Father Virgilio Elizondo, the 2002 Hispanic Heritage Awards Honoree for Education, has had worldwide impact on spirituality through his writings, lectures, and internationally televised bilingual workshops.
As rector of the San Fernando Cathedral in San Antonio, Father Elizondo blended Mexican religious traditions and cultural customs with the Catholic service. While struggling with the Church’s attitudes towards Mexican-Americans, he pushed beyond a simple fusion of culture and religion, and soon became the father of U.S. Hispanic theology.
Father Elizondo’s most influential and widely accepted book, The Future of the Mestizo – Life Where Cultures Meet, discusses the outcome of blending Mexican, Spanish, Indigenous, and Anglo cultures, and its effect upon the Catholic Church in the United States. As founder of the Mexican-American Cultural Center in San Antonio, he has built a model for community-based religious education that extends worldwide.
In 1997, Father Elizondo became the first Hispanic to be honored with Notre Dame’s Laetare Medal – the highest honor a Catholic can receive in the United States. As the author of 12 books and editor of countless others, Father Elizondo has introduced new and creative ways to teach Americans the concepts of peace, acceptance, and faith through art and the teachings of the Bible.
