SALT LAKE CITY -- Catholic Extension has pledged $270,000 to the Diocese of Salt Lake City over the course of five years.
This grant will help support the spiritual needs of as many as 200,000 Catholic Hispanics in the area, states a news release from the diocese.
The funds are needed because the growth of the Hispanic community is dramatically outpacing its current resources.
Nationwide, Catholic Extension has announced a commitment of nearly $4 million to Hispanic ministry in 2010, states the release.
Forty one dioceses across the U.S. will benefit from the grants.
By 2020, it is estimated that Hispanics will comprise the majority of the Catholic population in the U.S., states the release.
The money is intended to fund leadership opportunities for the burgeoning population.
Hispanics are changing the body of the Catholic Church in the U.S., so Extension is responding to the new need to help support their growth, states the release.
The grant requests include making bi-literate seminarian education more accessible and affordable, providing support for youth and family ministries, and developing effective advocacy programs for the growing Hispanic Catholic population.
While Hispanics have contributed 71 percent of the growth of the Catholic Church since 1960, only 9 percent of all Catholic bishops in the United States are Hispanic/Latino, according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
"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," said Arturo Chavez, president and CEO of the Mexican American Catholic College (MACC) and appointee to President Obama's Council for Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
"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."
"Growth in the U.S. Hispanic Catholic population is a blessing to the U.S. Catholic Church, and presents tremendous leadership potential," said Joseph Boland, grants director for Catholic Extension. "At Catholic Extension, we strive not only to provide financial support for leaders to minister to Hispanics, but we strategize with dioceses to explore new opportunities to educate a new generation of leaders who can communicate and serve the growing and diverse nature of the entire Church."
Since its founding more than 100 years ago, Catholic Extension has distributed more than $450 million to help strengthen American communities, giving them the resources necessary to establish themselves, become self-sustaining, provide religious education and outreach ministries, build and renovate churches and facilities, and train the next generation of lay, religious and ordained Catholic leaders, states the release.
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