By Karen Gutierrez
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Maria A. Sanchez (left) shares a laugh with Sister Juana Mendez at the Centro de Amistad last week. Sister Mendez is the director of Hispanic Outreach for the Diocese of Covington. Photos by PATRICK REDDY/The Cincinnati Enquirer

Beginning July 11, Hispanic immigrants in Northern Kentucky will have their own Catholic parish in Erlanger, where Mass will be said every day in Spanish.

It will be the first such daily Mass in Greater Cincinnati. Three churches in Cincinnati offer Spanish-language services, but only on weekends.

The new Northern Kentucky parish will be called Cristo Rey, which means Christ the King.

People like Angelica Gutierrez are thrilled.

The Florence woman, originally from Mexico, works in a restaurant on weekends. That means she often can't attend Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption. For many years, the Cathedral has offered Northern Kentucky's only Spanish-language Mass, at 12:15 p.m. on Sundays.

"It bothers me a lot that I can't go on Sundays. I'm always telling my friends, 'This is three weeks in a row that I haven't been able to go,' " Gutierrez said in Spanish.

Bishop Roger Foys recognized the need and responded with the Diocese of Covington's first new parish in 15 years, church officials said. Its priest will be the Rev. John Cahill, who is transferring from the Cathedral.

Until a permanent location can be chosen, the parish's temporary home will be The Catholic Center, 947 Donaldson Road in Erlanger.

The Cathedral's Centro de Amistad, run by Sister Juana Mendez, will be moving to the Catholic Center as well. The center has become a hub of opportunity for the Hispanic community, offering free classes in English, GED preparation and home-buying. A new class, sponsored by Catholic Social Services and the Homebuilders Association of Northern Kentucky, teaches immigrants carpentry and English at the same time.

The center's hours are convenient, but for many immigrants, attending Mass is just as important as learning new skills.

"Here we get into this routine; it's all work, work, work and money," says Gutierrez, 39. "We often forget there is more than money in life, such as helping kthers, or our own health."

Church reminds immigrants of those values, she says. It keeps them on the right path and in touch with their roots.

For Luis Galarza, a 79-year-old Ecuadoran immigrant who recently became a U.S. citizen, Mass is so important that he moved from Erlanger to Covington just to be close to the Cathedral.

He's glad to hear, he says in Spanish, about plans to run a shuttle bus from Covington to the new church.

As a boy, Galarza attended a school run by Catholic priests, and the faith he learned there will last until he dies, he says.

At church, "I fulfill my duties to God and myself and my conscience," Galarza says.

The diocese chose Boone County for its new parish because Northern Kentucky's Hispanic population is growing fastest there.

In 2000, Boone had 1,702 Hispanics, a 435 percent increase since 1990, the U.S. Census says. But the Census traditionally undercounts Hispanics; the actual number in Boone County is likely at least twice as high, experts say.

E-mail kgutierrez@enquirer.com