El Salvador cardinal visits NY community racked by violence

BRENTWOOD, N.Y. – The leader of the Roman Catholic church in El Salvador is visiting a New York community that has been racked by gang violence.

Newsday (http://nwsdy.li/2v1fyI9) reports Cardinal Jose Gregorio Rosa Chavez was in Long Island on Saturday. He said gang violence is a complex problem that is rooted in dysfunctional families.

Police say 21 people on Long Island have been killed in the past 20 months by the MS-13 street gang. Long Island is home to about 100,000 Salvadorans.

Chavez planned to celebrate Mass at St. Anne’s Roman Catholic Church in Brentwood. The community has been at the epicenter of the gang killings. Many of the victims and suspects in the deaths are teenagers.

Rosa Chávez is El Salvador’s first cardinal.

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Information from: Newsday, http://www.newsday.com