Latino religiosity is topic

OREM — Representatives of two of the state's most prominent Latino faiths — Catholic and Pentecostal — shared their experiences as Latinos and Christians Thursday at a discussion at Utah Valley State College.

David Knowlton, UVSC associate professor of anthropology, organized the bilingual discussion of "Latin Religiosity," as part of UVSC's Democracy Project, which also included a discussion on religious diversity.

Jesus Rey Pentecostal Church evangelist Jose Beltran said it's important to reach out to Latinos and introduce them to Christianity.

"They are looking, seeking the Lord, a place to heal," he said. His church has already grown to more than 40 families since it started about three years ago and is branching out in Utah County.

The representatives of Jesus Rey, St. Francis of Assisi Parish and Iglesia de Dios Pentecostal Church spoke before a mostly English-speaking audience.

"Not only are they the religious leadership, they come from the community, they are the community," Knowlton said. "They struggle with the same issues as the community. We want to hear their voices as Latino leaders."

Pedro Amaga, who attended the meeting, found the Jesus Rey Pentecostal Church shortly after arriving in Utah County five months ago.

"All persons who believe different religions should have a place to go to speak with the almighty God," said Amaga, a native of Peru.

Knowlton said UVSC's religious studies program is trying to reach out to the community and create a place where people of different religions can gather. Knowlton said the roundtable is a "grass-roots" effort to bring together leaders of Latino congregations from around Utah County. He also invited representatives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Jehovah's Witnesses.

"It's important if dealing with religious diversity to speak to the issue of Latinos, which is now the No. 1 minority in Utah," Knowlton said. He said Utah County has the state's second-largest concentration of Latinos, with 28,755 in 2002.

"When we speak about diversity of Latinos, one needs to speak about religion," he said. "Latin Americans are very religious."

He said Utah's predominately LDS and English-speaking culture puts the state's majority Catholic Latino population in a challenging position.

Knowlton said it took networking and convincing to bring the people to the discussion.