Nearly 50 Latino youth from the Cleveland Diocese accepted an invitation from the Diocese of Columbus to attend the seventh annual Guadalupe Youth Summit at the Ohio Expo Center and State Fairgrounds in Columbus.
The Cleveland group included youth from La Sagrada Familia and St. Michael the Archangel parishes in Cleveland. Coordinators were Hortensia Rodriguez, director of the diocesan Office of Hispanic Ministry, Father Mark Riley, St. Michael the Archangel pastor, and Sister Juana Mendez, pastoral minister at St. Michael the Archangel.
The summit focused on recognizing the importance of youth as the Church of today rather than the Church of the future.
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Federico Carranza Jr., a speaker, musician and producer from Mexico, was the featured presenter. He is a Franciscan University of Steubenville alumnus and has served in ministry for two decades.
The theme for the daylong event was “I am Going Right Away to do Your Wish.” The Feb. 26 conference drew more than 700 Latino high school students from Ohio and Michigan. It was organized by the Office of Hispanic Ministry in collaboration with the Office of Catholic Schools, the Catholic Foundation and Catholic Social Services, all from the Diocese of Columbus.
“We have our office of ethnic ministries in the Diocese of Columbus, which is important. I think it’s also important to highlight this particular group with its specific gifts, particularly as we are now approaching 2031, the 500th anniversary of the apparition to Guadalupe,” said Columbus Bishop Earl Fernandes. “I think the Hispanic youth are going to be a real force for evangelization, and we to keep them connected to the Church.”
He noted that the Hispanic population in his diocese has grown by about 20% in the last two years.
Bishop Fernandes was one of three bishops to attend the youth summit, along with Archbishop Robert Casey of Cincinnati and Bishop Juan Miguel Betancourt, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Hartford, Connecticut.
“I’ve never been in a youth summit for Hispanic-background kids, so I’m thrilled about this,” said Bishop Betancourt, a native of Puerto Rico who speaks Spanish.
Bishop Betancourt said he hopes the Guadalupe Youth Summit will bring a sense of affirmation to Latino youth reminding them that they are largely the present and the future of the Church.