The office of Hispanic Ministry serves as a resource to the Hispanic people of the Diocese. The office provides to parishes and missions with current materials, as well as training and opportunities, to better serve their Hispanic parishioners.
Since 1987 the Office of Hispanic Ministry has seen an increase of Hispanic people of about 250%. Considering that 85% of them are Catholic, it is estimated that well over 300,000 in Utah, about 70% of the Catholic people in the state are Hispanic.
The Office of Hispanic Ministry continues to serve as a diocesan response to help meet the pastoral needs of the Hispanic Catholic Community, acting as a bridge for reasons of language and culture as Hispanics incorporate into their new environment, respecting their spirituality and popular devotions. The Diocesan Hispanic commission is the consultative body advising the office.
Leadership Formation Classes in liturgical as well as Catechetical Formation, basic and advanced, are offered yearly throughout the state. The two-and-a-half-year program "Viva" prepares the pastoral agents that in return help to prepare other leaders in their different parishes and especially in the missions in the rural areas.
The Quince Años Celebration, a rite of passage, is a very special event in the life of the Hispanic Families where the participants call upon God to bless them as they approach maturity. Quinceañera teachers are prepared throughout the diocese as needed for this religious and cultural event.
An Excellent tool of communication for the HIspanic Catholics is the Hispanic Commission formed by representatives of the different parishes, missions, and Catholic organizations that meet with the bishop periodically to report their accomplishments, needs, and dreams.
The participantion in the "Encuentro 2000" in Los Angeles was well attended, especially by the youth and young adults and their leaders. They also participated in "El Primer Encuentro Juvinel Hispano" in Notre Dame, South Bend, in 2006. They celebrate yearly "La Pascua Juvenil" after Easter with great success. Their "Picnic Juvenil" brings young people from all over the state as does the "Dia Consagrado," to name some of their activities. They have their representatives on the Hispanic Commission.
Collaborating with Hispanic Catholics to address their many pastoral needs and to encourage them in their faith formation in an atmosphere of openness and respect is the motto of the Hispanic Ministry Office.
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