Catholic bishops create cultural diversity post

1/19/2008

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has established a new Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church.

The secretariat will focus on ministries to Catholics who are Hispanic, African-American, Asian and Pacific Islanders, Native Americans, Africans, and migrants, refugees, and travelers, the USCCB said.

It will provide staffing to a standing committee on cultural diversity headed by Archbishop Jose Gomez of San Antonio.

"It is my hope that our committee will clearly articulate the catholicity, the universality of the message of the Gospel, and the mission of the church," Archbishop Gomez said.

The executive director of the new secretariat is the Rev. Allan Figueroa Deck, a Jesuit priest.