by Adrienne Affleck & Diana King

Gloria Soto is a woman with a mission—to help strengthen and support the families of non-English-speaking parishioners in the Sacramento Diocese of the Catholic Church. “I see parenting education as an important addition to our family ministries,” explains Soto, coordinator of family life for the diocese pastoral center.

The large northern California diocese includes 20 counties, stretching from the San Francisco Bay area to the Oregon border.

Soto, the mother of two grown children, saw a need for parenting education as she worked with the marriage preparation, natural family planning, and domestic violence prevention programs of the diocese. Over 50 percent of the diocese is Hispanic and many of the parents speak Spanish in their homes. There are also migrant workers, new immigrants and those who speak little English despite living in the United States for many years.

“We must be proactive in helping parents learn how to raise children who are cooperative, responsible and successful at home and school,” she explains. “The family unit is central to Hispanic culture, and helping these families learn positive parenting techniques that focus on the power of words and discussion will have a broad social impact.”

With this goal Soto began searching for a parenting program that could be easily adapted to the culture. “I selected Padres Activos de Hoy,” she explains, “because the curriculum is complete and easy to follow. The videos with Spanish-speaking parents and children help the parenting lessons to come alive. And, this program is also easily understood by parents at all educational levels.”

To meet the spiritual needs of participants, prayer and Scripture will be incorporated into each session.

Spanish-speaking leaders are crucial to the success of the program. Currently seven certified leaders are available in the diocese. Three, including Soto herself, are trained to train other leaders. Leader training is especially important in growing a program with the large geographical area covered by the diocese.

In order to reach as many parents as possible, Soto is working with the Pastoral Center Advisory Board to integrate parenting classes into existing family-life programs of all parishes and Catholic schools in the diocese. Child care is a major obstacle for many parents so she is planning classes that parents can attend while their children are in catechism (religious education) classes. She is also submitting a proposal to the Superintendent of Catholic Schools to bring Padres Activos de Hoy to every school in the diocese. Classes will also be promoted through the marriage preparation, family planning and domestic violence prevention programs and El Heraldo Católico (The Catholic Herald).

What explains Gloria Soto’s determination to bring parenting education classes to every parent in the Sacramento Diocese? Simply her belief that, “the words of a parent are very powerful.”

Click here for more information about Padres Activos de Hoy.
Click here for more educational resources in Spanish.

Reprinted from Leader magazine.
Copyright 2001 by Active Parenting Publishers, Inc.