National summit looks into Catholic education in an increasingly Hispanic Church

Diocese of Corpus Christi Catholic Schools Superintendent Rosemary Henry, Ph.D. participated at a national conference at Boston College on Sept. 19-21. The focus of the conference was "Catholic Schools in an Increasingly Hispanic Church". 
 
The Barbara and Patrick Roche Center for Catholic Education at the Boston College Lynch School of Education sponsored the event, featured as the "first ever…National Summit on Catholic Schools and Hispanic Families". The summit brought together bishops, Catholic school leaders, researchers, advocates and philanthropists from the fields of Catholic education and Hispanic ministry for 48 hours of "dialogue and creative thinking".
 
"Together, we will address an urgent need in Catholic education for practical, effective, mission-driven responses to cultural and demographic shifts in the Catholic Church," said Patricia Weitzel-O'Neill, Ph.D., executive director of the Barbara and Patrick Roche Center.
 
Henry co-chaired a group table discussion entitled Based on the data what are some ideas to  address the challenge?" The data in question includes the fact that there are 14.6 million school age Catholics in the United States of which eight million are Hispanic, but just four percent of that eight million is enrolled in Catholic schools.  In the Diocese of Corpus Christi out of the 3,408 Catholic School students, 61 percent are Hispanic Catholics.
 
"Catholic education is a unique expression of our Church’s evangelizing mission," Henry said. "Catholic education has impacted millions of youth in the past and its charge is to continue be a beacon of hope for today and tomorrow while maintaining a strong presence in the increasingly Hispanic Church."
 
Henry said the summit brought educators together from 40 states, representing school leaders in Catholic education, parishes, universities, foundations Hispanic students and families, researchers, clergy, national organizations, non profits, advocates, etc.
 
Participants  examined  research studies, white papers, journal articles and books on the topic of Catholic Education and the Hispanic community, important findings and implications.
 
"Our future very well may be contingent upon how well we educate these children and successfully engage families," Henry said.