is as old as the church. Both are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year, said Martinez, who is a breast cancer survivor.
"I didn't think I'd live to see that," Martinez said. "I didn't think I'd live to see the 50th anniversary, to see how we started and see how we've progressed."
One of the congregation's few "old people," Martinez said she has been going to the Spanish-language services since 1953, when the congregation formed. It was the city's first Hispanic congregation, Martinez said.
Back then, the little congregation held services in a room across the street from the Campbell Soup plant.
It later moved to Benson Street. In 1974, it merged with the Italian congregation of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. (The church holds Italian- language services on Fridays and has contact with nearly 500 Italian families in the area.)
Martinez taught the church's girls how to dance. They did the flamenco, the rumba, the Charleston. They'd put on shows to raise money for the church, she said.
The church was the center of the Puerto Rican community, said Martinez, who was born on the U.S.-held island and raised in the Bronx section of New York. It was the center of social and political life for the city's small Latino community, she said.
"It was the birth of many things that are happening today in the community," Martinez said.
In 1957, for example, parishioners organized the first Parada San Juan Bautista, a parade celebrating St. John the Baptist, the patron saint of Puerto Rico. The Rev. Leonard Carrieri suggested the idea, Martinez recalled.
"I remember the lady there said, `Father is crazy. There are not that many of us. They'll throw rocks at us,' " Martinez recalled.
Today, the annual parade draws thousands of spectators each June.
According to U.S. Census figures, Hispanics made up 39 percent of Camden's population of 79,904 in 2000. Like Martinez, about 23,000 are Puerto Rican or of Puerto Rican descent.
The church also helps Latinos retain their cultural identity. Martinez, who admits she speaks Spanglish said the Mass lets her practice her Spanish.
Ben Calaf, 52, has attended the church since he was small. A child of Puerto Rican parents, he recalls playing in the church's band.
"It's spiritually uplifting," said Calaf, who attends the 11 a.m. Spanish Mass. "It's very warm. It's a very beautiful church on the inside."
About 1,200 Hispanic families are tied to the church, said the Rev. Sal Scuderi, the church's administrator.
"Everybody whose anybody in the area claims Fatima as the mother church for the Hispanic community," said Scuderi, who has worked at the church since 1985. The majority have roots in Puerto Rico, although there are a growing number of families from places like Mexico, Columbia, the Dominican Republic and even Chile.
The anniversary is important to the congregation, Scuderi said, so the young people and newcomers can learn its history.
"I see it as a bridge, like all anniversaries should be," Scuderi said. "It's a chance to bridge the past with the future."
To celebrate 50 years in the community, the church will hold a dinner dance next Friday. Proceeds will raise money for the church. There will also be a week-long carnival in July, followed by a final celebration in October.
Martinez won't miss next week's celebration.
"I'll be dancing the shuffle," she said.
If you go
Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Fatima Church in Camden will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a series of fund-raising events. The first will be a dinner dance from 7 to 11 p.m. on Friday at Oak Valley Caterers, 523 Princeton Blvd., Wenonah. A donation of $25 per person is requested. For tickets, call Ben Calaf at (856) 365-8888.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Fatima is at 832 S. Fourth St., Camden. For more information, call (856) 541-7618.
Reach Kim Mulford at (856) 845-6521 or kmulford@courierpostonline.com
