ROCHESTER — The United Christian Leadership Ministry of Western New York recently honored Father Laurence Tracy for his social-justice work with the Latino community.
The Rev. Lewis Stewart said that Father Tracy was presented with the Rev. Raymond L. Graves Award for Social Justice during the ministry’s second-annual assembly Aug. 28 at First Church of God.
"Because of Larry’s involvement working with the poor and oppressed … I felt that Larry should be honored with this award for his excellent work," said Rev. Stewart, president of the ministry.
Through his ministry, Father Tracy also has helped bridge a gap between the Latino and African-American communities, noted Rev. Stewart.
"Although we have similar issues in terms of poverty and violence, we’ve never really bridged the gap as we ought to in seeing our common interests," he said. "With Father Tracy, he bridged (those) gaps … and we felt that we needed to bridge that gap and honor this great man for his contributions to the city of Rochester."