Msgr. Michael Clay, director, pastoral ministry programs, was quoted in America magazine’s coverage of a town hall co-hosted by the magazine and Catholic University on Latinos and Catholic education. Catholic News Service also covered the discussion.
... Monsignor Clay, who oversees formation for seminarians at Catholic University, has worked in Hispanic ministry for more than 20 years. When he was a pastor, his parishioners asked him to allow a statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe to be placed within the church.
“Within three months of them putting her in the church, the community went from 50 people worshipping in Spanish at Mass on Sundays to 350 people,” Monsignor Clay said. “When I asked later what had happened, I’ll never forget the response. ‘If she’s welcomed in the church, we know we’re welcomed in the church.’”
The experience helped him realize that he had to spend time learning from the Latino community, he said. Monsignor Clay shares those lessons with the seminarians he oversees. ...
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