Chicagoland

Catholic Extension initiative to create Hispanic lay leaders

By Daniel P. Smith | Contributor
Sunday, January 20, 2013

A $15 million investment spearheaded by Chicagobased Catholic Extension aims to promote Hispanic lay leadership and solidify church involvement from the nation’s largest growing — and traditionally Catholic — demographic group.

Announced in October, the Hispanic Lay Leadership Initiative is a three-year commitment of strategic investment by Catholic Extension to fund the salaries of 100 new Hispanic lay leaders in as many as 91 poor mission dioceses across the United States.

According to Joe Boland, Catholic Extension’s senior director of grants management, the $15 million commitment is the single largest investment in Hispanic Catholic ministries.

“Catholic Extension is attempting to listen to the church’s need and respond to it in a creative, strategic fashion,” Boland said. “This investment needs to be happening right now to ensure the health of the Catholic Church in America.”

While the rapid population growth of Hispanics across the nation has ignited opportunity and hope among Catholic leaders, the surge has also sparked concern about the church’s limited resources to gather the talents and gifts of the Hispanic faithful.

According to the Pew Hispanic Center, nearly 40 percent of U.S. Catholics are Hispanic and some estimates hold that Hispanics could be the majority of the U.S. Catholic Church as soon as 2020. For all of the Hispanics sitting in church pews, however, less than 10 percent of the estimated 30,000 lay ecclesial ministers in the church are Hispanic.

Extension designed its initiative to address this evident and stillemerging gap by building pastoral capacity and establishing new lay leadership positions in areas heavily populated by Hispanics.

“We have to be intentional, present and active here so that every Catholic has the opportunity to live out his or her faith,” Boland said, adding that research has shown church departures rise when pastoral presence lacks.

As of early December, Boland reported that 43 of the allotted 100 positions had already been filled, many reaching out to rural Hispanics as well as young Hispanic Catholics, a particularly important group since one quarter of the nation’s Hispanics are minors.

Catholic Extension does not view its efforts here as a temporary stopgap, but rather as a catalyst for more substantial investment in Hispanic ministry.

According to Boland, funding for the 100 positions created by the $15 million initiative will be split equally among Catholic Extension and the participating dioceses, whom, after the initiative’s initial three years, will be responsible for sustaining the positions.

“This is a hand up and a stimulus to get pastoral activity going in the U.S.,” Boland said.

Catholic Extension president Father Jack Wall, previously the long-time pastor at Old St. Patrick’s, 700 W. Adams St., said supporting Hispanic ministry in the church was a necessary move “to build a solid future for the Catholic faith in the U.S.”

Father Marco Mercado, director of the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Office for Hispanic Catholics, called Catholic Extension’s efforts “a wonderful investment.”

“What they’re trying to do — to invest in formation and leadership for Hispanic Catholics — is so important because it’s exactly what’s needed to reach out and serve the Hispanic faithful,” Mercado said.

The Archdiocese of Chicago is not considered a mission diocese and will therefore not directly benefit from Catholic Extension’s $15 million investment.

Even so, Mercado said the campaign should make it easier for his office to minister and train in a more organized way. “This effort will help to build, empower and reinforce Hispanic Catholic networks and create a network of leaders throughout the country,” he said.

Indeed, as the Hispanic population continues to swell, many hope a surge of Hispanic Catholic leaders will follow, the first wave coming from Catholic Extension’s sizable effort.

“We don’t believe this is just about 100 leaders,” Boland said. “We hope this initiative creates a ripple effect beyond the immediate ministries of these 100 individuals and spreads throughout the country.”

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