A call to Catholic leadership
by Archbishop of Denver, Most Rev. Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.

This week’s column is condensed and adapted from Archbishop Chaput’s opening remarks to an Aug. 22-24 gathering of the national Catholic Association of Latino Leaders (CALL) at St. Malo Retreat Center in Allenspark.

In reaching out to Colorado’s Latino community, I think we have several achievements we can be proud of in the Archdiocese of Denver, from a 10-fold increase in Masses in Spanish, to the promotion of Hispanic vocations; to the creation of Centro San Juan Diego (pastoral and family services center) and a division of Catholic Charities especially dedicated to helping Latinos with their legal status in this country.

But despite all these efforts, we still don’t adequately minister to Latinos.  We’re losing them, not so much to Protestant churches, though that’s a problem as well, but mostly to a secularized, consumer-driven society. They’re being digested by our culture, when they should be renewing it.

As I’ve said many times in the past, demography is destiny. But leadership is destiny too. Let me explain.

Ethnically, the Catholic Church in the United States has been fueled by several major waves of immigrants: the Irish, Italians, Germans, French, Polish and Hispanics.  The heavy Irish influence in shaping the American Church over the past 150 years has obviously been based in the demographic realities.  The Irish were the largest single Catholic ethnic group in the country.  But the really interesting thing is this:  Their actual influence was even greater than their numbers.

Why?  It’s because, unlike all the other ethnic groups that came to America, the Irish developed a highly organized and effective leadership. In fact, Archbishop Paul Cullen, installed as archbishop of Dublin in 1852 and the first Irishman to become a cardinal, made sure that a steady stream of talented Catholic priests and religious went to America to “keep the flock on the right path,” as he would say.
He not only created a seminary dedicated to forming vocations that would go abroad to reinforce the Catholic identity of the Irish in the United States, Canada and Australia; but also—despite the poverty of Ireland—he created a complex support system to finance his seminary and the missions to these other countries.
As a result, the Italians, Polish, French, Germans and other Catholic ethnic groups made very many and very important contributions to American life, but their real influence was probably more limited.  The Irish, with their own priests and religious, created an extraordinary cultural system that impacted not only the organization of the Catholic Church in the United States, but also the whole political and social environment.  In essence, the Irish turned a persecuted minority into a cultural, economic and religious force in the United States.

What’s the lesson?  Today, Latinos are by far the largest Catholic ethnic group in the country. But numbers aren’t decisive.  Organization and leadership are decisive.  In other words, you are decisive.  Not we bishops.  The work of bishops is certainly crucial, but what the Church really needs is a generation of Latino leaders willing to do the work to have an impact on American Catholic life and American society. We need leaders willing to vigorously promote priestly vocations and pastoral ministers.  We need leaders eager to show by their example that success in the financial, political or social environment can be achieved by reaffirming, not relinquishing, their Catholic beliefs and values.  We need leaders willing to strengthen the Latino family as the domestic Church, which is the cornerstone of a renewal of American culture.

You’ve chosen the name CALL for your organization, the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders.  This is my simple request to you: Lead.  But don’t forget who you are. Lead as Catholics and as Latinos. Make sure that your service is deeply and authentically Catholic.  And if you do lead, if you do accept God’s call, then the future will be full of hope—not only for the Latino community, but for everyone who shares this great and beautiful nation.

For more information on the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders (CALL), phone 210-734-1653 or visit www.call-usa.org online.