Thread: SLC Catholic diocese gets $270K to help Latinos

Religion » Money will be used to provide leadership for growing number of Hispanics.
By Peggy Fletcher Stack

The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated: 02/16/2010 05:36:09 PM MST


Salt Lake City's Roman Catholic Diocese has received a grant of $270,000 from a national organization to provide leadership to its burgeoning Latino population.

The grant proposal was submitted by two Utah diocesan staff members -- Susan Northway, director of religious education, and Maria Cruz-Gray, director of Hispanic ministries.

The money comes from the Catholic Church Extension Society, a Chicago-based foundation created in 1905 to assist Catholics in isolated areas of the country. This year, it gave out more than $4 million to help 41 dioceses, including in Utah, address needs and opportunities created by the increasing number of Latinos in the United States and in the Catholic Church.

"As the Hispanic Catholic population grows, it is important that we help Hispanics become leaders, not just of other Hispanics, but in the church as a whole," Arturo Chavez, president and CEO of the Mexican American Catholic College and appointee to President Barack Obama's Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, said in a news release. "Clearly, Catholic Extension recognizes the need to harness the power of this growing demographic by funding key educational opportunities so that a new generation of church leaders is able to reach beyond cultural boundaries."

Latinos make up 75 percent to 80 percent of Utah's 300,000 Catholics, according to the Salt Lake City diocese's spokeswoman, Colleen Gudreau.

The funds, which will be

doled out over five years, will be used for the "formation of Spanish-speaking Catholic lay leaders," Gudreau said. "We are delighted."

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14412544

Pass the FairTax and stop the money flow to these phony 501 C 3 "charities" who are destroying our nation. We don't want "spanish-speaking leaders" in the United States any more than we want "russian-speaking leaders" in the United States or "chinese-speaking leaders" in the United States.

We want English-speaking leaders in the United States. Period.