Mormons reach out to Hispanics

PHOENIX, April 2 (UPI) -- The Mormon Church is reaching out to Hispanics in the United States and attracting a growing number of converts, many of them illegal immigrants.

That is a dilemma for the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints, the Arizona Republic reports, because obeying the law is a central obligation. Some Mormon politicians also have been at the forefront of efforts to crack down in undocumented workers.

"What has happened among a good number of LDS members is that they have been shaped by the Republican Party of the last 40 years," said Ignacio Garcia, a history professor at Brigham Young University. "They gravitate to the Republican Party, and the party has become very anti-immigrant, culture-wars-oriented."

But the church is sending increasing numbers of missionaries into Hispanic communities in the United States and trains them to speak Spanish first.

The missionaries do not ask potential converts whether they are in the country legally and take no action if they are told someone is undocumented.

"Our job is to bring souls under Christ," said Pablo Felix, president of a Spanish-speaking congregation in Mesa, Ariz., outside Phoenix. "The Lord doesn't look at documentation. He just looks at our faith as members."