Corazon Puro, the Bronx-based Catholic outreach ministry for mostly Hispanic youth and young adults, is planning several gatherings in the coming weeks, with events designed to help members live out their faith and strengthen them in their spiritual journey.
On Friday, January 24, coordinators and members of the group will venture via bus to March for Life in Washington, D.C. Organizers said they expect about 50 people from Corazon Puro will go to the march, including members from New Jersey.
On February 20-23, group members will attend the RE (Religion Education) Congress at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. The conference theme will be “Called to Compassion” (“Llamados a la compasión” in Spanish) and will include bilingual programming.
On March 21-23, Corazon Puro/Bronx will help sponsor a Corazon Puro/New Jersey First Stage Retreat at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Jersey City, New Jersey. First Stage retreats are designed to be spiritually healing encounters focused on living chaste lives.
Connecting culture with the broader Church
“The [Congress and retreat] events will be transforming our leaders to greater serve in their Church and communities,” Salomon Cariño, Corazon Puro program coordinator, told The Good Newsroom. “And this is the Jubilee Year – so it’s about the hope of serving… It’s the opportunity to connect with our faith, to grow more in the faith.”
Cariño said Corazon Puro’s mission at the RE Congress is to “expose churches and schools to our program, to bring a new form of teaching catechism to the new generation by using our books; we’re going to have an app, and we’re going to have lesson plans online so they [can] follow through… It’s going to be nine of us; we’re going to have three tables there… And we’re going to be talking about things that connect with our [Hispanic/Latino] culture.”
Father Agustino Torres, Franciscan Friars of the Renewal (CFR), is chaplain and president emeritus of Corazon Puro, which he co-founded in 2008. He will be among the coordinators on the March for Life pilgrimage.
Corazon Puro prepares young leaders through its Missionary Formation Institute program, designed for ages 18 to 35. The program focuses on five steps to encourage participants to grow in their faith and become effective missionaries: prayer, study, service, community, and mission. Organizers say prayer is the foundation of missionary formation and that young adults should make time for daily prayer and reflection. For more information, visit Corazon Puro.