World News
Latino Catholic leaders exhorted to 'lead society to conversion'
Published: August 29, 2012
MIAMI (CNS) -- Hispanic business leaders from across the country were repeatedly called to "be different from the world around us" during the seventh annual meeting of CALL -- the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders -- held Aug. 24-26 in Miami. The high-powered group, with 148 members and 10 chapters nationwide, was joined by an equally high-powered roster of bishops and speakers, including Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, papal nuncio to the U.S.; Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley of Boston; Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles; Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia; Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami; and Carl Anderson, supreme knight of the Knights of Columbus. Archbishop Gomez, who serves as the group's episcopal moderator and was among the founders of CALL when he was auxiliary bishop of Denver, set the tone for the meeting with his opening remarks, when he said "America is becoming a society where religious conviction is a cause for suspicion." He cited the "real threat" posed by the Department of Health and Human Services' mandate that all employers, regardless of religious beliefs, pay for birth control and sterilization coverage for their employees; and the threat posed to the institution of marriage and the family by "powerful people" who want to redefine the "natural realities" of marriage, motherhood and fatherhood as "arbitrary social constructs. We have a duty as Catholics and as Americans to lead our society to conversion," Archbishop Gomez said, referring to the new evangelization called for by both Blessed John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. "This is a time for Catholic voices and Catholic action."
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