A Well-Deserved Honor

I've written previously of my admiration for Fr. Rich Simon, who recently received the Lifetime Dedication Award from the Archdiocese of Chicago's Office for Hispanic Catholics.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Rev. Simon said that he learned his Spanish while volunteering at a North Side orphanage, leaving him with the vernacular of a Puerto Rican orphan. But the language served him well, as for more than 20 years, Simon served as liaison to the city's charismatic renewal prayer groups, a demonstrative form of worship that appealed to many immigrants from Latin America.

The experience convinced Simon of the benefits Hispanic culture could contribute to both Catholicism and American culture.

"Our background ultimately isn't ethnic, it's Catholic," Simon said. "Our future lies in the relationship between Spanish-speaking and English-speaking people. If we don't deal with it in a serious or realistic way, we will get swamped."