Alicia Carrillo is one of the 20,000 new Hispanic Catholic ministry leaders that the National Fifth Encuentro of Hispanic Latino Ministry process aims to identify and train.

After applying for an internship, I was told I would not be able to wear my religious habit. How could I reconcile this bias with my Catholic faith?

In an unremarkable-looking conference room at a hotel in downtown Portland -- a city known for its dearth of traditional religious practice -- a gathering of Catholics from five states did something remarkable.

At the start of my senior year of college, I was taking the Eucharist every day. The problem was, I was not Catholic.

Roberts, now president of UMW, said these days, the Democratic Party seems to have lost its way when it comes to embracing supporters with a religious identity, including those he grew up with in coal country and whose faith drove them to work to elect those who believed that "all of God's children should have equal opportunity in this society."

A group of Catholic high school friends has kept in touch -- literally -- since graduating more than 30 years ago from Gonzaga Preparatory School in Spokane, Washington.